Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have been an owner/landlord since 1988 in the DFW area. These days my adult son manages the properties and I just do the back office stuff — basically screening new applicants and paying the bills.
With the bank interest rates on my savings at an all-time low, and no interest on my part to invest in the stock market, I have been considering picking up another property. Of course, the DFW hot real estate market makes it difficult and expensive to buy a conventional property.
There is a pretty newish mobil home park in a decent school district in the DFW mid-cities area that interests me. I’m considering buying a place in there (selling $80-$135K, look very nice) and trying to be a Section 8 LL for just that one property. Doing the math, property taxes are very low for manuf. houses vs. conventional and the lot rent is $540/month. If I invested $100K and charged $1200 rent for a 3 bedroom place, my ROI could be about 5-6%. But, never having owned a manuf/mobil home or been a section 8 LL, thought I’d air this concept out here and see what feedback I’d get.
BTW, my motive for doing this is to set my son up for a future income stream. If possible, my plan is to leave him all the properties in my portfolio as his inheritance. He owns a retail store right now and manages my rentals but he is going through a divorce (yay!) and will likely give his wife their business as his divorce settlement and he will get their (paid off) house. So he will need future income and he does a fabulous job managing the rentals.
Has anyone here bought a manufactured home as an investment property?
Last edited by WorldKlas; 04-02-2021 at 12:56 PM..
Has anyone here bought a manufactured home as an investment property?
No, because I've always considered them to be poor investments. They certainly are in my area. Being a landlord was bad enough. Being a landlord for a mobile home...plus for a Section 8 tenant...no thanks.
My preference was for single family homes because I thought the upside potential for appreciation was greater and I also felt that they would be easier to sell once I decided to get out of the business. Of course, I'm sure there are those who have done well by renting out mobile homes (call them manufactured if you wish, they still carry a stigma in many peoples' minds). Frankly, I think your projected ROI is low and there may be times when you are not receiving rent.
No, because I've always considered them to be poor investments. They certainly are in my area. Being a landlord was bad enough. Being a landlord for a mobile home...plus for a Section 8 tenant...no thanks.
My preference was for single family homes because I thought the upside potential for appreciation was greater and I also felt that they would be easier to sell once I decided to get out of the business. Of course, I'm sure there are those who have done well by renting out mobile homes (call them manufactured if you wish, they still carry a stigma in many peoples' minds). Frankly, I think your projected ROI is low and there may be times when you are not receiving rent.
Very happy I am not a LL anymore too. Rented to a Suction 8 tenant once and learned a valuable lesson.
And with the guv'mint eviction rules now who would be stupid enough to be a LL?
It doesn’t have to be Section 8, however I have a friend who specializes in Section 8 and, screening carefully for tenants she has had good tenants. Since I have been a LL for so long and have had good success, I thought maybe I would try it because I screen tenants very, very carefully and I can easily let a property stand vacant rather than have a bad tenant. But if I found a good tenant on Section 8, I am thinking there would be very little turnover.
The goal is not property appreciation, its income stream.
Buy the trailer park.
That's where the real money is.
I know, that is not your game. But, it is true.
The thing about manufactured homes is they can be torn up very easily by a bad tenant. Just not durable. And, they only "appreciate" if the land they are on appreciates, and usually only if the land is owned by the homeowner.
In my experience as a former manufactured home owner, the park owners discourage your scenario and will not accept your application for the lot. In my old park the lot rent went up every single year so you would have to raise the rent accordingly.. That might be hard to do depending on tenancy laws. It's possible you would lose your renters because of it.
Renting for $1200 likely won't get much interest. People living in mobile homes often are there because they cannot afford the mean market cost of a house but still want to own their own home and they can for the same cost as the rent your propose.
It is false that manufactured homes do not appreciate in value. I bought mine for $40K and sold it for $105K and did only cosmetic changes over the years (paint, flooring, drywall, upgrade counter tops and refurbish cabinets).
Manufactured homes are strong, no different than standard modern houses built today. Most manufactured home lots do not have allowance for basements. A basement better stabilizes a structure.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
