18 Ways You Can Add Value to an Underperforming Park

In the last 6 years I've purchased 31 mobile home and RV parks with investors.Here are 18 ways you can add value to an underperforming park:

1. Signage. Many parks have either no or too small signage. We'll have a massive sign prepped by closing so we can install on day 1. Many of these parks are on roads that get 10-30k cars/day driving by.

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2. Local paper. Yes, newspaper ads for vacancies work great in rural towns!

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3. Landscaping. $10k-$20k in landscaping can justify a small rent bump. A $50 bump across 50 pads = $450k in added value at a 7.5% cap.

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4. Roads. Similar to the above, we go in and fix the roads. There's almost always something to fix, especially if gravel...

...upgrading to concrete or asphalt has never penciled for us, however.

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5. Adding portable self storage. I used to be against this, but it's grown on me. Almost every park has space to put down 10x10s. They're self sufficient & really boosts the value & makes tenants stickier.

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6. Backfilling vacant pads. Buy used RVs or MHs & seller finance them to make move-ins more frictionless, while still not having to maintain them.

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7. Converting park-owned homes to tenant-owned. This varies state by state but is fairly straightforward in TX. No more maintenance.

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8. Posting FB Marketplace & CL ads. Literally almost no parks do this. You'll have inquiries on day 1 and it takes 30 mins.

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9. Adding a billboard. I've never done this myself, but I bought a park in E TX that had 2. We parcelled them off & sold them. Need to be on a thoroughfare.

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10. Raising rents. Yes, we often raise rents in year 1 & a few years later. Only after adding value & providing able time to move out. We don't do it yearly like many big players. Either we can do it respectfully, or a REIT can buy a park and be a-holes about it.

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11. Website.....Wix is our favorite. We literally copy/paste the template for every park we buy & swap out the sitemap, URL, address, numbers & names.

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12. Adding online pay. We use Appfolio for MH and Campsot for RV. Rent Manager works ok too but we like Appfolio better. Not an affiliate...

...We also show tenants how to submit complaints online as well. Converting to online pay is tough. It takes several months and a couple usually move out over it. Reloadable debit cards usually do the trick for stragglers.

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13. No onsite manager. I used to buy parks small...enough for this to be possible. It ain't happening in parks with tennis courts and a pool.14. Be available. It sounds simple, but tenants...

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14. Be available. It sounds simple, but tenants....need to have several ways to contact you at any time. Phone, text and email. Especially if we are replacing an onsite owner or manager.

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15. Send small gifts on their anniversary. Basically no tenant has ever experienced this before, so an Amazon gift card goes a long way.

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16. Trim the trees on month 1. The trees are rarely trimmed when we buy the park and branches are almost always hanging too low. Tenants love stuff like this.

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17. Find the tenant that spills all the secrets. There's always one. You just saved $3k/month on a property manager.

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18. Get every single tenant on the phone in week 1. Learn all the gripes and positives. Fix as many of the common problems as you can right awayBelieve it or not, the VAST majority of tenants aren't pissed when you raise rents if you do the stuff above. They want a nice place.