Keep looking for deals. There are a lot of parks out there not only on Frank’s site but Oodle, Craigslist, and other mobile home park websites. You can do crowdfunding, peer to peer lending, and other creative financing if needed. Also, check out the Linkedin and Facebook groups on mobile home parks. Sounds like maybe you’d benefit from flipping a few low priced mobile homes first to build up some capital. Don’t wait time on an overpriced “dump” just to have a park. You won’t be in a position to fix it up and you’ll have to carry insurance and taxes on something that the owner is already getting all the money from anyway. Besides any broken window, furnace failure (1st day on my first park experience!), etc. will be your responsibility. So its not just about owning the park in 7 years its about right now and what potential problems you’ll have that you can’t afford as is. Its his fault its in that shape not yours. If you work with the Lonnie Dealer, you need to walk away with money that you put back for your own rainy day fund. Then when you get to a point where you have at least a year’s worth of savings, then start working on a park. But start small get business experience then you can think about the big money picture.
Aristocracy, a much better option is to build a database of parks. You should focus on parks that are in a certain size range for your area. If your market’s lot rent is $200, I would focus on parks between 25-100 spaces. Once you have your database, start calling those owners and implement some direct mail campaigns on a regular basis. The point of this exercise is to get in front of owners and talk to as many as possible. Three things happen when you do this. First, you get comfortable with failing and you get to look at enough deals to pick out a good one. Second, you will find off-market properties that are under-valued. Third (most importantly in your case), you will run into experienced operators in your area who have an interest in partnering on deals. All three of these things will keep you from doing something stupid like you are about to do. Now for the bad news. If you tie up a few parks (and you will), you will likely have to handover most of the park’s cashflow each month to your equity partner(s). However, you aren’t after that at this point. You are building a track record. A track record that you will use one day so that you can go out and raise private money. This is a blueprint you can succeed with if you have little money (or don’t want to spend your own), but are willing to work hard. Frank Rolfe raises private money, Jefferson raises private money, and the group I am partnered with raises private money. This is how your amass a portfolio in this game and it starts with building a quality track record. My partnership implemented this 2 months ago and we are currently looking at 11 off-market deals with double-digit CAP rates. Three of these are home-runs. My role in this was building the database and managing the telemarketer who set appointments for us to talk to these owners. When I signed on with this group, I knew that I wasn’t going to be a full partner with them and that I was basically going to be working for a front-end commission and the opportunity to put my own cash to work in quality deals. I partnered with them mainly for the track record and a chance to see how they do business. What I’m saying to you is be more creative. There are plenty of good ways to break into this business without totally screwing yourself. If you need a little help getting started on a plan like this, PM me on here and I can start walking you through the basics of setting up your data base.Not to step on anyone’s toes, but I’ve never heard of any successful entrepreneur or business man who succeeded by thinking small. I would suggest that you think big and spend your time figuring out how to make it happen. Thinking small is for people who don’t have the guts to succeed.
Aristoctracy -I’m very late to this thread - but here’s my two cents for you…Screw the MHP biz for now…you should be a writer. You are a good one. You like the industry, so maybe do a few creative magazine/newspaper/blog-worthy articles on the industry - and then let the people with Parks come to you…and then pounce. Or just keep writing. Contact me for article ideas.Good luck.
As much as the posts on here have been very supportive and everyone recognises your strong desire to move forward the bottom line is they are feeding a dream that you can only accomplish through hard work and sacrifice. There are no short cuts to success.At this time your entry into the business, based on your present income, will have to wait. As suggested you need to beat the bushes for deals that others will ultimately purchase. Until you establish both credibility and a personal bank roll you will not be in a position to purchase a park. Partnering is a very good start but without money of your own you must bring something else to the table. Either a great deal or a strong track record in the business.It is no mystery to anyone that money makes the world go round. Without it you are only an observer. Others have been very encouraging but have missed the mark on what your real start point is in moving forward. You need to get your personal financial life in order. To start you need to get a full time job and seriously increase your income. Your girl friend should also be working and be 100% committed to contributing financially to your end goal. If she is not you need to find a different common goal. Bottom line is everyone’s advice as to options are very valid but you need to begin by building a stronger foundation through a solid income. At this point what I see is a person with eloquent communications skills and a strong passion but that has not put them into action through the necessary personal work ethics displayed by truly successful people. I do not wish to say you are a dreamer looking for the easy route to success but the reality is your personal career path appears to be a bust. As eloquent as you appear to be in communications if you are not selling a product talk does not put food on the table and at this point in time you are not a product. Money is the primary tool of exchange as a start point to an end goal. I would suggest you start by getting your personal financial house is in order.
Frank had suggested that you find deals and assign them. On a million dollar deal you can maybe get a 3% commission. Those deals are out there. If you do a few assignments and reasonable work history you would be able to put down 20-25%on a park with 30 or so occupied lots and then room to bring in more homes. Don’t let others discourage you. My group would be interested in buyingyour assignments, PM me.
??? You have a bachelor’s degree from college 30 years of age and making less than $25,000. A school teacher will make $40,000 starting out why the low income? Maybe I see just a dreamer that is trying to find a lifelong career. Use the schooling you have and built a future probably not in the park business.
In my opinion, this is one of the best posts to date on the forum. A few of my thoughts…There are still plenty of very good deals out there. If you find one and can’t afford it, get in touch with some of the investors on this forum. They pay very good referral fees. I have referred parks that I’ve found to investors. Due to the nature of my business I’m in contact with a lot of park owners when I verify lot rents, vacancies, etc. It’s really easy to ask if the owner ever thought about selling. Most of the time they say no, and don’t really get offended if you ask. Every once in awhile you get a “yes”.Surround yourself with really smart people. There is no pride in knowing more than everyone else. I’d rather be in a room of professionals that know more than me about certain topics because I will gain the most. Look at all of the free information on the forum that has probably saved some of you from making big investment mistakes. Don’t be afraid to work, and work really hard. A 40 hour work week does not exist in my world. The old saying the hard work pays off is absolutely true.