Florida Mobile Home Park Broker: What I Do and What It Costs
A mobile home park broker prices your park from its income, finds buyers and lenders who actually buy your kind of park, and keeps the deal alive through due diligence and financing. I sell only Florida income property, I charge 4 percent paid at closing, and you can see your number before you ever call me.
If you searched for a mobile home park broker in Florida, you probably have a park, a decision coming, and a healthy suspicion of anyone who wants to sell it for you. Good. Keep that. Here is exactly what I do, what I charge, and how to tell whether I, or anyone else, is the right person for your park.
A quick word on names, because you will see several. Park owners, lenders, and the rest of the industry use mobile home park, MHP, manufactured housing community, and land-lease community for the same asset: land you own, lots you rent, and homes that belong either to you or to your residents. Whatever you call it, that is what I sell. A mobile home park broker, an MHP broker, and a manufactured housing community broker are the same job, and it is the job this brokerage was built for.
What does a mobile home park broker actually do?
A park broker does five jobs, and the listing is the smallest of them. First, pricing: building a value from the park's real income, expenses, and cap rate, the way a buyer and a lender will. Second, packaging: turning your rent roll, lot count, utility setup, and home ownership mix into a file a serious buyer can underwrite in an afternoon. Third, finding the buyer: parks trade to a small, specific pool of operators, 1031 buyers, and seller-financing buyers, not to the general public. Fourth, vetting: making sure the buyer can actually close. Fifth, keeping the deal alive through inspection, survey, utility review, and financing, which is where most park deals die.
Why a park needs a park broker
A mobile home park is not a residential deal with more doors. Its value lives in things a house agent never touches: who owns the homes, whether you are on city utilities or a well and septic, how many lots are licensed with the state, what the residents' lot rental agreements say, and whether a buyer's lender will touch the property at all. I wrote a whole post on how to choose a mobile home park broker, and the short version is this: if the person you are talking to cannot explain why park-owned homes change your cap rate, they are going to price your park wrong.
What I charge
My fee to sell a park is 4 percent of the sale price, paid only at closing. No upfront fees, no marketing fees, and nothing owed if the park does not sell. I publish that number because park owners deserve to compare brokers on the same terms, and because an owner who knows the going rate negotiates better with everyone, including me.
How I price a park
Every park I sell starts with the same math a buyer runs: real collected income, honest expenses, and a cap rate that matches the park's risk. For the older Florida parks I usually sell, the ones with park-owned single-wides built between the 1970s and the mid-90s, buyers want a higher return for the extra work and risk, so those parks price lower for the same income. Tenant-owned parks on city water and sewer trade higher. I would rather build your number from your own lot rent, occupancy, expenses, and home ownership than hand you a rule of thumb. I cross-check every value against recorded Florida park sales, and I published what Florida parks actually sold for per lot so you can check my numbers instead of trusting them.
Who buys Florida parks right now
Three groups, mostly. Regional operators adding parks near ones they already run. Investors coming out of a 1031 exchange with a deadline and cash. And buyers who can only close with seller financing, because older parks are hard to finance with a bank. Knowing which of the three fits your park, before it goes to market, is most of the job.
What working with me looks like
- A value first. Run your park through my valuation model, or call me and I will walk through it with you. No listing agreement needed to get a number.
- A plan in writing. Price, buyer pool, how the park gets marketed, and how we protect your residents' privacy and your staff while it is for sale.
- Chapter 723 handled. If your residents have a homeowners' association, Florida law gives it notice rights when you offer the park for sale. I build those into the timeline. Here is how the Chapter 723 sale notice works.
- One person start to finish. I answer my own phone at 321-275-KING, and I am the one who negotiates your deal.
Where I work in Florida
As a mobile home park broker in Florida, I sell parks in every county in the state except Volusia and Brevard. Lot counts for every licensed park come from the Florida Department of Health license file, so wherever your park sits, I start from the same public record a buyer will check. I counted every one of them: how many mobile home parks are in Florida, county by county.
Wherever your park is in Florida, the statewide recorded sale prices I linked above are the best place to start, and my valuation model will turn your own numbers into a value.
When you should not hire me
If your park is a large, newer, institutional-quality community with hundreds of lots, a national brokerage may reach buyers I do not. I say so on my honest comparison page. And if you are not ready to sell, do not list. Get your number, fix what is fixable, and come back when the timing is yours.
Questions owners ask
What does a mobile home park broker charge?
I charge 4 percent of the sale price, paid only at closing. There are no upfront fees, no marketing fees, and nothing is owed if the park does not sell. I publish that number so park owners can compare brokers on the same terms. Whatever broker you talk to, ask for the fee, the listing length, and what it costs to leave, in plain words.
What is an MHP broker?
An MHP broker is a real estate broker who specializes in selling mobile home parks, also called manufactured housing communities or land-lease communities. The job is pricing the park from its income, packaging the rent roll, lot count, utilities and home ownership mix for buyers, finding the operators, 1031 buyers and seller-financing buyers who buy parks, vetting them, and keeping the deal alive through due diligence and financing.
Can a residential real estate agent sell my mobile home park?
A residential agent holds the same license, but a park is not a residential deal with more doors. Its value depends on who owns the homes, whether you are on city utilities or a well and septic, how many lots are licensed with the state, what the lot rental agreements say, and whether a buyer's lender will touch it. A broker who cannot explain those will likely price your park wrong.
Can I find out what my park is worth before I hire a broker?
Yes. You can run your park through my valuation model, or call me at 321-275-KING and I will walk through it with you. No listing agreement is needed to get a number. It starts from the same math a buyer runs: real collected income, honest expenses, and a cap rate that matches the park's risk, cross-checked against recorded Florida park sales.
Which Florida counties do you work in?
I sell mobile home parks in every Florida county except Volusia and Brevard. I have published a statewide look at what Florida parks actually sold for per lot, from recorded sales. Wherever your park is, I start from its licensed lot count in the Florida Department of Health file and its real income, the same way a buyer will.
