Why this step decides your price
Buyers do not buy “a nice park.” They buy a machine that must deliver power, water, and wastewater under peak summer load without eating NOI. Infrastructure findings in diligence are priced as:
- Immediate CapEx (rewire a branch, replace pedestals, pump and camera a field)
- Ongoing OpEx bleed (master electric or water you never recovered)
- Risk discount (unknown systems → lower price or walk)
A paint job and fresh gravel hide nothing from a buyer who brings a clamp meter and a Sunday-morning leach-field walk. Surface the glitches yourself, phase the worst branches, and disclose with photos. Discovered late = weaponized. Disclosed early = negotiable.
Way-Ya-Go language on site: we look underground and at the pedestals first. Brokers often say paint the lines. We say prove the load.
What to do this week (checklist)
Pull 12 months of master utility bills and split summer vs winter. Electric, water, sewer, propane, trash — full PDF or statement copies. Chart kWh and gallons if the bill shows them. Peak months tell you where the machine strains and where NOI bleeds
Example: A 70-site park’s August electric master was nearly 2.4× February. Without sub-meters, that summer spike was pure owner loss — and a diligence team’s favorite slide.
Map every site: 30A vs 50A, transient vs long-term, and which branch feeds it. Sketch or spreadsheet: pedestal amp rating, breaker condition, panel/branch ID, and whether the site is monthly or transient. Long-term 50A users with big HVAC loads are your Saturday stress cohort
Example: An owner thought “most sites are 50.” Mapping showed 22 of 58 were still 30A on an aging branch — and those were the sites where surge protectors tripped every heat wave.
Run a Saturday night load test — 50-amp loads on; 108V minimum at the furthest pedestal. On a busy warm weekend (or simulated with willing long-term guests and known loads), measure voltage at the furthest and weakest pedestals under load. Document time, temperature, which sites were drawing, and readings. Target: do not drop below 108V at the furthest site under realistic peak load. Photos of the meter reading matter
Example: Furthest loop read 104V with ACs on. Buyer’s inspector duplicated it in week two of diligence and the “electrical allowance” appeared as a six-figure line — larger than a phased repair would have cost pre-market.
Photograph pedestals like evidence, not Instagram. For each problem pedestal (and a sample of healthy ones): labels, breaker amp stamps, melt marks, scorched plastic, loose covers, standing water, rusted buses, aluminum vs copper clues you can see safely, and any DIY splices. Never open energized gear beyond what a trained person should
Example: Melt bloom around a 50A receptacle told the story before the clamp meter did. The photo set became the repair bid package instead of a buyer’s discount package.
Do not DIY extra ground rods at pedestals — hire a licensed electrician; phase the worst branches. Improvised grounding and “just add a rod” work can create dangerous parallel paths, code failures, and inspector nightmares. If voltage drop or heat is real, get a licensed electrician to diagnose branch loading, conductors, and grounding/bonding the right way. Phase the worst feeder or pedestal groups first; you do not always need a full-park rewire on day one
Example: An owner drove ground rods at four pedestals after reading a forum. The next inspection flagged improper work and the buyer treated the whole loop as suspect. Licensed phased repair on one branch would have been cheaper and cleaner.
Saturday septic check + Sunday 7–9 a.m. leach / drain-field walk. After a full Saturday (high occupancy, showers, laundry), walk the field Sunday morning. Look for: uniform dry-looking grass (often healthier), bright green stripes over laterals (biomat / surfacing stress signal), soft or soggy ground, and sewer smell. Pull pumping logs and any prior camera or repair invoices
Example: Bright green stripes over three laterals after a holiday weekend flagged biomat stress. Addressing it with a licensed septic pro and logs beat a buyer’s “replace the field” narrative later.
Prove water & utility recovery — bill kWh / gallons where legal; treat RUBS as a patch, not a miracle. Where local rules allow sub-metering, document meters, billing method, and recovery %. Where you use Ratio Utility Billing (RUBS) or flat fees, show the math and the gap vs the master bill. Flat-rate bleed is one of the fastest NOI killers in diligence
Example: “Water included” on 40 monthly sites looked guest-friendly until the master water line showed ~$3,800/month in peak season with almost no recovery. Sub-meter proof (or a documented path to it) changed the underwriting conversation.
