Does anyone have any experience with the JLT & Associates rental surveys? They publish annual reports for MHP rents, occupancies, etc. for certain areas around the country. Most of the surveys are centered on markets in Michigan and Florida, with some other metro areas around the country included. Does anyone subscribe to the surveys and are they accurate and useful in your due diligence, etc.?
They are very interesting, but I would certainly never base your due diligence on them. You need to comp the rents yourself. Like any group that prints such reports, they have no skin in the game, and only go by the few park owners who actually answer the phone and give them the info they want – so this tends to be the larger players who have larger lot rents. I’ve seen these reports, and they are normally substantially too high in their lot rent estimates, as they reflect only ELS, SUN, EMH, YES, etc. and not the moms and pops who either won’t answer their call or participate in the survey.
Thanks for the input Frank!