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Timelines Involving Financing Pitfalls to avoid and steps to a smoother transaction. Why are so many purchase contracts for income-producing properties set up to create timing anxiety, which ultimately risks a failed transaction? I have seen both seasoned professionals and first-time investors unknowingly create conflicting deadlines in regards to key contract dates involving a Financing Contingency.

As you go about finalizing a deal on the purchase of a mobile home park, you need to take into consideration whether or not you want to set up a separate business entity through which you will own the property. In this regard, an ever growing number of men and women who are investing in multi-family properties today are setting up limited liability companies in order to provide a vehicle for ownership of their investments.

Manufactured mobile home owners have long benefited from factory built housing and understand the benefits of building homes in climate controlled work areas. Modular Homes has taken the benefits of mobile homes and have expanded them. Manufactured mobile homes are constructed to the Federal HUD building code which requires a non-removable steel chassis.

Following are the basics, in outline form, of the most secure, saleable, seller financed mobile home notes. Please note this outline is specific for home only/chattel loans in land leased communities. While I understand some of the possible benefits of lease options, they are not sellable in the secondary market.

The MHC lending market has now been strongly impacted by the mortgage meltdown. Always considered to be a specialized asset class by banks, this historically underserved market constricted further as risk weary banks restricted their lending practices in the second half of last year.

This is the decision many mobile home park investors make when deciding on which property to acquire; a park with a higher density of “park-owned” homes or one with “pads-only”/less than 25% park-owned. As the available financing for manufactured housing to individuals intending to place their home in a mobile home park has “dried-up”, there are more and more parks where the park owner rents the both the pad and the mobile home.

The term “up-side” potential is often used in the acquisition of mobile home parks. I hear this from many clients when evaluating a park. They are looking at its’ current cash-flow, potential rent increases, and achieving higher occupancy. The reality of creating greater value quickly is not as common as a steady appreciation.

Many mobile home park investors often ask why lenders typically do not use the total cash-flow from a property with park-owned homes. The answer is that the majority of these mobile homes are considered personal property.

The source of down payment funds to purchase a mobile home park is a question posed by a number of investors on a regular basis. There are many creative buyers looking for ways to acquire a property with as little out-of-pocket as possible.

Many mobile home park investors are looking for parks with a lower than stabilized occupancy in order to take advantage of the infrastructure in place and increase the value of the property with their own efforts. Purchasing mobile homes and either renting them or selling to tenants is the most common approach.