This is a 24 space park with 23 occupied lots (all tenant owned homes) Park has city water and city sewer with gravel roads. I’m trying to put a number on management… There is a current on site guy who gets free lot rent which is now 220 and will raise to 250 after closing. This guy also does mowing for the free lot rent also. This is a arid part of Wyoming and the grass doesn’t grow that fast.
I currently have two property managers and a office for my storage and other rental business. I would like to have my property manager invoice and do the managing from a distance. (850 Miles away).
I also need a to allow a plane ride to the park with a rental car for my self. I currently live near the park but plan on moving in the future.
How much should I calculate in for these three management expenses??
The goal around here is to have manager do as little as possible. So with that -
Why do you need invoicing? Reminders are nice but a waste of time when you’re not submetering anything. Several Parks have their entry sign say “rent due by the 5th of the month” if it’s really that important. Tenants talk and if you’ve implemented the “no pay no stay” rule then invoicing is pointless.
Does the on site “manager” do a good job mowing? I have seen them do typically a below average job which might be okay, but I would rather hire out the work to someone who knows what they’re doing - in the end it will be less than the $3,000 per year you will be paying. These managers always break equipment and have excuses why mowing cannot happen regularly, especially when you’re 850 miles away and don’t know it anyway.
The only management needed is fielding any repair calls, enforcing park rules with a monthly check (or with an enforcement program using the tenants as your eyes and ears - e.g. cash for compliance), having gravel delivered a few times per year, and filling your last pad. Estimate the time for these activities and pay accordingly. Sounds like 100 bucks per month, and your on-site manager should start paying lot rent.
Others have different ways they would do it, that’s just me. Good luck.
I’ve heard Frank say he targets $10 to $20/month per site as a guideline for management costs. But at this rate, you won’t be asking a manager to do much other than watch, report, and be the face of ownership locally. Collections, evictions, etc would need to be handled by you.
Whatever you pay them, be sure to categorize them properly as an employee or independent contractor. Calling someone who qualifies for employee status a contractor and paying them as such can result in big problems such as past overtime, witholding, and treble damages as well as attorneys fees. My recommendation is to treat workers as employees unless it’s crystal clear they meet the definition of an independent contractor (the existence of the latter is about as prevalent as Bigfoot in CA).
Listing to Frank talk, it sounded like the invoicing was the way to go. How ever I think I will try not invoicing and see how it goes. This will be my first park so I think I will take on the management roll instead of passing it off to my storage/rental managers. It will save me a few hundred bucks and get my feet wet for when I land the 115 space park I’m working on. buying.
Yes I can see the mowing job not being done on a regular schedule with the on site guy. I will have to evaluate that one. This might be a small enough park that it will be pretty quiet day to day.
Thanks for the input!!