Field Notes: what operators learn before they buy.

11 Field Notes, newest first · Every note publishes with Sources and Limits · Editorial standards · Subscribe via RSS

October 20, 2026

RV Park Cap Rates: How One Park Gets Two Asking Prices

One Texas park, marketed at $1.4 million with a stated 9 percent cap rate in some rooms and $1.3 million all cash in another. What the research says about where asking numbers come from, and why the lender will not underwrite either one.

pricingcap ratesverificationfield notes

October 15, 2026

RV Park Due Diligence: Why the Site Walk Decides the Deal

A park's infrastructure is a claim until somebody walks it in conditions where it can be seen. What the standards actually require, and what a snow-covered visit cannot prove.

diligencesite visitutilitiesfield notes

October 9, 2026

Manufactured Housing Diligence Starts With Who Owns the Homes

The diligence discipline transfers from RV parks to manufactured housing communities. The questions change in one place first: who owns the homes, and what that means for what you are actually buying.

diligencemanufactured housingfield notes

October 4, 2026

Anatomy of a Broker Package

A synthetic offering package, read claim by claim. The point is not to distrust every number. The point is to know what state every number is in before it carries a price.

diligencebroker packagefield notes

October 3, 2026

The Rent Roll Is a Claim, Not Income Verification

The rent roll shows what should have been collected. Deposits show what arrived. Income verification starts at the bank, not at the spreadsheet.

diligenceverificationfield notes

September 30, 2026

The Permits Buyers Skip

The broker package lists the site count. The county may list a different one. Zoning, permits, and grandfathering are diligence questions, not closing paperwork.

diligencezoningpermitsfield notes

September 27, 2026

Read the P&L Like the Other Side Wrote It

The seller's P&L is written to sell the park. Normalization is reading it like the other side wrote it: every line a claim, every adjustment labeled.

diligenceunderwritingfield notes

September 24, 2026

Speed Is a Strategy for Sellers, Not Buyers

When the seller sets the closing clock, speed stops being your strategy and starts being theirs. Verification is the only way to take the clock back.

diligencenegotiationfield notes

September 21, 2026

The Utility System Nobody Underwrote

Every dollar in the model flows through pipes and wires. Utility capacity, permits, and deferred infrastructure are the least glamorous part of diligence and one of the most expensive surprises after closing.

diligenceinfrastructurefield notes

September 18, 2026

Reported Occupancy Is Not Paying Occupancy

Occupancy is one of the most quoted numbers in a broker package. Reported occupancy can reach the model before its supporting evidence has been reconciled. Here is how to rebuild it from deposits, and why paying occupancy is the number the investment case should start from.

diligenceoccupancyfield notes

September 15, 2026

Before You Underwrite the Deal, Establish What Is True

Every deal arrives as a stack of claims dressed as facts. The buyer's real job, before any valuation math, is to label every material number. Here is the six-label system for doing it.

diligenceunderwritingfield notes

Field Notes

Reading is the start.

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