If I have a real dump on my hands, is it best to wait until I get cleaned up before putting in new signs? Do I want prospective tenants rolling in based on that fancy sign only to see that it is still a major dump? I need signage but need to boot out some tenants, haul of loads of trash in yards, and clean up a lot of the structures. Also, consider that I need the city to see that the park is getting cleaned up. When you have a mess of a park on your hands and you are turning it around, do you invite the city in to see what’s happening or does it just happen naturally?
Don’t put the sign up until you enter into the "marketing’ phase of the turnaround. Get the junk out, evict the bad tenants, do all the damage, and then put the signs up when you have made it pretty and have your first home for rent/sale. You are exactly correct that people, when they see the new sign, will drive in, and that first impression needs to be favorable. The inspector will know you’re making progress by all the junk you’re hauling out and homes you are painting, not by the sign.In addition, when you evict the bad tenants, some of them will look to vandalize things as a going away present, and you don’t want to give them such an easy target as a new sign out front.
Replace the sign when you have replaced the residents. Signage should be the capstone to your efforts because otherwise it’s a facade. Your residents will see that you put a fancy sign up and then raised rents to pay for it, drive by prospects will notice the difference between the new sign and the worn out park it advertises. Feels a bit like a bait and switch.Figure out what you need from the city and then decide whether to invite them in. When I’ve needed utility or police help, I’ve been up front about my plans and how they can help.Will
My Husband and I purchased a ‘Turn Around’ Mobile Home Park approximately 3 months ago. Since we renamed the Mobile Home Park’s Name, we took down the old sign shortly after buying the Park.We are doing a lot of improvement projects (such as removing 11 condemned mobile homes, major tree trimming, lot cleanup).We are waiting until all the improvement projects are done before installing a new sign.As for inviting the city in to our Mobile Home Park…we did not invite them in per say.However, we applied for and paid for all the various permits (business license, demo/moving permits for the condemned mobile homes, tree trimming, tree removal).Even though we did not invite the city in (only asked for extra police patrol) we have had everybody and their brother come to visit (code enforcement comes in at least once a day, permit peeps, city inspector, police).My Husband says ‘there is never a dull day in the Mobile Home Park’ :-).We wish you the very best!
One thing that can be cheap and effective is paint. Buy 200 gallons of misting paint. For $5/gal. Paint a few homes in park…assuming they’re POH. Once some of the women in the park see the transformation offer paint and rollers dirt cheap to responsible people. Saw over a dozen trailers painted in one summer this way.