I am new to MHP investing and can only afford to start small. Would you guys buy a mhp built on unrestricted land which has lots of acreage for future growth? Would this be a problem with the city?
When you say “start small”, I assume that you are trying to use a small amount of capital. It is extremely capital intensive to develop mobile home lots, because you have to not only build the lots, but buy the homes to fill them. It might cost you $40,000 per lot to do so – hardly small thinking. Additionally, any town that tells you “sure you can build a mobile home park or expand one anywhere you want” is a lousy area to own a park in. We are trying to be in markets that don’t allow any more parks – that’s what creates the value. This lack of supply restriction is what killed self-storage in many areas. Stick with established parks in areas that restrict new parks, and you’ll have better economics and supply/demand issues.
Thanks Frank for the insight. I read your book the 10/20 guide for mhp, and i loved it. Anymore books that you could suggest?
The next step up from the 10/20 book is the Home Study Course, and the next step up from that is the Boot Camp. There really is no other book on mobile home parks that’s worth a darn, which is why we wrote ours. Most of the other things written about owning a mobile home park are written by people who have no experience and know nothing about what they’re talking about. For example, there are a couple people out there who wrote books about mobile home parks that have subsequently had their parks foreclosed on – hardly the kind of person you’d want to listen to. Beware of hucksters.
However, I do like to read biographies of business people from the past, as they often have stories of the underdog winning against all odds, which is a theme I like. For biographies, I like Conrad Hilton, Henry Ford, J. Paul Getty, Sam Walton – virtually anyone who started a business from scratch and survived a recession or two. It’s a shame that this type of journalism has been replaced with books on Kim Kardashian.
Actually it’s video… We’re evolving. Kim Kardsian made a sex tape and her mom marketed her ( and family ) into the current trend of the masses., feeding an appetite… Use what you have, to get what you want, to get what you need…still hasnt’ changed.