What do you need before you start?
Before you touch your rate sheet, gather three things: current competitor lot rents in your submarket, your own occupancy rate, and your state's required notice period for a rent increase.
Competitor rents are the floor and ceiling of what the market will bear. MHInsider and Datacomp/JLT publish the JLT Market Reports, which capture competitor site rents and occupancy rates by metro area. These give you a structured starting point instead of driving around and guessing.
Your occupancy rate tells you how much pricing power you actually have.
Your state notice period is a hard constraint. In states without statewide lot-rent control, such as Pennsylvania and Michigan, the only binding rule is the statutory notice period before a rent increase takes effect. Know that number before you set a date.
How do you actually set the number?
Work through this in order.
- Pull the JLT Market Reports from Datacomp/JLT or MHInsider for your metro area. Write down the low, median, and high site rents for communities comparable to yours in size and amenities.
- Call or visit three to five nearby parks as a prospective resident. Confirm their current asking lot rent, what utilities are included, and whether they have vacancies. Note the date.
- Calculate your own occupancy: occupied lots divided by total lots. Compare it to the local figures in the JLT data.
- Check your community type. According to MHInsider, 55-plus communities nationally averaged $579 per month versus $514 for all-ages communities. If you run a 55-plus park, your comparable set is other 55-plus parks, not the all-ages park across town.
- Decide on an increase amount and check your state's required notice period. Draft and send the notice before you announce anything to residents.
- Document your reasoning: the competitor survey date, the occupancy figure you used, and the market data source. You will want this if a resident challenges the increase.
What is on the checklist before you raise lot rent?
- Your current occupancy calculated as occupied lots divided by total lots
- State notice period confirmed and calendar date set for the notice to go out
- Community type accounted for (55-plus versus all-ages)
- Any park-owned homes reviewed separately, since lot rent on a park-owned home affects your resale value
- Resident communication plan ready, separate from the legal notice
Hypothetical example
She notes the JLT data date and her occupancy figure in a simple spreadsheet.
What are the common mistakes?
The most common mistake is using the national average as a benchmark. According to Berkadia's Manufactured Housing Annual Report via Keel Team, the national average was approximately $752 in 2025, but a park in the South may be in a market where $430 is the ceiling. Using the national figure to justify a rate in a low-rent submarket will cost you residents.
The second mistake is raising rent without checking occupancy first. Vermont's 2024 data from the Vermont DHCD 2024 Mobile Home Park Registry Summary shows this clearly: Chittenden County, with 1.0% vacancy, carried a median lot rent of $479, while Essex County, with 14.3% vacancy, sat at $380. The market with the tighter supply supported a higher rent. If your local vacancy is high, a rent increase may push residents to leave and leave you worse off.
A third mistake is skipping the competitor survey and relying on memory. Lot rents move. Survey the market fresh each time you consider a change.
What should you measure going forward?
Track these numbers on a simple spreadsheet, updated at least twice a year.
- Occupancy rate: occupied lots divided by total lots, measured monthly
- Local competitor lot rents: pulled from JLT Market Reports or a direct survey, dated each time
- Lot rent per occupied lot: your total lot rent collected divided by occupied lots, which catches any discounts or legacy rates pulling your effective average below your posted rate
- Resident turnover rate: move-outs in a period divided by total lots, which tells you whether a past increase affected retention
National context helps you understand the direction of the market. According to MHInsider, average lot rent has grown 67% since 2019, from roughly $450 per month to $752 in 2025, driven by strong occupancy and near-zero new supply of parks. That trend tells you the market has been moving up, but it does not tell you where your submarket sits today. Local data does that.