I’m in contract doing due diligence on a older but well maintained park that uses natural gas lines for heat. It’s the only thing that is scaring me about the park and I wonder if my concerns are warranted or if others are operating parks with natural gas without trouble. I’ve tried to find someone to insure the lines without luck and am looking for feedback before deciding how to progress…
i bought a park last december that had natural gas. it came into the park through a master meter, and i had to meter and rebill all tenants for natural gas service. we charged a $15.00 fee for reading the meter, and had edison utilities do our billing. all we had to do is email them the meter readings and they sent all the bills out to the tenants. we have since converted everyone to propane so that we do not have to go through this whole process. the reason we converted was the gas company said that our mains were not up to their specs, and if we had problems it would be a real big pain to shut off all 25 tenants and pressure check everything, and they had even asked us to run new mains. at that point i felt it best to do away with the gas. it became too expensive to run new lines, and my money was much better spent elsewhere in the park. to make a long story short, don’t let it scare you away from a good deal, but be sure to do your homework before diving into it.
good luck
Shoen,
“we have since converted everyone to propane so that we do not have to go through this whole process…”
I am not familiar with propane in a park. What were actually involved with conversion and how much for each space, or it simply mounting a propane tank (kind of like BBQ grill)?
i talked to several different propane companies and actually worked out a deal for the whole park. the one company gave us a discounted rate, and did all of the conversions to propane (orifices, and pressure regulators). they also did all of the ditching to the homes from the 500 gallon tanks. there were two options, 2 smaller tanks, or one big 500 gallon tank. it was a good deal, because the tenants got a big discount on price for using this company, and they just had to supply the orifices and the company did all of the conversions on the appliances. with regards to how the tanks looked, i don’t think they take anything away from the parks with regards to looks. the tanks are all brightly painted white, and all look well kept. this was certainly the best choice for us. we have not regretted getting rid of the natural gas.
good luck
matt