The mobile home park launch plan
Every step from deciding to opening, in the order it happens, shaped to your situation, with your own numbers beside it. About 51 steps in 8 phases, 23 of them specific to a mobile home park. Free to read; ticking steps off and putting in your own numbers come with membership.
The plan51 steps
- 01Not started0/6Fold
Decide with the numbersa week or two
Before a dollar is spent. Most expensive mistakes happen here, and this phase costs nothing.
A park makes money on lot rent, and the structure is what makes it special: you rent the dirt, not a building.
Typical for one unit is $300,000 to $1,500,000 a year; the owner keeps 55 to 65% of it before paying themselves. If that band does not cover what you need, that is the signal to pause and look again.
Pre-debt what the really is. Parks keep about 55 to 65 percent of lot rent as NOI, because a county assessor’s park model puts expenses at 35 to 40 percent of income.
Twelve questions about your money, time, experience and temperament, scored. Then the 5 questions this business asks of its owner, about the hours and the work. Answer both before you spend a dollar.
Rule of thumb: buy stabilized when you want clean cash flow and can pay for it; buy value-add when you want to create the value yourself through rents, utility billback, and infill, and you have the... Answer it in your situation above and the plan reshapes.
Customers, prices, rent, staff pay, what it costs to open. We filled in typical numbers; change what you know and everything on this page follows.
- 02Not started0/5Open
Plan the moneya week
What it costs to open, where the money comes from, and the cushion that keeps you alive until the business pays for itself.
A park is a real-estate purchase, not a startup: almost all of the money is the price of the park, and the rest is closing and loan fees, the inspections a lender requires, and the repairs those...
The itemized cost to open9 lines
- Park purchase (90 pads): $2,160,000 to $5,130,000About $24,000 to $57,000 a pad; the default park, priced on its own income, is near $40,500
- Closing, title and loan fees: $13,000 to $80,000Title insurance, escrow, lender origination and legal
- Appraisal, environmental, survey and inspection: $11,000 to $29,000What a lender requires before it will close
- Attorney, leases, LLC and park license: $3,700 to $22,000
- First insurance premium: $6,300 to $18,000Liability, utility systems and loss of income
- Road, tree, water and sewer repairs: $13,800 to $164,400The biggest swing after the price; the inspection decides it
- Water submeters (utility billback): $0 to $63,000Lets you bill water back to residents
- Signs, mower, utility vehicle, cameras and office computer: $779 to $73,002
- Initial working capital: $40,000 to $150,000Three to six months of operating costs and a repair reserve; your plan works out the cushion your numbers need
Costs start on day one; customers take months. Map the first twelve months of cash so the business does not run out of money while it is getting going.
The business has to earn your pay like any other bill. Set it in your numbers and watch the month it move.
How deals in this business are financed4 lines
- Bank or credit union loan (Real-estate terms · often 20-25 yr amortization)The usual first loan on a smaller park.
- Agency loan (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac) (Up to 80% LTV · up to 30 yr amortization · 1.25× minimum coverage)For stabilized, professionally managed parks of 50 or more sites with mostly resident-owned homes.
- Seller financing (Often 10-30% of price · 5-10 yr)Very common on mom-and-pop parks.
- Bridge / value-add debt (Short term · refinanced on stabilization)Short-term debt to buy and reposition an under-managed park (infill, submeter, and raise rents), then refinance into long-term agency or bank debt once NOI is stabilized.
Most new shops pair an with 10 to 20% of your own cash. Know the monthly payment before you look at a single space.
Before you shop. A lender tells you what they would fund, what they need from you (credit, your cash in, a plan with numbers), and a pre-qualification letter makes a landlord or a seller take you seriously.
- 03Not started0/4Open
Set up the companya day or two
A day of paperwork, and it has to come before the space: a lease, a loan application and every permit are in the company’s name.
Your state’s business name search, the trademark register, and the domain, before the name is on a sign, a van, or a lease.
A , an , and the S-corporation election each change what you keep and what you are exposed to. Compare them with the numbers, confirm with a CPA and an attorney, then file with your state.
After:The is free from the IRS in minutes once the company exists. The bank account needs both. Keep business money separate from day one.
After:Pick the accounting software and connect the bank account now, so every cost of opening is captured and the numbers you later are real.
