If the headline of this article is confusing allow me to clear up the issue now. This article is designed to help provide the newbie mobile home investor with some foresight to notice some not-too-common red flags that you will find while investing in individual mobile homes inside of pre-existing mobile home communities.
The three red flags below have all been costly mistakes that I have made myself over the past decade investing in these homes. Some of these mistakes I am still living with now as some homes are still located in these less-than-ideal parks.
After reading the list below please keep these items in the very back of your mind in the event you find yourself looking at purchasing a mobile home inside one of these types of communities.
1.) A Large Number of Empty Pads/Lots
Imagine you are driving through an established mobile home community you have never been through before. You notice that approximately 25% or more of the existing pads are vacant and without mobile homes on them.
This could be for a number of reasons.
A. Transitional Period: This mobile home park could just have kicked out a majority of the less desirable owners and/or homes in the park, thereby cleaning up the quality of the park. This happens when new management or ownership takes control of a loosely operated park. After asking the manager about the issue she confirms this is the reason. If this is the case there is little to be concerned about. It is a good question to inquire how they plan to fill these empty pads however no red flags are raised here.
B. Poor Ownership and/or Management: Another reason there could be a healthy amount of empty mobile home …read more