How to inspect MHP?

how does a newbie make proper physical due diligence for a
MHP if not experienced in the field?

(1) How does one detect current status and differed maintenance issues?

(2) (2.1) Can experts / companies be used for all of these items?
(2.2) Do they produce standard reports similar to single family homes/

(3) (3.1) How many different inspectors one need to arrange to review the park properly?
(3.2) What is the their different area of specialty?

(4) (4.1) Is it possible to find the right people in all locations?
(4.2)What is the time involved?
(4.3) What are the fees?

Dave and Frank list 53 items in due diligence process, items 17-28 are my big questions.

Your questions are a bit vague. I’ve looked through the DD manual and can’t find the 53 item list.

Most of your deferred maintenance is going to come from road repairs and water/sewer systems. Get these looked at by professionals. Usually it isn’t difficult to find the right people in any area for any of these items.

For homes - Licensed contractors. Get them looked at by 2-3 contractors and get quotes from each one. Renovating a mobile home pretty much takes the lowest skill level in the contractor field. I renovated a few as a teenager and there is really nothing to it. FYI, I don’t think we ever came out of pocket more than $2,000 for materials on any one renovation I ever did. Adding in labor, $4,000 should cover a pretty extensive renovation on a mobile home.

For roads - Get them looked at by paving companies. Again, multiple quotes to get comfortable that you are getting the right price and getting told what the actual issues are.

Water/Sewer systems - If city, check the usage to see if there is a problem. If you don’t sense there are any problems based on usage, you’re probably ok to not even have it checked out. If you do sense leaks, have a plumber come out and identify them so that you can have them fixed on day one. Also, be sure you know what the lines are made of. If it’s a private system, then you will need to have them checked out by professionals who deal with those systems. You also want to get a history of the maintenance schedule the previous owner used. As an example, if a park has septic, we like to see that the owner had each tank pumped every 5 years or so. If its a well, we like to see that the owner complied with the law and had it tested regularly.

To cut your time down finding these professionals, find a few realtors in the area and get recommendations from them. Small time realtors are very generous with their time for some reason and they know the market better than anyone. They are a tremendous source of information about almost everything real estate related in your market.

When talking to contractors, you can usually get a long way with them if they think their getting the work. I usually tell them that we are under contract and want to get a handle on the issues. I also let them know that we want the issues fixed the day after closing. Knowing they might get some work out of this, they’ll sometimes come out to the property for free. Another thing that will save you money is not requiring them to write up some big, fancy report (Like an inspection on a SFH). Just have them tell you over the phone or in email what they see and what their price would be. Cutting down the amount of paperwork they have to do will save you money.

Thank you @CharlesD . @Coach62 in the 10/20 book and other books there is a list of 52 (or 53) items for DD.

What page? I’m a professional inspector and I’ll try to help if I can but I’m not going to re read the book to find your exact concerns.

10/20 book pages 8-10
Mobile Home Park Investing book by Dave Reynolds pages 47-60

Sorry Rinain. I don’t have either book but I’m still willing to help. If you want to email me my email is Bruce at ableinspector dot com.

My cell is 2 three nine 2 four 9 06 three 5.

Sorry for the puzzle but there are a lot of bots out there that search sites like this for emails and phone numbers to spam.

In what state are you located? I can probably track down some help for you.

I do a lot of commercial inspections, everything from hotels to airport hangars so I do have a lot of experience. I get a lot from this site and I’m willing to give back where I can.

I’m currently in Cali with my son who’s here for an academic contest so I won’t have much to do tomorrow.