Surviving a Natural Disaster: Finally Filled a Home!

by mobilehomegurl
in natural disaster, surviving a natural disaster
on October 14, 2016

(Note: This will be part of a series of posts titled “Surviving a Natural Disaster” where I go over some of the things I’ve learned with my own experience. Hope you enjoy it!)

If you’ve read my last post and are a subscriber to my newsletter, you’ll know it’s definitely been a rollercoaster these past couple of months.

With that being said, I’ve finally filled a home. Hooray!

All this fix up work from the flood has really bogged me and my business down. So when I finally got this home fixed up (as you all know my progress if you’re a regular subscriber), I got excited to get it filled…fast.

(Note: For anyone interested, I’ve learned so much about fixing up homes and hiring contractors that I wrote more about it here. Thanks for reading!)

Though as you may already know, sometimes things just don’t go like you plan. When life gives you lemons, you’ve got to learn how to make lemonade.

And so I did. I pushed on.

Despite all the drama I went through (as described in my newsletter), I could not accept defeat.

The problem wasn’t so much finding residents to fill the home. But finding qualified residents.

Before the flood, before the new investor group took over, the park was a great community. But after that, it just went downhill.

(Note: The entire story has been explained in my regular newsletter. Be sure to subscribe to get the latest updates!)

And it continues to go downhill from there.

Though, I finally found a qualified family for the home. But can you guess the kicker?

Now this is where I almost had a heart attack…seriously.

After the new residents were approved, the park manager informs me that they would owe an additional security deposit as well as an increase in lot rent of $135.

Are you kidding me?

Calmly, I told the park manager (who was new as the old one quit…again story in the newsletter), that the residents were merely going to rent the home out and not take title to the home just yet.

With that, the park manager agreed and told me to just have the residents come in and sign their paperwork (which is standard in this business). And that was the end of that.

(Note: For anyone who seems a bit lost, sometimes when new companies take over communities they let existing residents pay the same amount of lot rent. Though for new ones, they may increase the price. However, this only applies to residents who actually take title to the homes not the ones who don’t.)

Crisis averted…for now.

Which leads me to the reason why I’ve decided to switch gears and focus on finding land. Doing business in parks is good experience in the beginning, but eventually you may lose control. And that’s not a good thing.

(Note: If you’re interested, here’s a good book on the subject. Thanks for reading!)

All in all, I was able to fill the home with good residents. I found a nice family for it and received a $1700 move-in fee and it cash flows in the $500+ per month range for the next 15 years. It makes for a nice and relaxing cash flow payday for many years to come.