- 04Not started0/6Open
Find and secure the spaceone to three months
A park is a fixed asset: the land is the business, and you cannot move it.
What decides it for this business: public water & sewer (not private), lot rents below local market, strong local housing demand, high current / few vacant pads, mostly tenant-owned homes.
One call to the planning desk with the address: is this use allowed there, and what will it take (, permits, fire sign-off)? A space that needs a change of use can add months.
Rent, free months for the , who pays for what, the and the renewals, subject to financing and permits. The lender needs this letter or a draft lease to take your application.
After: ,, renewal options, increase caps, what the landlord adds on top of rent, and what happens if you have to leave. For a location business the lease is part of the purchase price.
After:at minimum; property, workers’ compensation and the rest as the business needs. The landlord asks for a certificate at signing and the lender at closing.
Walk the floor plan and the equipment list, then get contractor quotes. The lender wants the quotes; the health department wants the plan.
- 05Not started0/2Open
Get the loanfour to eight weeks
Four to eight weeks with an SBA lender, longer if the file is incomplete. Everything else waits on this, so send a complete file.
Your plan with numbers (download it as a PDF from this page), the company’s papers, the or draft lease, the and equipment quotes, your personal financial statement, and proof of the cash you put in.
After:The lender approves against the ; you sign the lease once approved; the loan closes against the signed lease and the insurance certificate. Ask for the to match the or longer.
After:
- 06Not started0/13Open
Permits and the build-outone to three months
A park is regulated more like infrastructure than a storefront: you may own private water and sewer the state oversees, and the community itself is subject to local zoning and manufactured-housing rules.
Bind the policies you had quoted before a contractor, a vehicle or a customer is in play. Keep the certificates; the landlord, the lender and the city will ask.
After:Your contractors pull the building, plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits and close them out by inspection. Hold the free rent months for this.
After:Most cities approve exterior signs separately; signs take weeks to make. Order early.
Register your or corporation and obtain the local operating license for the park.
State registrations where applicable, plus employer and workers’ comp if you hire on-site staff.
Many states license or register mobile-home communities specifically, with periodic inspection.
If the park has its own well or water system, state environmental and health permits plus ongoing testing apply.
A private sewer plant, lagoon, or septic system carries discharge permits and regular compliance reporting.
Confirm the park is a conforming or legal-nonconforming use, and check for any redevelopment or rezoning pressure.
State rules govern how water, sewer, and trash may be billed back to residents; confirm your method is compliant.
Coverage on land, roads, common areas, and any park-owned homes, by every lender.
Fire-marshal review of exits, extinguishers and load, after the build and before the .
After:The city’s sign-off that the space is approved for this use. You cannot open the doors without it.
After:
- 07Not started0/10Open
Set up to runduring the build
During the build, so the business runs from day one: the systems, the prices, the people and the routine.
The backbone: collects lot rent, posts ledgers, sends notices, and administers RUBS or submeter billing.
Card, ACH, and autopay collection keeps the recurring engine humming and the delinquency low without a leasing office.
A dedicated account and a clean keep lot rent, utility recovery, and reserves separate from personal money, which is essential for clean books and any...
You own land, roads, and common areas a neighborhood lives on.
See the price the the business needs implies, then check it against what the market pays.
State registrations where applicable, plus employer and workers’ comp if you hire on-site staff.
After:Wages are the start: , insurance, training time and the hours you stop billing. Owners usually post the jobs a month out and hire two to four weeks before opening so training happens before the doors open.
Monthly: Collect lot rent, post payments, send notices, and reconcile the... Routine: Manager handles common-area upkeep, road and drainage checks,... Utility days: Read submeters or administer RUBS, monitor the well and sewer...
Opening, closing, the sale, the complaint, the cash. One page each. This is the manual a franchise would have sold you.
Free, and it is how most people will find you. Address, hours, photos and the menu or price list, live before opening day; then the sign, the soft opening and the first regulars.
- 08Not started0/5Open
Open and measurethe first ninety days
You own it. Now run it on the numbers.
Friends, neighbors and a short menu or list. Find the problems while the room is forgiving.
Enter the real numbers and see every cost line against the for this business.
Private water & sewer infrastructure; Unbilled utilities; Vacant pads.
Growth consumes cash before it produces it. Find the rate your own cash funds before you push.
Mobile-home parks are in unusually high demand from buyers.