MOBILE HOME PARK VACANCY PROBLEMS CAN BE FIXED WITH THESE CREATIVE
STEPS
Written by Frank Rolfe and
Dave Reynolds, MobileHomeParkStore.com, LLC
Most mobile
home park owners today have vacancy problem, thanks to chattel mortgage crisis
that began in 2000. It is not uncommon for a park that was full in 2000 to now
be at 60% occupancy due to repossession of homes. If you have been waiting for
the mobile home dealers to fill you back up, you are probably depressed and
making no progress. So here are some ideas to get you back in action at
increasing occupancy;
First of all,
you need to locate the folks in your area that have grown to absorb some of the
demand that is left unaddressed by dealers. There is still a lot of demand to
rent or buy used mobile homes, even if the dealer structure has become a
non-player. Most of the time these new “Dealers” are individuals who buy and
sell or buy and rent old mobile homes specifically in parks. You need to find
these people and get them to bring homes into your park. Two ways you can find
them are to 1) talk to local mobile home movers and ask if they have had any
mobile home moves with these individuals (they normally remember them because
they have more than one) 2) go to competing mobile home parks and see if you can
spot any for sale signs that have the same phone numbers. This is a giveaway
that they are not selling there own personal homes, but rather it is a business.
Offer these entrepreneurs free rent until they get their home sold or rented in
your park, or whatever incentive it takes to make your park their new home base.
Another source of homes is
to “steal” them from competing park that is doing a lousy job of keeping their
tenants happy. Remember that ‘mobile’ means they can be moved. Of course it is
not cheap to move a mobile home, so you will have to pay some or all of move
cost to get them to move to your property. But it is well worth it. Even at the
cost of $3000 for the move, you will get your money back in a year if the rent
was $250 per month. Be sure not to ask people to break their lease, only to move
to your park if their lease is up and they have the option of moving. Once you
get one to move, and they are happy, it is not hard to convince their friends.
It is amazing how many park owners give no thought to the resident’s retention
and just assume they are their slave forever.
A final idea is to convert
your vacant lots into something that is wanted, and that can be tapped with a
small capital outlay. For example, consider opening a section of your park as an
RV park. A small dedicated RV park within a mobile home park can really work if
the location is right. And it is possible to test and, if failure, abandon the
project with little or no downside. Or you might consider opening a park and
store facility for RVs, boats and cars. Try and see what is in demand, and see
if you can deliver on it.
In these tough times, it is
essential to be creative to fix your occupancy!
