I attended one of your boot camps and have been looking for a park to buy since that time but am having problems finding one in my area (oregon) that seems like a reasonable deal. How is the best way to find people interested in selling their parks and how big of a deal is it managing from afar?
Blake
You are in a ‘sexy’ market. All the states on both coasts are ‘sexy.’ Prices are high. You might consider buying in the greater midwest; that’s what we do, and Frank & Dave do. Once you read the materials offered on this website and attend a bootcamp, you’ll see that managing from afar is no problem.
Best,
-jl-
Blake,
Probably your biggest problem is that you are looking for parks in Oregon that are priced reasonably. When parks go up for sale in Oregon, they are normally horribly over-priced. Oregon shares that same west coast “California” mentality that says that there is no correlation between cap rate and net income – that all real estate just magically goes up. You will probably need to go east to find reasonable pricing. We buy in the Great Plains and Midwest, which is where we find good old fashioned 10% cap rates. We find our deals in the following ways: 1) on-line 2) brokers (pocket listings) 3) direct mail 4) cold calling. Of these, pocket listings from brokers has been head and shoulders above the others in finding deals to buy.
Oregon is probably a good state to live in, it’s just a bad state to find reasonably priced mobile home parks (or any type of real estate, for that matter).
Hi Blake,
I’ve got the same problem here in WA where Frank & Jefferson told me the same. I’ve been looking for 2 years now.
There are 10 cap deals here and there but they go quick and most of it never makes it to loopnet or other listings sites. Lots of pocket listings and deals are happening behind the scenes and the good MHP brokers cherry pick the really good deals for themselves.
Is it incorrect to think that pocket listings for decent sized (50+ lots) quality deals aren’t particualrly feasible for unknown/less experienced investors?
I would think most of the brokers used in this scenario would be established in the MHP industry and have investors like Frank and Dave at the top of their list. So, when a solid deal comes to them they know they can turn to F&D and ensure they (and the seller) will get a fair price, there won’t be issues with financing, and basically that the entire sales process will be super smooth and quick because F&D have done it time and time again.
Granted, F&D aren’t the only investors on their buyers list, but I’m pretty sure they’ve been buying more than just about anyone aside from institutional investors the past few years, so they’d be pretty close to the top.
(and since it’ll probably be recommended, yes I do intend to go to a bootcamp very soon, probably the next one after LA!)
Don’t get discouraged in searching for your first mhp purchase. Took me just over 1 year to find my first deal. It was listed with a broker on MHPS and right away I worked hard to get it under contract because I knew it fit all my buying criteria.
If you show that you are a serious buyer and speak intelligently about the park business, then a broker will work with you. I believe just as important is making a written offer. You could talk with the broker 5 times on the phone about the deal, but unless you put an offer out there, nothing’s gonna happen. And the broker is going to write you off as a tire kicker.
Again, don’t get discouraged. You will find the right deal if you aggressively search and make offers.