For our last mobile home park idea, you’ll need to pack your swim trunks and grab your sunglasses. Yep! Vacation mobile home parks are becoming more and more popular. With sites like Airbnb, it’s easy to rent out a room or an entire home. If your park happens to be in a vacation spot, this is an option to consider. Financially, it’s better if you can rent lots to long-term dwellers but to help fill empty spaces, short-term rentals can keep the cash flow coming. Here are a few features that will make your mobile home park vacation-worthy.
Recreational Rentals
Most families going on vacation already have enough to pack without worrying about fishing rods, tennis rackets, or an inflatable raft. Your park may become a number one choice if you have an assortment of recreational rentals for families to choose from. If you’re near a lake, then you might offer (or contract a company that provides) fishing rods, kayaks, life vests, etc. If you’re near a beach, then you could rent out beach umbrellas, snorkeling gear, bikes, and baskets of toys for playing in the sand.
Accessibility
People on vacation don’t want to worry about cooking meals or traveling long distances to get things. If you can, make food and other necessities readily available. Consider opening a mini market on site with things like diapers, aspirin, waters, and toothpaste – items that families run out of quickly or forget to pack. It’s a bonus if restaurants are close by, but if they’re not, then you might consider opening a small cafe or offering a shuttle to the nearest places for dining and shopping. Laundry, internet, and banking are other amenities that vacationers often need and would appreciate having close at hand.
Convenience
This goes along with the point above, but make sure checking in and checking out are convenient for your visitors too. Collect payments online and refund deposits back to their credit card. When it comes to check-in, most Airbnb landlords are going digital. A day before, email vacationers instructions to collect their keys located in a secure box with a specified code. They can come and go as they like and when it’s time to check-out, they drop off the key in the same location. While convenient for everyone, this option may be too impersonal, especially if your mobile home park is home to other residents. For a traditional check-in, make sure the process is quick and painless.
Friendly Atmosphere
Vacationers love good service. Make sure your staff understands that even though your residents come and go, they should still receive great hospitality. To make guests feel welcome, consider adding personal touches, like a gift basket, and encourage your staff to greet visitors with a smile. Additionally, provide maps of the area and recommend a few favorite places. Because reviews are vital in the hospitality and tourism industry, you want to give your visitors a great first impression that compels them to recommend you to others.
Will your mobile home park be the location of choice for vacationers?
As you may have noticed, developing your park for vacation rentals will look different from running a traditional park. Not only will you own many of the mobile homes in the park, you’ll need to think of how to list your homes to attract guests. Here’s one example of a mobile home listing on Airbnb. Once your guests arrive, you’ll need to accommodate them and make them feel welcome, knowing their opinions carry a lot of weight. Though challenging, this type of park is a great opportunity to let your hospitality skills shine. You’ll really get to take the meaning of mobile home park to a whole new level!
So what will you choose?
We’ve explored five different mobile home park ideas. Perhaps you like the idea of limiting your park to residents 55 and older. Or maybe you want to make your park family-friendly. Of course, you can also choose between the extremes of luxury living and felon housing. Lastly, you might consider making your park open to short-term vacation rentals. Whatever you choose, just remember that mobile home parks have a lot of potential. It’s up to you to bring out the best!
About Dan Paton
