Florida’s warm climate, beautiful white beaches, and the lack of state income taxes made the state a preferred choice for movers and mobile home dwellers.
Florida is second only to Texas in terms of the total number of mobile homes. Still, its relatively high standard and lower cost of living are attracting more movers from across the US.
Because mobile homes are becoming increasingly popular in Florida places like Sarasota, many people buy multiple homes in the same park. If you are planning to do the same, this article will tell you exactly what you should know before owning multiple mobile homes in the same mobile home park in Sarasota.
Many times, we at The Mobile Home Dealer have several people come to us monthly looking to purchase more than one mobile home within the same mobile home park throughout the Sarasota area.
This could be because the Buyers are investors looking to fix up and rent or flip these additional mobile homes.
This is not always the case, as many times, other Buyers are looking to purchase a second mobile home within the same community for various reasons.
Just last week, we sold a mobile home to an out-of-state Buyer whose husband was looking for a “project home” to work on after moving into their current home. This Buyer was a carpenter by trade and, after retiring recently, was not ready to quit working. He felt working on a project down the street from his home would help keep his physical and mental skills sharp.
They planned to live in one home and take their time fixing up the other one. Once this project home was finished, they said they would want us to sell it for them, use the proceeds to purchase another mobile home in the same community, and repeat the process.
Sounds easy enough, right?
Unfortunately, not so fast.
Each mobile home park in the greater Sarasota area has a park prospectus, which essentially consists of the park’s rules and regulations.
This document will state when the trash is picked up, if a home can be moved from the park, what the rules are for animals, and how many homes one can own within the same park.
Any would-be resident or sales agent needs to inquire about this document and make sure it is fully read and understood before looking to work or live within the park, as often, the questions or concerns you will eventually encounter will be answered in this document.
Most parks throughout the Sarasota area have a limit on how many homes a resident can own at one time.
The park owner sets this limit because he does not want to give too much authority to any single resident.
To explain this, allow us to review a basic example below:
For this example, let’s assume there are 100 total homes in the park, and within this park, there are no vacant lots, so every home that can be in the park is physically there. One resident moves in and, over time, buys 20 homes in the park, including their own. This means that one person owns 20% of the entire park. Let’s further assume that lot rent increases yearly, and the year the 20 home-owning residents own these homes, it increases by $20. When the rent increase comes out, the resident who owns the 20 homes tells the park they will not pay the increase and will remove their 20 homes if the rent does not stay the same.
If this were to happen and the resident was to move all of their homes, then the park would lose 20% of all of their lot rent payments each month, which would cripple the profitability of the park with the owner.
This simple example shows that a park will cap the number of homes a single resident can own because the park owner does not want any resident to have too much controlling power over the future outcome of the park’s lot rent.
When looking to buy a second, third, or even fourth mobile home within the park where you reside, make sure you understand the rules and regulations prior to doing so so that there will be no issue with your plans to purchase mobile homes.
Owning multiple mobile homes in the same park can be profitable if you plan to flip them. Still, without knowing the responsibilities of being a mobile home owner, the laws and regulations of the park, and the things you can and can’t do, can result in a bigger loss.
Managing multiple mobile homes needs bigger maintenance money, so be prepared to have a deeper pocket.
Buying multiple mobile homes also requires a fair amount of time and money and a longer reselling time.
If you plan to buy, repair, and resell a mobile home, the best advice we can give is to do it one or two at a time, depending on the park’s regulation on how many mobile homes an owner can have.
If you’re looking for a warm climate and beautiful white beaches, you may want to consider buying a mobile home in Sarasota, Florida. The state’s lack of income taxes makes it a preferred choice for movers and mobile home dwellers. Sarasota also has several golf courses, parks, and other recreational activities.
See Also:
- How To Budget For Your Sarasota Mobile Home-Roof Repairs
- Is It A Good Idea To Buy A Sarasota Mobile Home Fixer Upper?
- When Is The Best Time To Sell Your Sarasota Mobile Home?
- How To Buy A Sarasota Florida Mobile Home Virtually
- How To Speed Up The Selling Process Of Your Sarasota Florida Mobile Home?