Texas has been an important part of our mobile home park past. We have owned mobile home parks in Texas for over 25 years – it’s an extremely vital part of our strategy to look at every deal that comes up in Texas that meets our criteria. So do many other investor groups. So why is Texas such as great state for mobile home parks?
It has the largest number of them in the U.S.
They say that “everything is bigger in Texas” and that’s definitely true when it comes to the sheer number of mobile home parks in Texas vs. the other 49 states. Texas has 5176 mobile home parks which ranks it as #1 in the U.S. Why is that? One answer would be that Texas is a very large state physically, but another reason might be that Texas had many of the elements needed to form new mobile home parks back in the formative 1950s and 1960s. Texas has many military bases as well as colleges and universities, and these are the foundation of many park developments in those decades.
Fast-growing markets create fast-growing lot rents
Texas has extremely fast growth and population influx. As a result there is always supply vs. demand pressure for raw housing units. And this demand creates an environment in which housing prices are always on the rise. As mobile home park lot rents are a function of surrounding apartment and home rates, then the pressure is always on for higher rents in all forms and this trickles down to lot rents, as well. The population of Texas has grown from 11.2 million people in 1970 to nearly 30 million today.
Huge demand for affordable housing
It’s no surprise that the U.S. is in a huge affordable housing shortage – and Texas is no different. With apartment rents average over $1,200 per month, there’s no question that the demand for mobile home parks is extremely high in Texas. Many parks get over 100 calls per week from potential customers. Since customers are the life blood of any business, this huge demand is very favorable for mobile home park ownership.
Protective state laws
Texas has some of the best protective laws for park owners in the U.S. The state passed a new law a few years ago to protect and preserve the right for all park owners to utilize their vacant lots without concerns of cities trying to block them. They have strong property laws on everything from evictions to eminent domain. These strong protections make owning a mobile home park in Texas “safer” from city disruptions than many other parts of the U.S.
An excellent MHA
49 of the 50 states have a “Manufactured Housing Association” (also known as “MHA”) – the only exception being Hawaii since it has no mobile home parks. And of these 49 MHAs in the U.S., Texas is at the top of the pack. Their efforts have helped to create the attractive environment for mobile home parks that all owners relish. And we highly urge any Texas park owner to join this association.
Conclusion
If you’re looking at buying a mobile home park in 2020, you should definitely put Texas on that list. It offers particularly attractive property fundamentals and a nurturing environment that makes you job as owner much easier and profitable.