John, I have had the same experience in that my business is increasing as I build relationships with managers, dealers, repair guys etc. (I did the fruit basket thing this Christmas etc). I work hard to make the managers look good even if they’re being a bit unreasonable. I’m going to move an A/C condenser to the other side of the home to please one (350 bucks!!)
I had one home I sat with for 9 months year before last because of a butt head manager. He’ll get no more business (and no referral fees) from me. Conversely, the ones who help me out get treated like gold.
Hope to see you at the convention!
Lyal
Posted by Sarah (Oh) on February 10, 2000 at 23:20:22:
I’m starting to do mobile home deals part time, I have a full time day job. Everything is going great, been running around like crazy looking at homes, talking to buyers/sellers, working with a couple park managers, a couple dealers, mobile home mover’s, etc., will close on about 4 deals over the next week, two quick cash flips, two on notes.
As I figure out my “system” for doing deals, I’ll spend a lot less time running around chasing leads that aren’t productive. I was wondering if anyone would like to share a ballpark amount of time per deal. For example, in order to close 1 deal, how much time do you think its taking on average?
Right now I’m spending every minute of my free time getting this off the ground, and love it. I’d be happy to do 2-4 deals per month. Wondering if other’s are doing this part time and still have a life.
Please, no responses like “stop making excuses”, or “you get back what you put into it”. I’m just wondering how other part timers are budgeting their time.
Re: Average deal time per MH - Posted by Blane (MI)
Posted by Blane (MI) on February 15, 2000 at 10:55:48:
Even though you’re already ahead of me in terms of number of deals, hopefully I can add to the insights provided.
I too am doing this in my spare time, with the intention of quitting the JOB thing to do it full time. Because I’ve insisted on having a life with my wife and kids, and because I’ve never been very good at juggling different parts of my life the time spent on MH’s has been purposely limited so far. The past month and a half or so has seen serious MH hunting, thus I’m probably putting in about 15-20 hours per week into calls, driving the parks, looking at homes etc. My first home which I bought yesterday has only taken up about 4 hours or so of my time so far. It wasn’t even one I was going to pursue because of price, but then the seller bought a house & got real motivated in a hurry and came down to my price. And because the home is in great shape, it shouldn’t take much more time to sell either, maybe 3-4 more hours total.
As the others have said, learning the system, getting in good w/PM’s etc. will lessen the amount of time per deal. I look forward to the day when I get up in the morning and just spend my time hunting MH’s. Also look forward to meeting everyone in Atlanta and learning a lot. Hoped I helped a little.
Ususally after the first two or three, you’ll spend 4-8 hours if you follow Lonnie’s program, and let everyone you know, and or talk to know that you are doing MH deals, you’ll be come known as the person to call in your sphere of influence when everyone hears about someone looking to buy or sell a MH, this will cut down on your time, and travel, just make sure everyone knows all the time what you are doing, I even talk to people in elevators.Pay a referral fee and others will use their time for you.
Re: Average deal time per MH - Posted by JHyre in Ohio
Posted by JHyre in Ohio on February 11, 2000 at 03:32:21:
Sarah,
I also do MH’s part-time in OH. My average deal time depends upon 3 primary factors:
Manager cooperation
Repairs
Season
I’ve sat on mobile homes for 2 weeks to 7 months. The seven month deal was in a park with lousy management, needed lots of repairs and was purchased in late August, i.e.- the end of the busiest part of the year.
The 2 week deals needed few repairs (only skirting, if that), were bought in January (just before tax refunds started rolling in) and most importantly by far, were in good parks with outstanding and cooperative management. Those managers have moved all kinds of homes for me in all stages of repair in all seasons- and quickly. That kind of management is worth its weight in gold…they bring great sellers, great buyers, cut my turn-around time and dramitically cut the amount of work I do. I keep their parks filled, pay referal fees and do whatever I can to make them look good. I’ll probably start moving homes into their empty spaces- I make money, make them look good, and avenge myself on the bad mangers from whose parks the homes shall come. As the rest of the MH investors on this site will tell you, a good relationship with good managers is BY FAR the most important factor in this business. You can do good deals if management is good but you don’t have the relationships…just be prepared to work alot harder. If the management is not good, forget about the park in question…selling becomes a nightmare- it becomes expensive, time-consuming and the buyers are usually sub-par. Your initial time investment in this business will be high while you establish the relationships. Building trust takes a little bit of time when you’re new. Once built, that relationship will divide the time required per deal by 10.
My ballpark time per deal started at @40 hours per home. I simply spent alot of time driving through parks, talking to people, researching the law, etc. I’m now down to about 5 hours per deal. That includes driving time- usually 90 minutes one-way…so @ two hours per deal after average driving time. Talk about a learning curve! Gotta love those managers, along with a touch of experience on my part.
Where in OH are you? I’m in Findlay, but do most of my deals near Columbus.
Posted by Tony-VA on February 11, 2000 at 02:15:36:
Congrats Sarah, you are taking the mobile home business by Storm!
I too do this part time and I would guestimate that my average is about 3 weeks. I did have one home that took longer but that was a rehab project so the time got extended to about 2 months. That was a learning experience. I still made a decent deal on that home but I gained a tremendous education from that home that has made me much more money on later deals.
Other investors that invest full time may cut their holding times even further. Marketing is very important, both in buying a selling. The Park Manager is an intregal part in finding both buyers and sellers. I will defer to Lonnie’s book “Deals on Wheels”, and the master himself, Dirk Roach. Lonnie’s books gives great ideas and I have had good success with them. Dirk has a flare for the art of marketing and can be counted on to provide many great ideas. You may want to try the search engine to find some of his previous posts.
Keep up the great work. You are right on track. Those first 4 deals will provide you with a lot of education. Sometimes we just need to sit back and reflect upon how well each deal went, and what we could have done to make them better.