In this episode of The MHP Broker’s Tips and Tricks Closing Cocktails podcast, Maxwell Baker, president of The Mobile Home Park Broker, interviewed company broker Paul Schaaf on his recent success handling the Glenwood Mobile Home Park transaction in Tennessee. successful deals.

This and every episode of Closing Ccktails is presented by The MHP Broker’s’ proprietary Community Price Maximizer. Use this four-step system to get the highest price possible for your mobile home park or RV community when you sell it through The MHP Broker. Guaranteed. Call Max for details.

Here Are the Show Highlights:

- Paul took on Glenwood MHP, a great TN park that proved challenging to market because of the small size of its lots. But Paul found the right buyer, and the right solutions to the park’s problems, and was able to close--just as he can close on your park despite whatever challenges it might have. (Max, 1:09)

- The park’s in a good location of eastern TN, which is turning into a strong retirement area. The region also has some of the best golf courses in the state. Glenwood had about 60 lots, but was only at about 37 percent occupancy. There was a lot of opportunity there since other mobile home parks in the area were at about 90 percent occupancy with home rents at the $900 - $1,200 range and lots averaging about $400 - $450 a month. There were a lot of offers for Glenwood, but those small lots ultimately drove serious interest away. (Paul, 1:43)

- One of the big stepsPaul had his client take was to move some of the power lines to open up the space. They also found a couple manufacturers who ere making smaller, two-bedroom homes that would better fit the space and could be arranged strategically with the larger homes to improve lot sizes and the look of the park. The fact that the property was on city water and all pads already had infrastructure in place were good selling points. And there was a big demand in the area for affordable housing, so the newly laid out park was now much more desirable. (Paul, 3:27)

- The buyers were a family very experienced with commercial real estate ownership, but they were breaking in to the mobile home park business for the first time. They were very careful with their due diligence. Paul thinks they’ve already raised rents and are infilling those empty lots. (Paul, 4:41)

- Paul learned from this deal the importance of knowing what you’re going to be up against that might challenge the sale and to come up with effective solutons. You’ve got to be able to see the park for what it is, and how it can be improved if it has to be to meet market expectations. (Paul, 5:35)

- If you’re a buyer in a decent market, even a park with problems can be improved and value added if you know how to do it and are willing to invest the time and money. (Paul, 6:24)

Even parks with warts can attract motivated buyers. We can show you how to add value to a park in a great location, even if significant work must be done. Call Paul or Max at The Mobile Home Park Broker, (678) 932-0200.

Power Quotes in This Episode:

“We are very good overcoming (challenges) because we’ve seen everything thrown at us in the mobile home park and RV world.” (Max, 1:09)

“It was just a matter of putting together the best plan because the demand for affordable housing was there.” (Paul, 3:27)

“I think (the new owners) are already infilling and have raised rents. And they’re already off to the races and have done well.” (Paul, 4:41)

“If you have the right plan together, and you know how to infill quicker, and you’re in a decent market, you know, when things change in the next three to five years you’re gonna be sitting in a really good position.” (Paul, 6:24))