Hi Tony, I’ve been trying to figure the best entry point into MH investing in my area. There are plenty of MH parks to work Lonnie deals if one is persistent, but I am thinking it might be better to do land/homes deals. My problem seems to be - where are the properties with old MH already on them I can purchase, and then replace the old MH with a new, and , if county regs allow, put another MH on the property and rent it. I am looking for a place to live myself, and manage. I could go either way, only I would need some capital to do Lonnie deals and I am starting dead broke. How do you put together a land/home deal with no money of your own in the deal? And how do you find the land?
[QUOTE=pjthedj;883147]Hi Tony, I’ve been trying to figure the best entry point into MH investing in my area. There are plenty of MH parks to work Lonnie deals if one is persistent, but I am thinking it might be better to do land/homes deals. My problem seems to be - where are the properties with old MH already on them I can purchase, and then replace the old MH with a new, and , if county regs allow, put another MH on the property and rent it. I am looking for a place to live myself, and manage. I could go either way, only I would need some capital to do Lonnie deals and I am starting dead broke. How do you put together a land/home deal with no money of your own in the deal? And how do you find the land?[/QUOTE]
Those are great questions and ones that would take a great deal of writing to explain.
I will attempt to touch on some things to consider, in my opinion.
There is no race, you should not be in any hurry and if you approach investing this way I think you will find that you actually perform better and reach your results sooner than you would if you went gangbusters.
The smoothest way is the fastest way.
If you don’t have money I would recommend doing every side job, every overtime offered, every second job you can find and focus your attentions on building up not just money to buy a place to live and invest but some reserve capital. You don’t need a huge sum of money but trust me, you will sleep well if you have some money set aside for emergencies.
This approach also helps by allowing you the time to look for land/home properties (if that is what you target). There are many foreclosures that can be purchased quite cheap. That is my favorite place to focus.
But as you acquire some money and means to increase your capital you may find that there are people out there who are willing to owner finance these properties. Some of these players are slick and some are outright thieves so do your homework on how to protect yourself in such a deal and make sure that you are getting a good deal on a property you may want to live in for now and rent later. Look for neighborhoods that are marketable. Look for a doublewide and land package and either go through the process of bidding on a foreclosure (for experience if nothing else) and get out and talk to people willing to owner finance these type of properties. Burned out landlords, people who have moved or lost job or inherited these properties may well be your seller but be sure that you control the deal. You don’t have to buy but they have to sell.
Look and advertise in cheap/free papers such as Thrifty Nickle, Iwanna type papers as well as Craigslist and even consider putting up signs in areas you think you might want to start. This helps you target that specific area and by wording your ads you can target the owner finance type folks.
Check the Multiple Listing Service and if possible get access to repo and foreclosure listings that have not gone on the MLS and do what you need to do to make offers on these properties. You will need access to cash, private investors etc. for these properties but steep discounts can be had for those willing to fix these up.
The owner finance deals will likely take much less cash if any but they may also take a bit more work to locate and negotiate.
I realize these are only a few ideas for now.
I am putting the finishing touches on the new “Investing in Mobile Homes with Land” book that I will have for sale here once final editing and printing are complete and that might help you more. Keep posting here as you progress and run into obstacles and we will all post whatever helpful suggestions we can come up with.
Good luck,
Tony
I would recommend you do cheapo Lonnie deals to build up cash and knowledge. Also, I would suggest you not buy your own home at this time so as to keep your focus on making deals and making money…what you will likely learn will almost certainly improve your skill set and your bank account for buying your own place.