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How to pick a mobile home park before you rent a lot

By · Published September 5, 2026 · 9 min read

Renting a lot is not like renting an apartment. You own the home, but the park owns the ground under it. Moving a manufactured home costs thousands of dollars, and some older homes can't be moved at all. So the park you pick is close to permanent, and it is worth a few hours of checking before you sign anything.

Here is how to check one out, in the order that matters.

What you are renting

Lot rent pays for the ground, the hookups at the pad (water, sewer, and the electric pedestal), the roads, the common areas, and whoever manages the place. It does not pay for the home. Repairs to the home, insurance on it, and the tax on it are yours.

Utilities are where parks differ most. Electric and gas are almost always in your own name with the utility company. Water and sewer can be in the rent, a flat monthly fee, a share of the park's bill split by a formula, or a metered bill for your own use. Trash is usually the park's. Ask which setup this park uses, because two parks with the same lot rent can cost $60 a month apart once water is counted. Our guide to who pays for utilities in a mobile home park walks through the four water setups.

Nine questions for the office

Ask these on the phone or at the office, and ask for the answers in writing where it says so.

  1. What is lot rent, and what does it include? Get the number and the list of what is in it. If water or trash is extra, get that number too.
  2. How much has rent gone up in the last three years? A park that raised rent $15 a year is a different place from one that raised it $90 last spring. Also ask how much notice they give. Most states set a minimum, and we list them in what is lot rent.
  3. How is water billed? If each lot has a meter, ask what rate they charge per gallon or per thousand gallons and ask to see a sample bill. If they split the park's bill by a formula, ask what the formula is.
  4. Can I get approval in writing before I buy the home? If you are buying a home that already sits in the park, the park has to approve you as a resident. The Florida Bar's advice is to not buy until you have that approval in writing for everyone who will live there. That advice holds in every state.
  5. Is there a written lease, and for how long? Some states make the park offer one. New York parks must offer at least a one-year lease before you move in, and Illinois parks must offer at least 24 months unless you agree to less. A month-to-month arrangement is legal in many places, but it means the rules and the rent can change with a notice.
  6. What are the rules? Ask for the rulebook, not a summary. Pets, age limits, parking, skirting, sheds, fences, guests, and subletting are all in there. A 55+ park generally requires at least one person in each home to be 55 or older.
  7. What happens when I sell the home? Can it stay in the park? Does the buyer need approval? Is there a clause that says a home older than a certain year has to leave when it sells? That one clause can turn a $40,000 home into a $5,000 one.
  8. What fees are there besides rent? Late fees, pet fees, extra-occupant fees, guest fees, storage. New York caps the late fee at 3% of the late amount and bars any late fee in the first ten days. Most states don't cap it, so ask.
  9. Who do I call at 9 p.m. when a water line breaks? Is there a manager on site, or an owner three states away with a voicemail box? Both can work. You just want to know which one you are getting.

Check the public record before you visit

Eleven states publish a registry of their parks, and we mirror them in our park directory. A park's page shows what the state has on file: the address, the number of spaces, whether it is a 55+ or all-ages community where the registry says, and vacancies where the state reports them (New York, Oregon, and Vermont do). A few things to look for:

Walk it twice

Visit once in the day and once in the evening. Look at the roads, the drainage after rain, and the condition of the homes around the lot you are considering. A few empty or boarded homes is normal. A row of them is not.

Talk to two residents. Ask how long they have been there, what rent has done, and whether the office fixes things. Residents will tell you in two minutes what a tour won't.

Look at how the office takes rent. A park that only takes cash and doesn't hand out receipts is a park where a payment can go missing with no proof it was made. The Florida Bar's pamphlet says it plainly: don't pay lot rent in cash without a receipt.

Read before you sign

Read the lease and the rulebook in full, at home, before you sign. In Florida, a park with 26 or more lots also has to give you a prospectus, which is the document that spells out the rent, the fees, and how increases work. Wherever you are, look for:

Keep the paper

Keep the lease, the rules, every rent receipt, and every water bill. If the water is metered, ask for bills that show the meter reads, not just the dollars. If a payment or a bill is ever questioned, the receipt is your proof.

Where to get help

Most states with a park law also have someone who answers questions about it.

We build Lot Sidekick for the owners of small parks, and we run the park directory so residents can see the same public record the owner sees. If a park's page has something wrong on it, tell us and we'll fix it.

Sources

General information, not legal advice. Park rules and resident protections vary by state and sometimes by city. Confirm yours before you rely on any of this.

Lot Sidekick handles the billing side (rent, submetered water, and who's-late) on a live map of your park. Send your spreadsheet and I'll set up your park, or see the live demo, or call (425) 405-0734.