Skip to main content
Sign up

Manufactured home parks

How should a mobile home park handle vacant-lot inquiries?

How a mobile home park can handle vacant-lot inquiries: home dimensions, HUD label status, lot fit, move timing and consistent screening.

By , Founder, Propty · Austin, TX

Published

Manufactured home parks

Treat a vacant-lot inquiry as a fit check before it becomes an offer. Collect the home's sections, length, width and hitch, its year built and whether each section carries a HUD certification label, plus the move date and what the buyer needs to know about community rules. Compare the home with your own lot measurements and local setback rules, give every applicant the same written criteria, and promise a lot only after the fit check and application are done.

Key points

  • Ask for measured dimensions of each section, with and without the hitch. A listing size like "16 by 80" is a starting point, not a fit check.
  • HUD-code homes are built to the federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards at 24 CFR Part 3280. HUD says every transportable section of a manufactured home built in the U.S. after June 15, 1976 must carry a certification label.
  • Lot fit comes from your site plan, your measured lot lines and the setback and separation rules where the park sits. Use those numbers, not a generic margin.
  • Write your screening criteria down and apply them the same way to every applicant. The federal Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to refuse to rent or to set different terms because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status or national origin, and separately bars discrimination because of handicap (the statute's word for disability).
  • No lot is held on a phone call. Hold it in writing, with conditions, once the file is complete.

What to collect first

Item Why it matters
Number of sections Single, double or triple section changes the footprint and the delivery.
Length and width of each section, measured Decides whether the home fits a specific lot. Ask whether the length includes the hitch.
Hitch: removable or fixed If the hitch stays on after setup, count it in the footprint. Either way it matters for delivery.
Year built Tells you whether the home falls under the HUD code and which of your written rules apply.
HUD certification label photo for each section HUD's label page describes it as a metal plate on the outside of each section.
Data plate photo A paper label inside the home that lists the label numbers and the wind, snow and roof load zones the home was built for.
Planned additions Decks, carports, sheds or steps that also need room on the lot.
Move timing When the home leaves its current site, who is moving it and who will set it.
Application details Whatever your standard application asks, collected the same way for everyone.
Questions about the rules Pets, vehicles, skirting, sheds and any other written community rules the buyer should see before applying.

If a label is missing, HUD's label page says HUD does not reissue labels but can issue a Letter of Label Verification when the historical records can be located, and it directs owners to request that letter from the Institute for Building Technology and Safety (IBTS) at (866) 482-8868 or labels@ibts.org. If the data plate is missing, IBTS's label verification site offers a Data Plate/Performance Certificate. IBTS says it does not provide verification for homes built before June 15, 1976. Accept the IBTS document in place of the missing photo rather than guessing.

The workflow

Step Owner What Output
1. Inquiry Office Collect home details, timing and contact Inquiry record
2. Send the packet Office Lot rent from your rate sheet, written rules, written screening criteria and the application Same packet sent to every inquirer
3. Home documents Applicant Photos of each HUD label and the data plate, or the IBTS document for any that is missing, measured dimensions, title or bill of sale Home file
4. Fit check Manager Compare the home footprint and additions with the measured lot and setback rules, and walk the delivery path Fit result in writing, by lot number
5. Screening Office Apply the written criteria in the same order for every applicant Decision recorded with the reason
6. Offer and hold Office Written offer naming the lot, lot rent and conditions such as permits and inspections Signed offer or hold
7. Move-in plan Applicant and installer Permits your state or county requires, installer, delivery date and route Delivery booked
8. Placement check Manager Confirm the home sits where the site plan shows Move-in record

Vacant-lot inquiry checklist

  • Measured length and width of every section, with the hitch noted (required)
  • Photo of the HUD certification label on each section, or an IBTS Letter of Label Verification if a label is missing (one of these required for HUD-code homes)
  • Photo of the data plate, or an IBTS Data Plate/Performance Certificate if the plate is missing (one of these required)
  • Year built recorded (required)
  • Written rules and screening criteria sent before the application (required)
  • Fit check against the measured lot and setback rules, done before any offer (required)
  • Delivery path walked for turning room, overhead wires and trees, using site measurements (recommended)
  • Planned decks, sheds and carports included in the fit check (recommended)
  • Installer name and permit status recorded (recommended)
  • Inquiry logged even if the home does not fit, with the reason (optional)

