Posted on 02/11/2017 10:40:46 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
The mobile home park has been around as a real estate sector for over half a century. However, it has remained in complete obscurity except for a few lucky investors and such heavyweights as Sam Zell. But 2017 is the year in which mobile home parks will finally be identified for the wonderful business models that they are, as well as the prime solution to the affordable housing crisis in America. And this attention is coming from a number of sources.
The U.S. government
After being ignored by the Federal Government for the past 50 years, that period of silence is ending. In 2016, Congress passed H.R. 3700, which will allow Section 8 vouchers to be used to buy mobile homes beginning in mid-2017. That’s a huge step, as there are roughly as many people in Section 8 apartments in the U.S. as there are in all of the mobile home parks in the U.S. combined. In addition, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have introduced new programs to finance mobile home parks that are more attractive than any other offering. Finally, there is talk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may start working on making it easier for first-time homebuyers to buy a mobile home, by taking a more active role in re-purchasing these loans. It’s a great year for the industry legislatively.
The media
Although the media has for decades relegated the very concept of the mobile home park as something to ridicule – through such shows as COPS, Myrtle Manor and Trailer Park Boys – that attitude is shifting as a result of the very serious issue of housing those of lesser incomes. The affordable housing crisis in the U.S. is a huge news story, and the nation’s newspapers, magazines, television stations and on-line sources are beginning to look past those old stereotypes and see the bigger story: that mobile home parks allow people to be homeowners and have a nice yard and neighborhood for a fraction of the price of single-family and multi-family options.
Private investment groups
There were three $2 billion transactions in the mobile home park sector in 2016: 1) the sale of Carefree to SUN (a U.S. REIT) 2) the sale of Northstar to Brookfield (a Canadian REIT) and 3) the sale of YES to GIC (the sovereign nation fund of Singapore). Clearly, the mobile home park industry is poised for massive consolidation. The Carlyle Group – the largest private equity group in the U.S. – already owns over 3,000 lots and is buying more. These transactions give incredible credibility to the industry and helps it become more mainstream.
Conclusion
2017 is looking to be a pivotal year for the mobile home park industry. It already has the highest yields of any form of real estate, but it has long lacked respect. This year that missing element is coming into focus, and it’s an exciting time to be involved in the birth of a mainstream real estate investment arena. If you are not currently investing in mobile home parks, you should definitely investigate this opportunity before it’s too late.
My Granddad had a mobile home in Bonita Springs for 30 years.
Right on the river, with access to the gulf.
Back in the 50’s, they just pulled their travel trailer into a motel and struck up a friendship with the owner and ended up going back every year. The owner eventually turned the place into a park. Several of my grandparents friends from IN ended up there too.
They had the best of the times for shelling and fishing. Granddad furnished a lot of fish to a lot of people.
Until the owner got old and the condos were coming with big wads of cash.
I have a relative that does. It was a great deal and is one of the best in the complex.
Not in your state!! But in GA, there are.
Is that a bugatti veyron?
Hardly any banks will loan on a manufactured home anymore. Also can be tough to find an insurance company to insure you, although there’s always one somewhere....
They are. Though I’d be a little claustrophobic in an 8 wide.
Yes. I suspect it’s one of those old grandfathered mobile home communities along Highway 1 directly across from the Pacific in some parts of CA. Those can be desirable because the location is practically unobtanium no matter what the actual structure is like, so you occasionally see people of means living in trailer parks because of that.
The desirable, structurally sound ones were designed to be road-worthy, like the Spartan. So, the widest you’ll see is just slightly over 8 feet. If it’s just you or you and spouse, it’s not that bad so long as you stay on top of the “stuff” accumulating over the years. It takes some effort to keep it in check, annually editing it down to fit.
Sounds like a nice way to vacation - enjoying the river, fishing, spending time with friends.
Yes, I think so.
Someone else on another website said it might be a kit car.
Aww, that’s a shame. Then again, GA property tax rates are much lower than my state’s.
Lol.... I just have to laugh. I see a LOT of that around here in the Daytona Beach area (redneck Riviera). Brand new $50,000+ pick-up trucks parked in front of $10,000 trailers. It’s all about priorities.
I’ve been saying this for about 10 years. All the benefits of rental properties without the headaches. I wish I had the money to buy one.
Owning a park that is, not the homes.
You can’t be seen rollin’ around town in a trailer. You can in the truck. Same mentality exists in the hood, too, but they’re more into rented 22” rims on vintage Cadillacs.
A little closer shot would have shown the paw prints of the neighborhood cats.
Gave us a great place to join them every other Christmas when we were kids.
They were one of the first Snowbirds.
He also had a very secluded cabin and trailer on White River in southern IN in his retirement that used to be his fathers camp when he was a young man.
The man caught probably hundreds of tons of fish in his lifetime.
amen
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