How To Handle Small Lots In Older Mobile Home Parks By Frank Rolfe

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Great Locations Often Come With Tiny Lots

Some of the best mobile home parks in America were built in the 1950s and early 1960s, when the showpiece home was about 8’ x 40’. These parks often sit in terrific locations. They went in before the city grew up around them, and no city would approve a new park there today. The catch is the lots. They were sized for homes nobody builds anymore. If you want those locations, you have to know how to judge small lots.

Start With The Fire Marshal

Grandfathered status protects a park from ordinances passed after it was built. It does not protect you from the Fire Marshal, who can order homes moved or removed if they put the community at risk. If homes sit around 10’ or less apart, ask the Fire Marshal to walk the property before you close.

Width And Bedrooms Decide Everything

Width matters as much as length, maybe more. New single-section homes are built 14’ or 16’ wide, and narrower used homes are getting hard to find. If a lot can’t take a 14’ wide, you have a real problem.

Then check for a second bedroom. You’ve never known misery until you’ve tried to sell or rent a one-bedroom mobile home. Even seniors living alone want a spare room for guests or hobbies. A two-bedroom usually needs a lot around 46’ deep or more. If the lot can’t hold one, it’s too small.

Your Options And What They Cost

  • Combine two lots side by side and set a small double-wide.
  • Combine two lots end to end and set a 76’ three-bedroom home.
  • Rent the lot to RVs, but only after you drive the competition, including RV parks, and talk to local RV dealers, repair shops and propane suppliers. RVs move often, and lenders and appraisers value them less than homes.

Combining lots is a game of chess. Every move cuts that pair of lots, and the revenue they represent, in half. Topography, easements and worn-out electric, water or sewer lines can also block a combination. Find that out in due diligence, not after closing.

Plan For Every Lot, Then Call The Lender

Don’t just look at the vacant lots. Any occupied lot can go vacant after a fire or a move-out. Years ago a big operator bought a great-location park in Plano, Texas, swapped the old homes for new ones, and found out too late that every new home took two lots. Occupancy ended up half of budget. Have a Plan B for every lot in the park.

Finally, talk to your lender early. We don’t usually see pushback until density nears 20 units per acre, but tight lots can still draw a negative appraisal. Have your plan ready to explain.

Small lots are not a dealbreaker. They are the price of admission to some of the best locations in our industry. Do your homework and they can be a terrific buy.

By Frank Rolfe

Frank Rolfe has been an investor in mobile home parks for almost 30 years, having owned and operated hundreds of mobile home parks during that time. He is currently ranked, with his partner Dave Reynolds, as one of the largest mobile home park owners in the United States. Along the way, Frank began writing about the industry and his books, coupled with those of his partner Dave Reynolds, evolved into a Boot Camp on mobile home park investing that has become the leader in that sector of commercial real estate. Roughly a third of the Top 100 mobile home park owners in the U.S. started with the Boot Camp, which continues today to provide the science of finding, negotiating, conducting due diligence on, financing, turning-around and operating these unique assets.