A park brochure I reviewed had no management fee in the expenses. The explanation was that the owners rarely visited and the park needed very little attention. Something I’ve learned is that management can “hide” in three places: 1. The park owner does the work without paying themselves. 2. Residents chip in around the park. 3. A resident acts as caretaker in exchange for reduced or free rent. To understand what I’d be taking on, I ask these simple questions to point me in the right direction: - What work does the owner do, and how much time does it take? - How do the residents help out? - Does anyone receive payment, reduced rent or free rent for that work? - Would those arrangements continue after the sale? Those answers give me a starting point for a management budget. I can look at what would continue, what I’d take on and what I’d need to pay someone else to do, while checking which costs are already in the numbers. For owners of smaller parks, how do you budget for management when the current owner does much of the work?