Curb appeal last — paint after the books and the dirt are real. Fresh paint, new picnic tables, and striped roads are fine after electrical, septic, and water stories are documented. Painting first trains you to market cosmetics while the machine still fails Saturday night
Example: A park spent on entrance monument and post paint, then failed a load test in diligence. The paint did not move the CapEx line; it only made the surprise worse.
Documents / proof buyers will demand
Build a simple infrastructure evidence binder (folder of PDFs + dated photos):
- 12 months master bills — electric, water, sewer, propane, trash (summer vs winter obvious).
- Site map / amp map — 30A vs 50A, branches, long-term vs transient.
- Saturday load-test log — date, weather, sites loaded, voltage at nearest and furthest pedestals, who performed the test.
- Pedestal photo set — melt marks, labels, damaged receptacles, standing water, panel photos taken safely.
- Licensed electrician notes or bids for any known branch work (phased OK).
- Septic pumping logs, prior inspections, and Sunday walk photos of the field.
- Water system notes — well vs municipal, storage, known breaks, boil notices if any.
- Sub-meter / RUBS / bill-back reports proving recovery % vs master spend.
- CapEx history — roads, transformers, panels, laterals, water main work with invoices.
- Honest known-issues list — better from you than from their inspector.
Photo evidence checklist (minimum): furthest pedestal under load with meter in frame; any melt or scorch; breaker labels; leach-field overview + close-ups of stripes/soft spots; water meter or master vault if accessible; dated filename or whiteboard in shot.
When to hire licensed trades (do not DIY): electrical grounding/bonding and feeder work; pedestal replacement involving service equipment; septic digging, repair, or chemical/mechanical remediation beyond your licensed pro’s direction; water main / backflow work requiring permits. Forums are not a permit.
NEC / inspector reality (without illegal DIY advice): Buyers and AHJs care that installations are safe and code-compliant. Fear of “they’ll make me rewire the whole park” is common; the practical move is document load reality + get a licensed assessment + phase worst branches, not panic-rewire or improvise grounding. We do not invent statutes here — your electrician and local AHJ own code calls.
Common mistakes that cost six figures
- Skipping the Saturday peak-load test. Diligence will run one. Fail it then, and you negotiate under fire.
- Ignoring melt marks and soft pedestals. Heat evidence is CapEx evidence.
- DIY grounding “fixes.” Creates liability and inspector distrust.
- Calling RUBS a full cure when the master still bleeds. RUBS can be a bridge; sub-metering (where legal) is proof.
- Hiding septic soft spots. Bright stripes and smell become “full field replacement” stories fast.
- Painting first. Cosmetics after forensics — never before.
- No amp map. “We have mostly 50s” without a site list is not underwritable.
How Way-Ya-Go helps (Glitch Audit — no Zoom)
The free property Glitch Audit includes infrastructure notes, not just P&Ls. We help you see what a buyer’s inspection team will weaponize — and what to phase before you expose the asset.
Email: wayyago@gmail.com Subject: Glitch Audit — Infrastructure / Step 02
Attach:
- T-12 / rent roll if you have them (even rough)
- 12 months utility masters (or the worst summer months)
- Amp map or site list (30 vs 50)
- Photos: pedestals, melt marks, leach field Sunday morning
- Short notes on what fails on the hottest Saturday
No exploratory Zoom. No “paint the lines and list it” advice. Buyer pays; no commissions to the seller on the direct path.
Related field pages on the site: Park Doctor, Electrical, Septic, and Stop the 4 Glitches — use them as companion diagnostics while this FSBO step stays the seller-prep spine.
Request a confidential Glitch Audit
No brokers. No commissions to the seller. Attach T-12 / rent roll / infrastructure notes. No exploratory Zoom.
Prefer plain email? wayyago@gmail.com — same desk. No exploratory booking links.