A boy named sue
Whether you currently own or are buying a mobile home park, it's likely
that you will need to Change the name. Just like Johnny Cash's 'A Boy Named
Sue,' many mobile home parks have names which are inappropriate and downright
embarrassing for residents to live under, and a wonderful marketing opportunity
is missed every day that they are not changed...
The problem
Most mobile home parks were built in the 1970's or earlier, at a time when mobile home park residents dreamed of having their own private jukebox and pink flamingos in the yard.
They were the very essence of tacky, and the park names matched the customer. Some were clever take-offs on the mobile home concept, like "Roll-A-Home". Many were rustic-sounding like "Wagon Wheel".
The mom-and-pop outfits that created these parks may have known how to build the infrastructure, but they were not professional business people and they had no marketing strategy or an idea that the park might someday be worth something.
Some trailer park names are so bad that you have to wonder if the owner was trying to make fun of the tenants or the whole concept of trailer living. Some parks don't even have a name but only a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood with a phone number or "Trailer Park or "Mobile Park" crudely painted on it.
Like the grave of the unknown soldier, they are nameless
plots of dirt where tenants live and die and don't even know how to identify
themselves.
Choosing the name
You are probably much more marketing savvy than the original owner, and
selecting a better name should be easy. Here is one simple method:
What is the number one sales point for someone moving to or
living in the park?
Reduce this sales point to one or two essential words.
Add the name "Estates" at the start or end of these words.
For example, if your park has huge pine trees on it that everybody loves, then
the appropriate name would be "Pine Tree Estates". Or if it's the frontage on Lake Forest, then it
should be "The Estates of Lake Forest", or "Lake Forest Estates". It's that
simple.
Why a classy name? Because people in mobile home parks don't want to be
reminded of the fact with a lousy name that they have to use among the rest of
the world. What kid at school wants to tell his friends, "I live in
Roll-A-Home"? No one does. Everybody wants to feel important and equal. Give
them that opportunity!
Enacting the new name
After choosing a new name, the first step is to notify the city of what you are
doing and make sure that it is legal. I have never encountered a city that had
a problem with changing the name. Once you have permission:
Order a decent quality sign from a professional company,
which costs around £1,300.
Send a letter to tenants about the name Change.
Update the marketing materials at all of the mobile home
dealers. The final Change is your yellow page ad, so keep watching for that
renewal notice.
The benefits
A new, classy name has multiple benefits for your property:
A name alone delivers your sales message to potential customers (remember to
put the key sales point in the name).
Residents have more pride of ownership when they take pride in the name of the
place where they live.
A new name erases a park's past ills and bad reputation.
A new name is a plus to potential lenders (remember that the name will be throughout your loan application documents).
A classy name will help you get a higher sales price if you sell the park
someday.
The cost of changing a mobile home park's name is nominal, but the benefits are
priceless. There is no reason to not do it, so start immediately. You will be
very happy that you did. And so will your tenants.
Written by David Reynolds for www.nuwireinvestor.com