Example (hypothetical)

A caller says she is buying a "28 by 70" double-section home and wants a lot by spring. The park has two open lots. Its site plan shows Lot 14 at 50 feet wide by 100 feet deep and Lot 15 at 40 feet wide by 100 feet deep. The local rule the park follows, used here as an example, requires 10 feet front and rear and 5 feet on each side.

Buildable area:

  • Lot 14: 50 minus 5 minus 5 is 40 feet wide. 100 minus 10 minus 10 is 80 feet deep.
  • Lot 15: 40 minus 5 minus 5 is 30 feet wide, and also 80 feet deep.

The data plate photo and the seller's measurements show two sections, each 13 feet 4 inches wide and 66 feet long, plus a 4-foot hitch. "28 by 70" was a rounded listing size. Combined, the home is 26 feet 8 inches wide. She plans a 10-foot-wide deck along the long side.

  • Depth: 80 minus 66 leaves 14 feet on either lot. If the hitch stays on, 80 minus 70 still leaves 10 feet.
  • Lot 14 width: 40 feet minus 26 feet 8 inches is 13 feet 4 inches. Minus the 10-foot deck, that leaves 3 feet 4 inches. It fits.
  • Lot 15 width: 30 feet minus 26 feet 8 inches is 3 feet 4 inches. The home fits, but the 10-foot deck does not.

The office offers Lot 14 in writing, conditional on the standard application and the permits the county requires, and notes that Lot 15 would work only without the deck. She applies under the same written criteria as every other applicant.

Common problems

Problem Likely cause Fix
Home does not fit once it arrives Fit checked against the listing size Require measured dimensions and run the fit check before any offer
Deck or shed has no room Additions left out of the fit check Ask about additions on the first call and include them
HUD label or data plate missing Label removed or lost, plate damaged or removed Ask the owner to order a Letter of Label Verification for a missing label, or a Data Plate/Performance Certificate for a missing plate, from IBTS as HUD's label page directs
Applicants get different answers Criteria live in someone's head Write the criteria down and send them with every packet
Lot promised twice Verbal holds Hold lots only in writing, with a lot number and an expiry date
Delivery truck cannot reach the lot Route never checked Walk the route with site measurements before booking delivery

What to track

Track the share of vacant-lot offers that went out with a complete home file and a written fit check. Anything short of all of them is an offer made on a guess.

Limitations

Lot fit depends on your own site plan, your measured lot lines and the setback, separation and installation rules that apply where your park sits. Those vary by state, county and city, so the numbers in the example are not a standard. Whether your park may set rules on a home's age or condition depends on state and local law, so check before you adopt one. Screening criteria must comply with federal, state and local fair housing law, which can add protected classes beyond the federal list. Apply any state or local additions too. This article does not cover home sales, financing, title transfers or installation standards.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check with your state program or attorney.

Where Propty fits

Propty's manufactured home parks page describes answering resident and lot calls 24/7 with your approved greeting and a recording notice, holding the conversation in Spanish when a caller speaks Spanish, booking tours with a confirmation text and a reminder, texting back missed callers, and recording reservation holds using your property details. It also describes choosing every call, missed calls or scheduled hours, with transfers to your team. Its What you get page describes importing from any system with a CSV file. These descriptions come from Propty's public pages as checked on 2026-10-16. They are not a test of the live product. What is available for a property depends on setup and connected services, so confirm current behavior in a demo before relying on it.

Want to see how your listing and calls look to a new customer? Get a free Get Found audit.

See the manufactured home parks demo.

Sources

Take the next step yourself

See a day with Propty. Then try it.

Watch the tour, then explore the dashboard. See how it fits your property before you sign up.

Choose my property type →