September 2009
Newsletter
This issue of the MobileHomeParkStore.com and MHBay.com Newsletter includes:
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Our Newest Service - Mobile Homes for Park Owners. We have spent the last year working on this service. We have negotiated the absolute lowest prices on homes from reputable manufacturers nationwide. These are brand new homes for the same price or less than repo homes. Stop wasting time and money rehabbing older homes. Update the look of your park with homes residents can afford. |
The Joys Of Mailing In Rent Whether you use a standard on-site manager or a reduced duty greeter at your mobile home park, you may want to investigate the use of having the mail sent in off-site. The benefits to such a system are many, and the problems few. Many main-stream operators have embraced just this one piece of off-site management, due to its enormous benefits. It ends embezzlement at the park level Stories of managers embezzling rent are among the most common in the park business. I once bought a park from an owner that thought his park had no income - at least that's what the manager told him. He was shocked when we found an account with a balance of $35,000 in it that represented just the most recent rents that the manager had shifted into her name. When the manager no longer collects rent, the ability to embezzle is eliminated. That is not to say that a manager cannot still impose and embezzle such things as pet deposits, etc., but the magnitude of the crime is reduced 1,000%. It ends the mystery concerning evictions and late rents Have you had a manager who can never give you the straight scoop on evictions? There are always a couple lots that never seem to go to court for some reason. Normally, these are just friends or family members of the manager - or people who have threatened them. When you are the creator of the collections list, you gain the upper hand in the truth on who is paying, and can make sure that all the correct demands are delivered and evictions filed. Nobody can hide then. It perfects the assessment of late fees By using the postmark on the envelope as evidence of the rent being late, it allows you to end any mystery on who to assess the late fees to. And you will be amazed at how many more late fees you have - the manager normally hides many of these late rents from you to shield her friends. It makes you in control of the rent This is the most important thing that collecting rent off-site can do for you. It makes you in control of the park's revenue. Many managers use the park rent as a weapon against you in their pursuit of keeping their job. They will threaten to end the regular collection of rent if you let them go and, in fear of missing your note payment, you keep them on. In addition, when you let a manager go, their first attack is to disrupt the flow of rent, by misinforming tenants as to what to do with their rent - or even collecting it themselves and keeping it in revenge. When you get the rent direct, the manager has no power over you. And that's a great feeling Conclusion Having rent sent in to an off-site P.O. Box is not hard. It costs about $100 per year for the box. What is your peace of mind worth? |
Am I The Only One Who Sees This Opportunity? A huge percentage of Americans have virtually no retirement savings and will end up living strictly off of their Social Security payment of around $1,000 per month. And the ranks of these Americans are growing daily as the "Baby Boomer" generation ages. This is the greatest "affordable housing" challenge in history - are we up to the challenge? How can someone live on $1,000 per month? Even a recent article on MSN.com had the answer - in a manufactured home community. However, that article discussed the concept of several families sharing a single, multi-section manufactured home in a very expensive community. I don't think that most Americans are willing the shack up in their retirement. But can someone live in a manufactured home community on $1,000 per month? Let's see. If your income is $1,000 per month after tax, and you pay $100 for Medicare insurance, $50 for auto insurance, $300 for food, $100 for gas, $200 for electricity, that leaves $250 for lot rent which includes water, sewer and trash. Is this lot rent of $250 per month including water, sewer and trash available on the open market. It sure is. There are many, many manufactured home communities that offer this kind of rate. So if someone could sell their house, or some other asset, to raise the cash to buy an older manufactured home for, say, $10,000, then the numbers would work for them to live indefinitely on $1,000 per month after tax (remember that social security checks are tax free), assuming that their social security payment is constantly adjusted for inflation (which it is). And where do you find attractive, clean, safe manufactured home communities with lot rent of $250 per month including all water, sewer and trash? In most cases, out in smaller towns and rural America. Not in the big city, where communities tend to be cramped, unattractive and dangerous - nobody sane is going to be willing to retire there. But what about all those nice communities in smaller towns? The ones with all the vacancies? The ones that have been laboring for decades in areas with low employment and few folks moving in. The ones that you can buy cheap, often with seller financing. Am I the only one who has noticed this opportunity? Perhaps this is the only chance ever to make a success of these rural and small town parks. The planets appear, to me, to be aligned perfectly to push these little appreciated assets into fully-occupied income properties. Am I the only one excited by these trends? So how would you harness these trends and make money with them? First you would need to buy some very inexpensive manufactured home communities in areas that are attractive to retirees. They should have city water and sewer, if possible, and solid infrastructure. A beautiful, safe location. A proximity to a bigger town with some big-city amenities that retirees would like, such as bookstores and quaint restaurants. A lot rent of about $250 per month including water, sewer and trash. And enough vacancy to make the seller offer attractive terms and carry the paper. The existing occupancy should, if possible, cover all the expenses and note payment. Now you simply have to wait for all those $1,000 per month retirees to start beating down your door. Right? Wrong. There is one big missing ingredient. And that is for the industry to promote the fact that anyone can live comfortably on $1,000 per month. It's too large and novel an issue to effectively promote as a small community owner. It never ceases to amaze me that an industry as large as ours can never effectively promote itself to seize the opportunities presented in the marketplace. All we ever want to do is to look and talk more like stick-built housing - when, in reality, it is the affordable housing side of the business that holds the most promise. All those folks who are going to have to live on $1,000 per month have no alternatives but manufactured housing. The ones who can afford the upper end models can afford many, many other alternatives. So how can we capture this market? We need to collectively begin advertisements in magazines such as AARP. We need to get articles published in the major newspapers and news web sites. We need to start speaking before large groups of retirees on the concept. We need to meet with governmental agencies to let them know this option exists. We need to get mentioned anywhere and everywhere. Basically, just plain old marketing. Who will do this? We all need to participate. I really believe that this is our only salvation as an industry - to return to our roots as the affordable housing option, while at the same time, piggyback on a growing trend. Clearly, our attempts to market ourselves as a pricey alternative to stick-built housing have failed. We have been in a recession for the past eight years as an industry. So will you join me in spreading the gospel that Americans can live on $1,000 per month in a modest manufactured home in a rural market? I hope you will. Because this might be our last shot of turning things around. |
New Service for Lenders: Mobile home parks are unusual additions to most REO portfolios, and require specialized assistance to operate and maximize their re-sale value. If you are a lender and have a mobile home park in your REO portfolio, or are faced with foreclosure on a mobile home park, then we offer consulting services specifically for you |
News Stories Mobile Home Park being Rezoned. |
| Are you a manufactured home owner or community owner with homes or lots for sale or rent?If so, then you can list your new and used mobile homes for sale or rent and lots for sale or rent for FREE at MHBay.com |
Tell us what you think! Wed love to hear what you think of this issue! We need your articles and press releases - send your articles to perry@mhps.com to be included in upcoming newsletters. Where else can you put your press releases and articles in front of thousands of people for FREE! Please send your comments, questions, articles, and ideas for upcoming issues to us at: Your feedback matters to us! Visit us at www.mhps.com or www.mhbay.com Until Next Time! Dave Reynolds MobileHomeParkStore.com 18923 Highway 65 Cedaredge, CO 81413 PH: 800-950-1364 FX: 970-856-4883 |