Expectations Vs. Reality Of Mobile Home Investing (8 Misconceptions Cleared Up)

People have a lot of expectations about this business before they start. But expectations aren’t always reality.

We don’t make extreme claims and we don’t make false promises.

And we give it to you straight up.

So you can come into this Game with both eyes open.

Here are 8 expectations people have about mobile home investing that may not be reality.

1. Expectation #1: Mobile home prices are cheap.

70-80% of deals are not cheap.

Finding a mobile home for under $5,000 is not the norm.

This is why we recommend new mobile home investors focus on “no money down” strategies.

2. Expectation #2: Park managers will be your main lead source.

Leads from park managers aren’t predictable.

And you’ll be relying on them to help you out.

This is fine if you don’t plan on only doing this part-time.

But if you want to scale, you’ll have to leverage your own marketing to get deals.

Don’t stop building relationships with park managers.

Just develop other lead sources.

3. Expectation #3: Simple and fast means easy.

We’ve said before that mobile home investing ain’t get rich quick, it’s get rich slow.

Just because it’s a lot simpler than other forms of real estate investing, doesn’t mean there’s no work involved.

You’re gonna have to put in work.

Sometimes, you will run into problems and deals can get more challenging to complete.

Yes, there are deals that happen in a few days or weeks, but that isn’t always the case.

The key thing to remember is that as long as you have a blueprint for success and access to a community following the same, you’ll never be alone in your journey.

So, no matter how hard it gets, there’s always be someone to coach you, guide you, and cheer you on.

4. Expectation #4: You have to do repairs on properties.

Jay and Samera made the mistake, early on, of only doing fix-and-flips and buy-and-holds (to generate passive income.)

They soon found themselves cash-strapped.

Buyers expect that a home will need repairs and are willing to do it themselves, as long as the property is priced fairly.

And a lot of homes don’t need repairs.

Your main focus when starting out should be to generate as much revenue as possible, not chasing passive income.

5. Expectation #5: Transferring titles is easy.

They can be easy.

And they can also be hard.

Sometimes you’ll get the title in minutes.

Sometimes it can take weeks.

Like if there’s no title on the home, if there’s a lien on the property, if the lienholder is deceased, or the lienholder is a bank that no longer exists (true story.)

A lot of things can happen, and you’re gonna have to figure out how to work through them to get the title.

The important thing here is that you put a value on your time.

If a deal’s gonna take weeks to complete and you’re only gonna make a couple racks out of it, is that worth your time to pursue?

You might be better off saying no to that deal and spending that time on finding other, easier deals.

You can always make more money.

You can never make more time.

6. Expectation #6: Buyers who like the home will buy the home.

Buyers are flaky.

Send as many people through your properties as possible.

If someone wants the home reserved, they gotta put down an earnest deposit.

Make sure they have skin in the game.

And don’t take the home off the market.

The deal ain’t done until the check is cashed.

7. Expectation #7: People who live in mobile homes are broke.

This is the biggest myth about mobile home communities.

Mobile home buyers have cash and good credit (we’ve seen credit scores in the low- to high-700s.)

They choose to live a more affordable lifestyle.

Or they’re actively working on their credit so they can eventually buy a stick-built home.

And people in the 55+ communities don’t even want a big home – they want something small that doesn’t take a lot of work to maintain.

8. Expectation #8: Free homes will always make you money.

Sometimes, a free home can turn into a very profitable deal.

Other times, it’ll be a ton of work for very little payoff.

Park managers will offer a home for free because they couldn’t find anyone willing to put in the work to bring it up to park standard.

And the home might take eight, nine, ten grand to fix up, plus the lot rent they’ll keep charging you.

Any time you see the word “free,” look a little closer.

Make sure you do your due diligence.

If we haven’t scared you off by now…

And you believe you can be a successful mobile home investor…

Watch our free case study about a student of ours who made a $10,000 profit in 48 hours selling a used mobile home.

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