Is Water Always Included In Lot Rent?
Hey guys!
When it comes to living inside the mobile home park, one needs to learn and unlearn a lot of things. Mobile homes are different from traditional stick-and-brick homes and mobile home parks carry different sets of rules and guidelines than those HOAs. As a potential mobile home owner, one must do their research before deciding to live inside a mobile home park.
We’re coming to you from a location where we just sold another Sarasota mobile home very quickly!
I thought of a blog post that I wanted to bring you up to speed on. Questions we get asked all the time is, does lot rent always include your water bill in a Sarasota mobile home?
What is included in a lot of rent payments? Does lot rent include any other utilities, such as water?
These are common questions our team gets asked when we’re working with buyers of mobile homes in the Sarasota area daily.
Lot rent is the fee that is assigned to each homesite a home sits on within a land lease mobile home park.
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This fee can range in Sarasota from the low $500s to upwards of $1,200 per month.
The lot rent fee, although it fluctuates from park to park, will include certain utilities, such as water, sewer, cable television, lawn care, and usage of all park amenities.
Some parks do not include the water in their lot rent fee and some do.
The parks that do not include the water in the lot rent fee, then it will be paid through either an individual meter that is assigned to each home or through what is called a master meter system.
In a master meter situation, the park receives one water bill for all the homes in that park, and the monthly water bill is then divided by how many homes are in the park. The master meter idea is not nearly as common as an individual meter on the home or the park paying for it within the lot rent payment every month.
In our experience, it is more common in the Sarasota area for parks to include the water bill in the residents’ lot rent and to not divide out among all of the occupied lots within the community what the water bill is.
Water in Sarasota County is not as expensive as in other counties in Florida, but it’s certainly not the cheapest!
In our research, we have found that an average two-bed, two-bath mobile home in Sarasota County that has a washing machine on the property has a water bill between $20 to $25 per month.
This cost will vary depending on how much laundry the residents are using, how long of showers they take, how much water they use to water their plants or bushes, and how often they wash their vehicles.
When a park has a master meter, the bills are dispersed to the residents, usually around the first of the month, just like other utility payments, such as electricity.
What is a mobile home lot rent?
People who are not familiar with mobile home living may get confused by the concept of lot rent. renting a mobile home lot is different from renting just a mobile home. Paying for the lot rent means you own the mobile home while paying for the lot where your mobile home is sitting. If you are just renting a mobile home, whether you pay the lot rent or the owner depends on the agreement between you (the renter) and the mobile home owner. The lot can be owned by the mobile homeowner or the park owner.
What lot rent covers
In most mobile home parks in the Sarasota Florida area, lot rent covers most of the following.
- Water bill (some parks don’t)
- A piece of land to place your manufactured home on
- Access to the amenities and maintenance (the staff can guide you about the exact offerings)
- Swimming pool
- Playgrounds or play area
- Community center
- Laundry rooms with washers and dryers
- Lawn maintenance and mowing
- Trash collection
The amenities included in the lot rent vary from park to park and sometimes, the number of coverage can affect the lot rent amount.
What lot rent does not cover
Taxes: While property taxes may not be your headache, there will be taxes on the mobile home.
Insurance: Lot rent does not cover insurance. For the safety and security of your property, it is better to get mobile home insurance.
When buying a mobile home inside the mobile home park of your choice, make sure to know what specific amenities are covered by the lot rent. Parks that charge $1,000 and above usually cover most of the bills and other extra things that someone you may not need so it is important to know everything to avoid paying something you may not need.
No, water is not always included in Sarasota mobile home lot rent. While some landlords may provide water as part of the rental agreement, this is not always the case. It is important to read the lease agreement carefully and understand what utilities are included in the rent before signing a contract. Additionally, even if water is included, you may still need to pay for sewage or other related expenses. Be sure to ask any questions you have and clarify all terms before signing the lease agreement.
We believe we will see more parks move towards not including water in the monthly lot rent fee in the future as mobile home parks are increasingly turning that charge of the water bill over to the residents directly.
The Mobile Home Dealer are licensed mobile home brokers in Sarasota Florida and the surrounding areas. We provide professional buy and/or sell assistance to our clients. If you have any questions, please contact us by clicking this link. You may also visit our Facebook Page and send us a message.
This is Mark Kaiser with The Mobile Home Dealer and we help mobile home buyers and sellers get to a better place in life.
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