The property type where the study is almost the whole basis
A mobile home park is the inverse of an office tower. There may be no significant building at all: the asset is land plus the infrastructure that makes it rentable, and under MACRS nearly all of that infrastructure (concrete pads, interior roads, water and sewer laterals, electrical pedestals, gas distribution, street lighting, fencing, signage) is 15-year land improvement property. That is why Engineered Tax Services reports 60% to 100% typical acceleration for mobile home parks, the highest range on their published table.
The planning battle is therefore different from every other property type. In an apartment study the engineer fights to move 30% of basis; in a park study, the fight is establishing how much of the purchase price is depreciable at all, because raw land is not. A defensible land allocation, supported by an appraisal or assessor data, decides more dollars than the component classification does.
With 100% bonus depreciation permanently restored under OBBBA for qualifying property acquired after January 19, 2025, the entire reclassified infrastructure of a newly acquired park is generally deductible in Year 1, which can produce first-year deductions approaching the depreciable basis itself.
Two identical $4M park purchases can produce wildly different studies: one with a $2.6M land allocation leaves $1.4M to depreciate; one defensibly documented at $1.8M leaves $2.2M. Nail the allocation with real evidence before anyone classifies a pad.
What a Park Study Actually Classifies
Pads to pedestals: the 15-year inventory.
Park-owned homes deserve their own line in the file. Homes rented to tenants are residential rental property on a 27.5-year schedule, separate from the lot infrastructure, and homes bought and sold to residents are inventory, not depreciable property at all. A clean purchase price allocation among land, infrastructure, homes, and any clubhouse at closing saves the study (and any later sale) real friction.
| Asset | MACRS life | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Concrete pads and runners | 15-year | Land improvements, the core of park basis |
| Interior roads, driveways, and guest parking | 15-year | Paving is a classic land improvement |
| Water, sewer, and gas distribution to each lot | 15-year | On-site utility infrastructure owned by the park |
| Electrical pedestals and site distribution | 15-year | Hookup infrastructure serving lots |
| Street lighting, fencing, signage, mailbox clusters | 15-year | Site improvements |
| Septic systems, lagoons, or package treatment plants | 15-year | Owned wastewater infrastructure |
| Clubhouse or office building, if any | 27.5- or 39-year | Classified by its own use; often small relative to site basis |
| Park-owned homes rented to tenants | 27.5-year | Residential rental property, depreciated separately from lots |
| Maintenance equipment, mowers, golf carts | 5- or 7-year | Personal property, often expensed under Section 179 |
Land itself is never depreciable. Utility infrastructure owned by the municipality or a utility company is not the park's asset and stays out of basis.
Year 1 on a $4M, 90-Lot Park
What the highest reclass range on the table looks like in dollars.
Worked example (illustrative)
90-lot park, $4M purchase, tenant-owned homes
- Purchase price
- $4,000,000
- Land allocation (appraisal-supported)
- ($1,700,000)
- Depreciable basis
- $2,300,000
- Reclassified to 15-year land improvements
- $1,950,000 (85% of basis)
- Small office building remaining at 39-year
- $350,000
- Year 1 deduction with 100% bonus
- ~$1,959,000 (bonus plus straight-line)
- Same property, no study
- ~$9,000 first-year deduction
Illustrative round numbers within the ETS 60-100% range. The land allocation shown is the make-or-break assumption; document yours with an appraisal or credible assessor split. Model variations in the cost segregation estimator.
Hypothetical case study
The syndicator who bought depreciation for the whole LP base
This is a hypothetical, illustrative composite, not an actual client or an actual result. Savings vary with your income, entity, state, and how usable the losses are.
A hypothetical sponsor syndicates a $4M park with $1.5M of LP equity. The study reclassifies $1.95M into 15-year property, all bonus-eligible, and the Year 1 loss allocated across the partnership exceeds the entire equity raise.
For the passive LPs with other passive income, the K-1 loss shelters that income immediately; for W-2-only LPs it suspends until the park sells or they find passive income. The sponsor disclosed both outcomes in the offering materials, which is exactly what a sponsor should do, and several LPs with rental portfolios specifically invested because the depreciation profile matched their situation.
Hypothetical composite, not a client outcome. The point: in park deals, depreciation is a marketable feature of the offering itself, and modeling it accurately before the raise is a sponsor-level responsibility.
Beyond the Study: The Park Owner's Stack
Infill, utilities, exits, and the books that hold it together.
- Infill and new pads: every lot you add is new 15-year property, bonus-eligible in the year placed in service. Capital budgets for infill should be tracked pad-by-pad.
- Utility submetering conversions: new submeter infrastructure is depreciable 15-year (or 5-year equipment) property, and the operating savings compound the return.
- 1031 exchanges on park sales, which defer the substantial recapture a park study accelerates.
- Look-back studies: parks held for years without a study are prime Form 3115 catch-up candidates, taking all missed 15-year depreciation in one current-year adjustment.
- REPS or passive-income pairing for individual owners, the usual Section 469 gate on rental losses.
- Entity structure: parks typically sit in LLCs taxed as partnerships; park-owned home sales businesses sometimes justify a separate entity so inventory profit does not muddy the rental books. Our mobile home park accounting service keeps lot rent, home rent, and home-sale activity in separate lanes.
Taxstra Tip
When negotiating a park purchase, ask the seller for utility as-builts and any prior infrastructure invoices. Engineering documentation you collect free at closing directly improves the study's precision and defensibility later.
Getting the Study Done Right
ETS engineers the site; Taxstra defends the allocation and files it.
We coordinate park studies through Engineered Tax Services, and the deliverable that matters most here is the documented land allocation and site takeoff. Taxstra implements the result: depreciation schedules by asset class, Form 3115 for parks already in service, partnership allocations for syndicated deals, and state adjustments where bonus conformity differs.
Disclosure: Taxstra may receive a referral fee if you engage ETS through links on this page.
Estimate Your Savings
A quick estimate from the ETS calculator, then a study only if the numbers justify it.
Estimate Your Cost Segregation Savings
Run your property through the Engineered Tax Services savings calculator for a quick estimate, then have Taxstra pressure-test the number against your full tax picture.
Loading calculator...
Calculator provided by Engineered Tax Services. Estimates are educational only and depend on an engineering-based study of your specific property; results are not individualized tax advice.
Disclosure: Taxstra may receive a referral fee if you engage Engineered Tax Services through links on this page. That relationship does not change your price, and it is not a recommendation for your specific situation.
See What a Study Could Do for Your Property
Engineered Tax Services performs the engineering-based study. Taxstra turns the report into actual tax savings on your return and coordinates the strategy around it. Start with their calculator or real case studies.
Want proof first? See real client case studies from ETS with the numbers behind each study.
Disclosure: Taxstra may receive a referral fee if you engage Engineered Tax Services through links on this page. That relationship does not change your price, and it is not a recommendation for your specific situation.
What to check before you order a study
The pre-study review that decides whether the deduction is actually usable.
Commission or collect land-value evidence (appraisal or assessor split) before the study; it is the largest single variable.
Separate park-owned homes from lot infrastructure in the purchase allocation at closing.
Confirm which utilities the park actually owns; municipal lines are not your basis.
Model LP-level usability before syndicating the depreciation story to investors.
Check state bonus conformity in the park's state and every owner's state.
If you have owned the park for years, price a look-back study; the 481(a) catch-up on 15-year property is often dramatic.