Mobile home park or apartment complex?
In my view, there is no comparison! We have owned both and now only own mobile home parks. Here are a few of our main reasons:
Land versus buildings is the key to your initial investment requirements. Of course, you pay more for apartment buildings than you do for spaces in a mobile home park. Individual properties may be the exception, but this is usually the case.
I am a tax break fanatic and always vote for the greatest savings. Having researched tax manuals for every conceivable angle, mobile home parks are the best – just based on depreciation! Land improvements depreciate over 15 years, while residential buildings must be put on a 27.5 year schedule – nearly double!
If you are interested in using mobile homes in your park as rentals, they must be put on the 27.5 year schedule. However, and this is a big plus, your cost for the home will be substantially less than for apartments.
We have found repairs to be easier with mobile homes. Unlike apartments with plumbing in the walls, mobile homes have the pipes under the home. No walls have to be torn out to repair a water leak.
If your park has spaces only, you will have very few repairs!
Vacancy rates are another reason to choose mobile home parks over apartments. Mobile home owners who will be renting a space from you face a large moving bill should they wish to relocate to another park. Most will not move as long as you are maintaining a clean and safe environment. If you go the extra mile and develop a community, people will not want to move from your property.
Apartment tenants move much more often, so for stability choose the mobile home park.
Careful screening of applicants, good management, and high quality property maintenance are the ingredients you need to have in place for either type of investment.
Our step-by-step instructions and videos apply to many types of rental property management, but we specialize in teaching you how to manage mobile home parks. Visit MobileHomeParkClassroom.com today to see a free video revealing our biggest secret for successful mobile home park property management.
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