How to Buy Your First Mobile Home Park: A Due Diligence Checklist

By Tyler Durden | September 29, 2026 | Back to Blog

Use this checklist before you make an offer on a mobile home park. It tells you what to match against the seller's numbers, what records to request, and what to make a closing condition.

This is general information, not legal, tax, engineering, environmental, or financing advice. Zoning, title, water, wastewater, landlord-tenant, and lending rules vary by state and locality and change over time. Confirm them with the relevant agency and qualified professionals before closing.

A park purchase is not a single-home purchase

Buying a park means buying land and an operating business that collects site rent and may collect other charges. Buying one home inside a park can be different: an individually titled manufactured home can be personal property, while a home with owned land may be secured as real property under the applicable state process. Fannie Mae's titling guidance and its Selling Guide (United States, current guidance and guide dated December 10, 2025) describe that distinction.

Start by separating resident-owned homes from park-owned homes. With a resident-owned home, the park usually owns the site, not the home. With a park-owned home, the buyer may acquire an additional home, its rental operations, and its title work. If you are still comparing finance structures for a single home, see Chattel Loan vs. Real-Property Mortgage. For a first look at a park before buying a home in it, see How to Evaluate the Perfect Mobile Home Park for Your Next Flip.

Set the financing screen before making an offer

For its Manufactured Housing Communities product, Fannie Mae's term sheet (United States, © 2026) lists up to 80% loan-to-value (LTV) and at least 1.25x debt service coverage ratio (DSCR). It generally limits park-owned homes to 25% of homes. The term sheet allows up to 35% when the borrower has a business plan to reduce that percentage over time.

Those are Fannie Mae product terms, not a promise that every lender will offer them or that a deal will qualify. Ask the lender you plan to use which home count, income, expenses, and condition items it will underwrite. This is financing information only; lending rules and terms vary by state, locality, lender, and time.

Due diligence checklist

Home mix and occupancy

Reconcile the advertised site count to a site map. Mark every site on the map. Why it matters: a count that does not match the map can change the income you are buying.
List occupied, vacant, and abandoned sites. Confirm the status by walking the park and comparing it with the seller's list. Why it matters: vacant and abandoned sites do not produce the same cash flow or work as occupied sites.
Count resident-owned homes. Make a separate count from the occupied-site count. Why it matters: resident-owned homes can mean site-rent income without the park owning the home.
Count park-owned homes. Identify each one by site. Why it matters: the share can affect financing eligibility, including the Fannie Mae term-sheet limits above.
Request title, serial-number, and HUD-label information for every park-owned home. Compare the records with the home and state title system; this title-check guide and HUD-tag guide show the records to start with. Why it matters: a park-owned home can require personal-property title work that county land records do not show.
Identify homes that are uninhabitable or need removal. Put the site and condition in writing. Why it matters: the buyer needs to budget for repair, removal, vacancy, or a new use for that site.

Rent roll and collections

Tie every occupied space to a signed lease and site number. Check names, rent, term, and site against the rent roll. Why it matters: a rent-roll line is not proof of an enforceable lease.
Compare the rent roll with bank deposits. Request statements that cover the same period as the rent roll. Why it matters: gross scheduled rent can differ from cash collected.
List arrears and concessions. Ask for the amount, age, and reason for every balance or discount. Why it matters: advertised income may include rent that is unpaid or reduced.
Identify separate utility, pet, storage, and late-fee charges. State which charges are recurring and which are one-time. Why it matters: each charge needs support before it is counted as operating income.
Obtain 12 months of utility bills and operating invoices. Include water, sewer, trash, repairs, payroll, taxes, and insurance records when applicable. Why it matters: expenses affect net operating income, not just the seller's gross-rent total.

Before assuming a future rent increase, review the leases and the rules for the address. Lot Rent Increase Notice Laws by State explains why notice rules can change the timing of a planned increase.

Water, sewer, and other infrastructure

Identify city water, a well, or another supply. Get the ownership and service records for the system. Why it matters: the buyer needs to know who operates and repairs the water supply.
Determine whether the water system meets the federal public-water-system threshold. Under 40 CFR 141.2 (United States, checked September 29, 2026), that threshold is at least 15 service connections or regular service to an average of at least 25 people for at least 60 days a year. Why it matters: the answer changes which compliance records to request.
Obtain water-quality, compliance, and repair records. EPA lists mobile home parks among common examples of ancillary water systems in its publication (United States, EPA 816-R-99-012, 1999). Why it matters: records can reveal a compliance issue or a repair need before closing.
Identify city sewer, septic, a lagoon, or another wastewater system. Confirm who owns and operates it. Why it matters: a system type alone does not decide the deal, but it changes the records and specialist review needed.
Request permits, design or as-built records, pumping logs, inspection records, and capacity information. EPA says septic systems are generally permitted and inspected by state, tribal, or local authorities, and advises keeping maintenance records (EPA septic guidance, United States, checked September 29, 2026). Why it matters: a permitted-capacity, maintenance, or compliance issue can change the price or financing.
Inspect roads, drainage, electrical distribution, gas, meters, and trash service. Match what you see to service contracts and repair records. Why it matters: a capital repair or missing service can change the cost to operate the park.

Do not call an old water system, septic, or a lagoon an automatic deal killer. Treat each as a high-cost or compliance-sensitive item that needs records and professional inspection.

Zoning and title and land records

Confirm the parcel, legal description, and owner. Compare the seller's contract information with county land records. Why it matters: the land being offered must match the land you intend to buy.
Obtain preliminary title work and identify liens, easements, access rights, and restrictions. Ask the title professional what must be released or accepted. Why it matters: access, lien, or restriction problems may not be visible during a drive-through.
Ask planning or zoning staff to confirm the approved use and legal site count in writing. Provide the parcel and current site map. Why it matters: the number of sites marketed by a seller may not be the legally approved number.
Obtain conditional-use permits, nonconforming-use records, open violations, and expansion restrictions. Ask what transfers with the land and what needs action before closing. Why it matters: a park may operate under conditions that limit changes or expansion.
Check property-tax status. Ask the applicable county office for the current status for the parcel. Why it matters: unpaid taxes or a different assessment can change the closing and operating numbers.
Save FEMA map results and the map effective date. FEMA's Map Service Center is the official public source for National Flood Insurance Program flood-hazard information (United States, checked September 29, 2026). Why it matters: flood-hazard information is part of the property's risk record, even though a map outside a hazard area is not proof that flooding cannot occur (United States, checked September 29, 2026).
Check the state title system as well as county records for park-owned homes when applicable. Keep the result with the home-by-home list. Why it matters: an individually titled home can have a personal-property record separate from land records.

Worked financing screen: example only

Example only; not a real park, offer, lender quote, or promise of financing. A 30-home-site park has 8 park-owned homes. 8 / 30 = 26.7% park-owned homes. That exceeds Fannie Mae's general 25% limit, although it is within the term sheet's conditional maximum of 35% if there is a business plan to reduce the percentage.

At a hypothetical $1,000,000 price, 80% LTV means a maximum loan of $800,000 ($1,000,000 x 0.80). If annual NOI is $125,000 and annual debt service is $100,000, DSCR is 1.25x ($125,000 / $100,000). The hypothetical passes the stated 1.25x Fannie Mae term-sheet threshold exactly, before lender-specific adjustments or due-diligence discoveries.

Turn the checklist into offer conditions

Before making an offer, set a deadline for the records above and conditions for your site-count reconciliation, rent-roll and deposit review, title work, zoning confirmation, infrastructure review, and lender screen. A seller's statement is a place to start, not a substitute for those records.