Michael,
Yes, you definitely want to split the dirt from the homes/notes.
Here’s a quick way to conservatively value the dirt:
Example:
100 lots
60 occupied
40 vacant
$100 per month lot rent
Each occupied lot is worth 60 times monthly lot rent. In this case, it would be $6,000 (60 x $100)
Each vacant lot is worth half the value of an occupied lot. In this example, it would be $3,000
So, the value of the dirt in this example would be:
60 x $6,000 = $360K
40 x $3,000 = $120K
Total value = $480K minus repairs.
To completely round out the whole deal, you would place a value on each mobile home or note that comes with the park and add the land value to it.
This is a quick and easy method I use all the time…called my 60 to 1 rule.
I hope this helps.
Steve