They were:
1. Reduced Competition - There are less people who invest in mobile homes than there are in stick built homes.
2. Less Monetary Risk - It may be easier to find a positive cash-flow on a mobile home than other type of property because they are often less expensive.
3. Better Chance for Appreciation - While mobile homes in parks face an almost certain depreciation over time, a unit with land helps the property to better maintain its value and possibly appreciate over time.
4. Focusing on Demand - The authors actively go after properties in markets where there is a need for affordable housing.
5. Less Expensive to Maintain - Tony and Scott believe that the repairs needed on manufactured homes typically cost less than on stick-built construction.
6. Benefit of a Long Term Investment - These investors rent their properties at a positive cash-flow and write off real estate depriciation and many of their expenses.
7. Competitive Product/Easier to Replace - They argue that it is easier to replace an outdated mobile home with a newer one than it is to replace an older stick built home.
8. Better Control - When a mobile home owner also owns the land which the trailer sits upon, they are not beholden to the demands of the owner of a park. Be the landlord versus having to answer to one.
9. Greater Leverage - They believe that more lenders feel confortable with real estate investments than they do with mobile home investment notes.
10. Passive Real Estate Investing - The authors note that one of the most unique aspects of investing in manufactured homes on owned land is the ability to sell the mobile home and rent the land.
One of the greatest hurdles getting into this type of business may be obtaining financing for mobile home loans that are to be used as investment properties. Many large manufactured housing lenders such as American Financial Resources only offer manufactured home financing for units which are to be used as buyers' primary residences. It may require a good amount of digging to find a lender who will lend on mobile homes as rentals. If you find some, please post your find as a comment so that others can benefit.
You can read the entire article here: http://mobilehomeuniversity.com/colellaarticle1.html
