Hi. I am a new member to the forum and wanted to introduce myself and provide some background.
I have owned a small park (33 homes) in rural Ontario Canada for four years now. I purchased the
community to enable me to retire early from work as I knew I would need to supplement my pension
to do so.
Research convinced me a park would be best suited to my goals and has worked out very well.
My biggest issues have been in dealing with the 10% bad tenants that generally accompany rental properties.
In Ontario we have a Residential Tenancy Act that aside from non payment of rent gives tenants full
power to do mostly as they please.
Evictions are virtually impossible and enforcement of community rules next to impossible unless tenants
voluntarily agree to adhere.
Fortunately mine is a quality adult community mainly consisting of retirees that take pride in their homes.
Home values range between $30,000 to $80,000 and are mainly 70s and 80s vintage.
I presently have 2 vacant lots, due to fire and tree damage, that I will be replacing with new homes which I will
sell. I own and rent only one home in the community presently and will be replacing it in a couple of years and
also selling.
The majority of lot rents are below par but as we have rent controls in Ontario there is little I can do about it.
The investment cash flows nicely so I intend to hold onto it for about 7-8 more years before I retire completely.
I am looking forward to following the topics posted and will participate assuming I have anything to offer.
To my knowledge we do not have a Mobile Home Park network in Canada to exchange info and ideas
about our business so it is pleasant to discover I am no longer alone. There is very little knowledge of
this business in my part of the world, although there are many parks, and no communication between
owners.