Just curious what other people’s opinions are on this. I am thinking about rehabbing a mobile home and renting it out or selling it with a piece of land.
Basically, to make a long story short, my family owns a mobile home that is sitting on two good sized lots on the edge of town. There are a lot of mobile homes in the area. This mobile home has been unused for a few years and my family has basically used it as a storage. So, I see an oppurtunity in turning a liability into soemthing that can generate income.
Has anyone here fixed up mobile homes and rented them?
There is an entire niche of REI for mobile homes…we even have a forum here: Commercial, Land, Mobile Homes, Notes Forum.
I would recommend you go to that forum and read some of the old threads about mobile homes. Also, see if you can find a copy of Lonnie Scruggs’ book “Deals on Wheels” – it retails on this site for under $30… http://www.reiclub.com/products/170 but you can probably find it cheaper.
The drawbacks are that mobile homes are not usually all that well constructed and can be difficult to rehab and keep within a sane budget. They also are difficult to finance thru conventional lendings, especially if they are old. I understand Lonnie’s book tells you how to make great profit margins on mobile homes.
…and, yes, you’re probably insane…most REIs have at least a touch – I recommend a second opinion, though.
:eyecrazy:
Keith
i think it would probably be ok if your just going to rent it out to sombody and have the cash to do it. like kD said, its hard/next to impossible to get a loan for these. But if you own the unit, and can get away with cleaning, painting, and carpeting the unit, i would say it would be worth it to rent it out, but if you have to do a full rehab, gut it, and everything, i dont know if i would do it. If you can get by with maybe 3 or 4k into it, it would probably be worth it.
I will have to do some research on it, but I believe the major issues I will have to deal with are replacing the carpet, fixing up some of the cabinets, and doing something with the evaporative cooler (I believe that will need to be replaced). This would be to make it rentable.
I’ve known one investor personally who made a great living off of mobile homes. You’re not in tornado alley – so that’s a plus 
I swear tornadoes in the South head right for the mobile home parks.
Good luck to you.
Good urban planners always put some mobile home parks in strategic locations around the outskirts of the city…they are actually “tornado magnets” and draw the tornados away from the city proper!
Jeff…normally, you can expect some problems with the underlayment when you pull up the carpet so I would plan accordingly. Check the floor all around the unit for soft or spongy spots (especially in areas where there is water – baths and kitchens). Another weak spot to look at is the roof (but don’t go up ON the roof to check!)
Keith