Collecting Keys - Real Estate Investing Podcast

Land & Mobile Homes: How Investors Find, Underwrite and Exit These Deals

Raw land, lot splits, mobile homes and small development projects usually draw fewer bidders than a clean three-bedroom house. This guide pulls together what Mike DeHaan, Dan Austin and their guests have said about sourcing these deals, running the numbers, and getting paid on the way out. It's for investors who understand basic acquisitions and want to know what changes when there's no house on the lot — or when the house has axles.

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Why is there less competition on land and mobile homes?

Most investors are trained to look at houses, which leaves gaps. On EP 279, Jacob Kline says roughly 75% of his volume is double-wide mobile homes on land — a category he describes as one many investors throw away — buying in the $70K–$120K range against ARVs around $240K–$280K. He did about 230 deals in four years.

The flip side is friction. Banks and hard money lenders generally don't lend on raw land, as Pete Reese explains on EP 124, and Aaron Bihl notes on EP 195 that hard money lenders often refuse manufactured housing or cap leverage at 65% instead of 75%. That friction suppresses competition, but it means you need a capital plan before a deal plan. Dan is blunt on EP 423: above the foundation, costs are knowable; below grade, they aren't.

From: EP 279 · EP 124 · EP 423 · EP 195

How do you underwrite a raw land deal?

On EP 423, Dan walks through two Spokane lots and treats site costs the way he treats rehab costs on a flip. He checks whether the lot is flat, treed, or sitting on rock — a rock outcropping means paying an excavator with a rock hammer to dig below the frost line (roughly 30 inches in northern climates) plus footing depth. He calls local excavators for hourly rates and digging conditions, since they know which parts of town are rocky or sandy, and calls city development services to confirm whether water and sewer taps exist.

The numbers add up fast. On that lot the permit alone ran about $7,000–$8,000, with total utility costs estimated at $20,000–$25,000. Deal one retailed around $110,000, so minus $25,000 in utilities the break-even was roughly $85,000 — they negotiated to $36,000.

Deal two died on highest-and-best-use. After setbacks (25 feet front, 15 rear, 5 sides), an 80-foot-deep lot left room for about a 40x40 house, which builders don't want. With around $50,000 in utilities plus $12,000–$15,000 to split the lot, the $170,000 ask didn't pencil against two lots worth about $100,000 each.

From: EP 423 · EP 42

What does a lot split cost, and how long does it take?

On EP 42, Mike and Dan walk through splitting an oversized corner lot off a Spokane house they bought for $289,000. Their process: call the city or county land development and zoning departments, ask the water, sewer, electric and gas providers about utility taps, then get surveyor and builder quotes. Most of that takes a week or two.

In their market a one-into-two split ran $10,000–$12,000 — roughly half the surveyor — plus about $5,000 in city fees. Cost is per lot but drops with scale. On the house they were around $400,000 all in against a $450,000 value, a marginal flip, but the separated infill lot could be worth $200,000 or support a duplex renting around $2,000 per unit. On EP 261, Jon Jasniak says he prefers plat-exempt or minor subdivides outside city limits (10+ acres in Texas, 5+ in Tennessee) and avoids places like California where entitlement can drag 18 months and kill the IRR.

From: EP 42 · EP 261

Can you make money entitling land without closing?

On EP 88, Damon Amato describes the model he and his architect partner built: put land under contract contingent on approvals, pay for engineering and architecture, run the planning and zoning board meetings themselves, then assign the permitted deal to a builder without ever closing. One New Hampshire example — a $265,000 contract plus about $30,000 in permitting — turned two single-family lots into approvals for 12 townhouses and a house, sold to a builder for $900,000. Damon says they've spent nothing on marketing since 2016, instead watching board meetings for developments that fail to get permitted and approaching those sellers afterward.

He's candid about risk. His first deal, a five-unit condo conversion with a below-floodplain building, lost over $100,000; a 12% and 5-point hard money loan plus taxes and flood insurance produced a $31,000 first payment when he had $26,000 in the bank. He survived by wholesaling three houses during the project. His advice: if you're not financially, emotionally and mentally prepared for a $50,000 loss on one project, don't start. He also notes Massachusetts permitting is slow — a three-lot site he expected to take two years and around $100,000.

From: EP 88

How do land flippers source and fund deals at volume?

Pete Reese on EP 124 built a virtual land flipping business doing roughly $4 million in gross revenue in 2022, buying raw land sight-unseen and reselling in about 60 days. He mails actual blind offers: page one introduces the company, page two is a one-page purchase agreement with parcel number, acreage, county and offer price. Sellers sometimes just sign and mail it back. Lists come from DataTree, filtered for raw land with no improvement value, then trimmed of duplicates and railroad, county and utility-owned parcels. Pushing volume past a point raised his cost per deal from about $2,500 to $3,500–$4,500, so he cut from roughly 100,000 pieces a month to 50,000 and invested in list cleanup instead. He warns parcels under 10 acres are harder because a building site is the only exit.

