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Call (916) 436-3776Manufactured Housing Communities California
How Do I Buy or Sell a Mobile Home Park in California in 2026?
A manufactured housing community is a land-lease business: you own the land and pads, residents typically own their homes and pay lot rent, and value equals net operating income divided by a market cap rate (roughly 5.5 to 6.5% for quality California parks, wider for value-add). Tenants are unusually sticky and maintenance is low. Financing runs mainly through agency debt (Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac), note that SBA generally does not finance these acquisitions. The big value levers are filling vacancy, raising below-market lot rents within rent-control limits, and shifting utilities to residents. Serve First underwrites and brokers; Ashlar Lending arranges financing; Ashlar LDA prepares the entity.
A manufactured housing community (a mobile home park) is one of the most structurally defensive income properties in real estate, and it works differently from anything else. In the dominant model, you own the land and the pads while residents own their own homes and pay you lot rent. Because moving a manufactured home is expensive and disruptive, tenants stay for years, turnover is very low, and you carry little of the maintenance that apartments demand. Value comes from lot rents, occupancy, and how the community is run, and the biggest operational lever is often utilities. Financing runs primarily through agency programs (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) rather than SBA. This guide covers how communities are bought, financed, and valued, then links to a guide for your area. Ashlar Lending arranges the financing, Serve First underwrites and brokers the deal, and Ashlar LDA handles the entity.
One family. Deal, financing, and entity.
Buy or sell the community, financed the way parks actually get financed
A manufactured housing community is a land-lease business with unusually sticky tenants, and it’s financed differently from most commercial property. The Ashlar Brands family works the whole deal:
- Serve First Realty sources communities (including off-market) and underwrites them on what drives value: lot rents, occupancy, the park-owned vs tenant-owned home mix, utility metering, and infrastructure condition, and represents you buying or selling.
- Ashlar Lending Inc. (NMLS #2699657) matches the deal to the right program: agency debt (Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac) for stabilized parks, often the best terms, non-recourse, long amortization, plus conventional bank, DSCR, and seller-financed structures.
- Ashlar LDA, Inc., a bonded and registered Legal Document Assistant, can prepare the LLC or entity paperwork and deeds at your direction.
These are separate businesses in the Ashlar Brands family. Serve First is a real estate brokerage, not a lender or law firm; loan terms and program eligibility are set by the lender and the agencies, and rent-increase limits are set by state and local law. A Legal Document Assistant prepares documents at your direction and is not a substitute for an attorney. This is general information, not tax advice.