Managing an entire mobile home park is no easy task, but it can be a very rewarding career move once you adopt the right skills and mindset to do the job right. In this post we’ll be covering some of the essential elements required to do it right, leading to a successful mobile home park property management career, and a park full of happy residents.
For more information on effective mobile home park management ideas, check out sites such as Sierra Corporate Management.
You Must Enjoy Dealing With People
Many mobile home parks are home to hundreds of residents, so a propensity to enjoy dealing with people on a daily basis is a must have trait for successful and effective management. While there are numerous tasks to be accomplished in the role, one of the main ones will be face to face contact with residents.
This could be fielding questions, chasing up rent payments, showing prospective tenants properties for rent in the park, resolving disputes, and simply just getting to know the people you manage.
A mobile home park manager really needs to be a people person and so do their staff.
Possess Or Develop Effective Communication Skills
Being a people person is one thing, but you also have to be able to communicate with a variety of different people, all with varying personalities. Everyone is a little different, and an integral part of good communication is having the ability to actively listen as well, and not just talk.
Mobile home park managers are really the central hub of the place. Information, organization, complaints, disputes, resolutions, answering phones and more all pass through the management hub.
If, as a manager, you feel your communication skills might be a bit lacking, then employ someone on the front desk who is a natural communicator and a good listener.
Successful Park Management Depends On Organizational Ability
All management roles of any kind require the ability to organize and get things done in a timely manner. When it comes to managing a mobile home park, the ability to organize is even more crucial. Not only is there a lot to do every single day, but you’re also dealing with hundreds of homes within the park and many hundreds of residents.
There are also staff members to manage and delegate tasks to, bringing in contractors for repairs, maintenance and upkeep of the grounds and facilities, and also liaising with the owners of the mobile home park.
One way to help guarantee you stay organized and don’t forget anything is to make lists of things that need to be done. These could be daily lists, as well as tasks that need to be taken care of each week or every month.
Make Certain Everybody Understands the Park Rules & Regulations
While you don’t want the mobile home park to be over-regulated to the point everyone feels like their lifestyles are being stifled, all home parks need a list of rules and regulations for residents to follow, and each and every resident should be given this list. You’ll also want to place copies of the list near the manager’s office and other community areas within the park.
Having some rules will ensure the quiet enjoyment for all park residents, as well as making sure everybody respects the park, property and other residents.
Having a list of rules is only useful if management is also willing to enforce them.
Build An Effective Management Team
You can’t expect to successfully manage an entire mobile home park all on your lonesome. Even two people isn’t enough. What if you want a day off or need time away?
You have to build a team of people to cover different aspects of park management, and have team members you can call on to fill in when required.
There is a lot to do when managing a park like this, so you’re going to need some help. An over-worked, burnt out mobile home park manager will be no use to anyone, whereas a vibrant and enthusiastic team will ensure your park is well run and filled with happy residents.