Jon Jasniak on EP 261 uses the MLS. He offered $510K on a listing asking about $1,050,000 and $126,050 on a $350K ask — most sellers hadn't received any offers at all. Before signing he runs a $50 geo-targeted Facebook ad for the lots he plans to create: under $10 cost per lead is strong, under $5 very strong. His Andrews County deal shows the financing: 345 acres at $1,500/acre ($510K), funded with $450K private money at 18% over 60 months (about $11K/month), $60K down, plus $70K road and $30K survey. He sold 31 of 32 lots in 2.5 months at $50,500 each on notes ($1,500 down, $1,000/month at 7%), projecting roughly $750K net. He says build a note buyer network early — three to five buyers is enough, and notes typically sell around 80% of face value.

From: EP 124 · EP 261 · EP 163

What's different about buying mobile homes on land?

Aaron Bihl rules on EP 195 are specific: only buy mobile homes that sit on land, and treat build year as a hard filter. Pre-1978 homes (HUD standards change) are very hard to finance, so plan on cash or owner financing; pre-1980 ones should be nearly free. Convert the home from personal property to real property so it's treated as a house. He argues the rehabs are more predictable than stick-built — post-1980 units rarely need rewiring or replumbing and there's no slab surprise, leaving soft floors as the main unknown.

On EP 490, Aaron returns having moved from San Antonio to Greenville, South Carolina, and switched models: buying cheap off-market lots and setting brand-new manufactured homes on them. A new manufactured home on land is FHA-eligible from day one, which solves the problem he hit flipping used homes where buyers wanted FHA and the home wouldn't qualify. His target is lots at $10–15K off-market, all-in around $135K–$160K, selling in the $200Ks; buying lots from wholesalers on-market pushes him to $170–180K all-in for a $225K sale — decent, but thin. Lot due diligence mattered more than he expected: perk tests around $1,000 with a two-to-three-week backlog, septic at $6,500–7,000, a well around $6,000, and topography that looks fine online but turns out to be a hillside. Detitling is handled county-by-county in South Carolina rather than at the state level as in Texas.

From: EP 195 · EP 490 · EP 279

Are mobile home parks a different business?

Yes. On EP 210, Amanda Cruise describes spending about six months on education, then six months cold calling owners, before buying a 50-lot park in April 2020. Her buy box: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee; 20+ units; no combined well-and-septic; no wastewater treatment plants; growing population and jobs. Her most portable tip: ask any lender whether they already have a mobile home park on their books — if not, their underwriters may not understand the asset and can walk at the last minute. She prefers tenant-owned homes for long-term holds.

Perry Keenan on EP 276 bought a 20-pad, 15-unit park for $625,000 from retiring mom-and-pop owners and replaced the Friday card-table cash collection with a bank operating account and Venmo/Cash App. He also inherited biweekly rent collection — 26 payments against 12 mortgage and insurance payments — and rolled it out to his single-family rentals. Mike Ayala (EP 294) assembled 20 communities, starting with a 72-space park at $475,000 by assuming a note and borrowing the $80,000 down payment from a mentor.

From: EP 210 · EP 276 · EP 294

How do you choose an exit?

On EP 407, Dan lays out three exits on the same five-acre lot north of Spokane, bought at $60,000 with $10,000 down at 7% seller financing and roughly $300/month: wholesale around $100–110K, list at $140K after adding a septic (about $15K) and servicing the existing well, or set a mobile home ($15–20K to move) and sell for $250–300K. With power and a well on site they were around $80K all in against $140K comps. His guidance is to choose based on your company's liquidity, not the biggest number — he and Mike admit keeping too many properties early left them cash-strapped and slowed wholesale growth. He also notes rural comps are often two years stale, so deep due diligence comes after you lock the deal up.

EP 393 shows how to move a hard piece: in a four-property Spokane package, Mike tied the vacant lot to the adjacent house and priced it so the infill builder was the motivated buyer. He also shares the miss — the easiest house went for about $5K under target, and the buyer listed it five days later with an offer $60K above his purchase price.

From: EP 407 · EP 393

Frequently asked questions

Can you get a bank loan on raw land?

Generally no. On EP 124, Pete Reese says banks and hard money lenders don't lend on raw land, so deals get funded with your own cash or a partner who puts up 100% of the money for a profit split. Seller financing is the other route — Dan used $10,000 down at 7% on a Spokane-area lot in EP 407.

What does it cost to split one lot into two?

On EP 42, Mike and Dan report $10,000–$12,000 in their Spokane market, roughly half of that the surveyor, plus about $5,000 in city fees. Cost is charged per lot but drops with scale, and varies by jurisdiction.

Why won't lenders finance older mobile homes?

Aaron Bihl explains on EP 195 that pre-1978 homes fall outside current HUD standards and are very hard to finance, so plan on cash or owner financing. On EP 490 he notes a brand-new manufactured home set on land is FHA-eligible from day one, which is why he switched models.

What's the biggest hidden risk in a land deal?

Everything below grade. On EP 423, Dan says framing and drywall can be quoted to the penny off a plan, but excavation, rock, soil conditions and utility connections are speculative — on one Spokane lot the permit alone was $7,000–$8,000 and total utilities were estimated at $20,000–$25,000.

Are mobile home parks passive investments?

The guests here treat them as operating businesses. Amanda Cruise (EP 210) screens out combined well-and-septic and wastewater treatment plants entirely, and Perry Keenan (EP 276) rebuilt the rent collection system at his 20-pad park before anything else improved.

All 14 episodes on land & mobile homes