question on buying homes in adult (55+) parks - Posted by steven

Posted by brad on July 10, 2002 at 14:02:54:

this is an area that would seem to me to be an excelent place to set up reverse morgages. but that takes money/ or does it. if you find people without dependants who want to live above there social security this would be a great way to buy m/h. you purchase there home from them, allow them to live in it. til death or a pre determined date. if its new enuf to get financed do it put the money in the bank and let it make the payments to them. in the end you get the home. unless they outlive you. i wrote this in fun but now i am plugging more into it and seeing the angle as possable, time to talk to my lawyer and accountant. this is done here with regular property but i have not seen it done with personal property.

question on buying homes in adult (55+) parks - Posted by steven

Posted by steven on July 10, 2002 at 12:14:25:

Hi,

I live in south FLorida and there are lots and lots of 55+ parks and they all have restrictions on living there - at least 1 person must be at least 55.

To even buy one, I need to be a dealer or build a relationship with the park owners so they know I will only sell it to the right age folks.

In your opinion, is this restriction too restrictive to make it a good area to invest in. By invest, I mean purchase low and resell a bit higher with a note being carried back.

Thanks,
Steven

Re: question on buying homes in adult (55+) parks - Posted by Ed C (CA)

Posted by Ed C (CA) on July 10, 2002 at 23:08:01:

My short experience (3 bought & sold) has been in 55+ MHP’s. They have all been cash sales. One thing I can add is that ALL my buyers worried most about appliances, furance, air conditioning, and so on. I concluded they they were more worried about these items than price. It was interesting to learn that. I also payed for 1 year Warranty on MH. Also I bought these MH’s at about 30 % of market value. Right now in my area of California, there are more buyers than sellers.

Re: question on buying homes in adult (55+) parks - Posted by Bob P(Az)

Posted by Bob P(Az) on July 10, 2002 at 20:00:25:

In my market, 9 out of 10 parks are 55+. As Chuck has mentioned in previous posts, the senior’s usually pay cash for the home so that it is a good deal.

I have found two downsides to 55+ parks:

  1. Because you are marketing to a limited age group it usually takes longer to sell. Three months is a typical holding period for me, so plug that into your equation. If you know the Parks and work well with the Management, they often will give you 50% off the space rent till it sells or even free rent. Just ask, and see what happens. The issue with these Parks, is the fear of moving the Mobiles out. In my area, more and more spaces in older Senior Parks are empty and they can’t compete with the newer Parks for the new Mobiles.

  2. They take their time in making a decision. You will show a Mobile in a 55+ Park a lot more times before you find a buyer. So consider the worth of your time in the equation also. The older folks don’t want to get fleeced so they are real careful when buying.

Good buying

Bob

Re: question on buying homes in adult (55+) parks - Posted by Chuck

Posted by Chuck on July 10, 2002 at 17:40:58:

Punch “Chuck (AZ)” into the search engine… I’ve done this comment too many times already.

Cash, cash, cash, paper, cash, cash, cash, paper.

Get my point?