mhp purchase - Posted by Patti Pulczinski

import · June 16, 2006, 10:04pm

Posted by Sailor on June 20, 2006 at 22:09:22:

Patti, Be sure to get there early enough the day before for the get-together, & stay until Mon so you can attend Lin’s BBQ.

If anyone else is thinking of attending the August Boot Camp, Tony announced today there are only 3 remaining places–

Tye

import · June 16, 2006, 10:04pm

mhp purchase - Posted by Patti Pulczinski

Posted by Patti Pulczinski on June 16, 2006 at 22:04:14:

OK, maybe I just need a reality check. I have found two mhps I am interested in. One is a lovely small park that has been well taken care of, makes lots of money and has potential for growth. They want lots and lots of money. The other is a tiny little thing that is run down to the tune of almost gone. It has several old, old trailers and the lot is being sold for just the land because the trailers have to go. It has great potential for a RV park or moving some other trailers in and making it a mobile/RV park. They only want a quarter of the first one. I want them both. I only have one problem. I have no money. Ernest Tew says not to pass up a deal because it’s too big. I want to go to the Ray Garcia seminar this coming week-end to find out how to get the banks to beg me to take their money. Someone please straighten me out. Thanks Patti

import · June 17, 2006, 10:16pm

Re: A Dozen Ways to Check Reality - Posted by Sailor

Posted by Sailor on June 17, 2006 at 22:16:57:

OK, I’ll do it. What you need to know before another day passes:

Renting $$$ is expensive.
Do not buy anything valued on “potential;” only spend for performance.
Having said #2, do not purchase a MHP that does not have an up-side.
Everything has an off-season, especially RV parks.
A MHP w/junk trailers is not the worth the land it is built on. You must deduct the cost of removal. Although I got bids as high as 3k, I just paid $1200 to have one demolished because I couldn’t give it away.
You must make friends in your local Environmental Health Dept because they can tell you whether or not you can replace existing MHs (I have 4 I cannot replace even if they burn down).
You must qualify Ernest Tew’s statement by knowing that a big deal can be bad (& so can a small one).
It takes good ca$h reserves to operate a MHP, as it is always only a second away from becoming an expen$ive horror story, especially if water is involved (e.g., I’m repairing hail damage this week, & last month had to erected barriers to prevent the Rent-A-Center truck from once again tearing up my underground pipes).
Education is much cheaper than experience. Do NOT delay in registering for Scott & Tony’s Land/Home & MHP Boot Camp scheduled for August. For details, contact Sandra or check the Archives on the MH group on this site. It is a bargain, & so beneficial that many alumni return (I was there in 2005 & w/be again in 2006).
Hang out w/MH folks, both to learn & to network. The MH group on this site is FAB, & there is also a Chat Room Wednesdays @ 9 pm ET. Mutual support is critical for a MHP owner.
Know that this is not only a business, but a pretty nasty one. I’ve been cursed & threatened, gone to court multiple times, dealt w/pit bulls, discovered viper nests (yes, snakes), been covered in fleas, cleaned other people’s toilets, taken emergency calls in the wee hours, & this week I am evicting two babies.
Resist the urge to purchase until you know enough & are sufficiently financially prepared to make a good deal. Goodness knows, I understand how a decrepit MHP can call out to be rescued (we women have this nurturing thing going on). Remember that there is always another MHP.

In spite of my caveats, I not only think trailer parks are romantic, but that folks in this business perform valuable social service by providing affordable housing. Good luck!

Tye

import · June 18, 2006, 10:07pm

Re: A Dozen Ways to Check Reality - Posted by Patti Pulczinski

Posted by Patti Pulczinski on June 18, 2006 at 22:07:15:

Thanks, Sailor, I needed that. I have three bad character flaws. I’m impulsive, compulsive and gullible. I have already been taken to the cleaners to the tune of some $20k by buying real estate courses that were going to make me rich. None of them were from this web-site. Now I have to make something work or my husband is going to throttle me. I have an acre I am looking for a DW to put on it and
I am indeed signed up for Scott & Tony’s Boot Camp and am wondering about the Ray Garcia seminar this weekend. I wanted to go but haven’t heard if they have room. Thanks again Patti

import · June 19, 2006, 10:56am

Re: A Dozen Ways to Check Reality - Posted by ray@lcorn

Posted by ray@lcorn on June 19, 2006 at 10:56:55:

Patti,

Sailor has given you excellent advice. Big deals are just as prone to be bad deals as little ones, and in the context of your three self-admitted flaws, the combination can be lethal. I’ve seen so many investors jump into deals just to be doing a deal with no thought of the consequences I wrote an article about it. See http://www.real-estate-online.com/articles/art-203.html

That article also speaks to another deadly mistake… overleverage. Whether the parks you’re looking at are good deals or not is irrelevant if you go into them overleveraged, which is the only option if you have no capital to invest.

Ernest Tew’s advice is sound, but it must be understood in context. Investors are sometimes intimidated by larger deals, and his advice is to not let size become a barrier when the deal can be structured properly. No responsible teacher (and Ernest is one) would advocate taking on a deal you don’t have the resources to complete.

My advice would be to do whatever type of deal you can safely afford to do to build your capital, then move to larger properties. One doesn’t have to start with small properties, but you do have to learn to structure the deal to not lose. Usually some amount of capital is required to provide a margin of safety.

I don’t know if you’re suited for Ed Garcia’s Lender’s Workshop or not. The requirements for attendance are some degree of experience. (By the way, it’s not my seminar. I usually do a two-hour talk on Sunday to introduce the class to commercial properties. The workshop and subsequent mentoring is done by Ed and Terry Vaughan.)

Ed is the real deal, and I don’t know of anyone else in the real estate education arena that does what he does as well as he does. There are over 1100 graduates of his program, and many, many of those folks will tell you they owe their success to Ed’s guidance. And that’s also the reason Ed has to talk to you before registering. He wants to make sure he can help, and if he can’t he’ll say so up front.

Drop Ed an email at edgarcia@westpacllc.net and ask for a telephone appointment to discuss the specifics of your situation, and he’ll guide you to the best solution.

ray

import · June 18, 2006, 10:31pm

Re: A Dozen Ways to Check Reality - Posted by Sailor

Posted by Sailor on June 18, 2006 at 22:31:24:

You’re welcome, kid! Can you put more than one mh on your acre? Looking forward to meeting you in August–

Tye

import · June 20, 2006, 9:27pm

Re: A Dozen Ways to Check Reality - Posted by Patti Pulczinski

Posted by Patti Pulczinski on June 20, 2006 at 21:27:58:

I’m really grateful for your’s and Ray’s imput. I do have my flaws, but stupidity is not one of them. I can recognize good advice and I am back to working on “Lonnie Deals”. Can’t put more than one mh on my lot because it is only 7/8 of an acre and I can’t split it. That’s alright. It will be great for a “Tony/Scott Deal” I am looking forward to meeting you in Aug. too. Til then Thanks again Patti