Articles

You recognize that interest rates are near historical lows and you have decided that you are going to refinance your manufactured home community. Or, perhaps you have identified a property you want to purchase. Whichever the case may be, you are going to need a loan. But before calling your mortgage banker or lender, the first step you should take is to assess and prepare your property for financing.

With interest rates at historic lows, it is still an excellent time to obtain permanent financing for a manufactured home community. Before selecting a loan, however, it is important for a property owner to assess investment goals and prepare a business plan.

Just as you prepare to take advantage of the low interest rate environment and decide to refinance your existing property or pursue an acquisition with debt, you find that obtaining the level of financing necessary isn't as neat and simple as initially imagined.

In recent months, land-lease community lenders and owners faced financing challenges in a rising interest rate environment. The following paragraphs identify the challenges encountered and outline solutions that asset class savvy lenders have developed to address these issues.

As the credit crunch continues, lending options for commercial real estate, including manufactured home communities, have become increasingly scarce. Conduit loans are still not being originated, life companies are lending on a highly selective basis

Nothing is uglier than a mobile home without skirting. Even a brand new, top-of-the-line mobile home with a shingles roof and vinyl siding looks like junk in the absence of nice vinyl skirting to hide all the tie-downs and concrete blocks and pipes.

Most mobile home parks I have bought come with a standard sign design - a 4'x8' sheet of plywood with a faded poorly written name on it and no phone number. This must be a popular design because I see it everywhere. There is also the design of metal or wood letters on a brick or masonry wall with some of the letters missing

People often ask me how many stars my park has. I always tell them that I've got a five-star cash flow. That totally confuses them, and allows me to change the subject.

When considering the purchase of a mobile home park as compared to an RV park there are many factors to consider. While mobile home parks and RV parks are often sold by the same brokers and are combined in one facility, they are not the same and both require different amounts and types of management.

Why Buy a Mobile Home Park as compared to Apartments and other types of Commercial and Investment Real Estate? 1. There has always been and will always be a need for affordable housing. The typical mobile home park is just that affordable housing.