How the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Super-Charges Mobile Home Park Investing
In July 2025, Congress passed the landmark “One Big Beautiful Bill”—a sweeping, bipartisan tax package that’s being hailed as the most pro-housing legislation in a generation. After years of policy drift, patchwork extensions, and tax-code uncertainty, this bill provides long-term clarity and powerful tools for real estate investors, developers, and operators.
At its core, the legislation is designed to spark investment, support affordable housing, and unlock economic growth—especially in underserved and rural communities. It does this by restoring 100% bonus depreciation, preserving 1031 like-kind exchanges, expanding Opportunity Zone incentives, and making permanent the 20% Qualified Business Income deduction for pass-through businesses.
But nowhere do these provisions intersect more powerfully than in the mobile home park (MHC) sector. Manufactured housing remains the most cost-effective form of unsubsidized housing in the U.S., and the Big Beautiful Bill just made it more attractive than ever for investors and operators to buy, improve, and hold these assets for the long term.
Enhanced Depreciation = Maximized Cash Flow
One of the biggest wins in the Big Beautiful Bill is the return of 100% bonus depreciation through 2026, followed by a gradual phase-out through 2029. This provision allows real estate investors to deduct the full cost of qualifying property in the first year it’s placed in service—dramatically improving early-year cash flow and boosting investor returns.
This is especially impactful in the mobile home park sector. Unlike most asset types, roughly 80% of an MHC’s total basis is made up of land improvements—infrastructure such as roads, driveways, utility lines, fencing, signage, and pads. These components can be either fully expensed under bonus depreciation or rapidly depreciated using accelerated cost-segmentation studies. For investors, this means a significant portion of the purchase price can be written off in year one.
Even more compelling: if you (or your spouse) qualify for Real Estate Professional Status (REPS), these paper losses can be used to offset your W-2 or active business income—not just passive income from real estate. Without REPS, the depreciation can still offset passive income or be carried forward to future years. Either way, this tool turns mobile home park ownership into one of the most tax-advantaged investments available.
Here’s how it looks in practice:
- On a $5 million mobile home park purchase, where $4 million is allocated to land improvements, a 100% bonus year allows for a $4 million deduction in year one.
- This deduction can shelter not only the income from the park but other income streams as well—if REPS criteria are met.
- Capital improvements like utility upgrades, paving, curbs, and new signage all qualify under bonus depreciation or short-life categories in a cost segregation study.
Bonus Depreciation Phase-Out Schedule:
| Placed-In-Service Year | Bonus Depreciation % |
| 2025 | 100% |
| 2026 | 100% |
| 2027 | 80% |
| 2028 | 60% |
| 2029 | 40% |
| 2030 | 20% |
| 2031+ | 0% |
1031 Exchanges & “Lazy” 1031 Exchanges
The Big Beautiful Bill locks in 1031 like-kind exchanges permanently, allowing investors to sell a property, reinvest the proceeds into another, and defer capital gains and depreciation recapture. For mobile home park owners, it’s a proven strategy to scale portfolios without triggering taxes.
The “lazy 1031” uses a cash-out refinance instead of a sale. You pull out tax-free equity, reinvest it into a new property, and use bonus depreciation to offset income. With both approaches protected, investors have unmatched flexibility to grow and defer.
Traditional 1031 Exchange
- Sell an investment property (like a mobile home park).
- Identify a replacement property within 45 days and close within 180 days.
- Reinvest 100% of the proceeds into the new property to defer all capital gains and depreciation recapture.
- This allows you to “trade up” continually—building your portfolio without incurring taxes at each step.
The Lazy 1031 Exchange
- Instead of selling, refinance your property and pull out tax-free equity.
- Use the loan proceeds to buy a new property outright or as a down payment.
- Pair this with bonus depreciation from the new acquisition to shield cash flow and reduce taxable income.
- Retain ownership and cash flow from the original park while expanding your footprint.
20% Qualified Business-Income Deduction Now Permanent
The Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction, created under IRC §199A, allows pass-through business owners—like LLCs, partnerships, and S-Corps—to deduct 20% of their net income from qualified trades or businesses. The Big Beautiful Bill makes this deduction permanent, offering long-term tax savings and certainty.
For mobile home park owners and operators, this is a major advantage. Most parks are owned through pass-through entities and actively managed, which means they generally qualify. When combined with depreciation and other deductions, QBI helps significantly reduce taxable income—especially for vertically integrated operators who both own and manage their communities.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
- An MHC producing $200,000 in net income could save up to $40,000 annually in federal taxes.
- Most park operators meet the necessary wage or UBIA thresholds, keeping the deduction fully intact.
- The benefit stacks with bonus depreciation, supercharging after-tax cash flow.
Opportunity Zones (OZs) & Rural Super-Boost
The Big Beautiful Bill makes Opportunity Zones (OZs) permanent and enhances them with new incentives for rural areas—many of which overlap with mobile home park markets. OZs allow investors to roll capital gains into a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) and receive major tax benefits, including deferral, a step-up in basis, and full tax-free appreciation after 10 years.
For mobile home park investors, this creates a unique opportunity to attract capital, improve underutilized parks in rural areas, and exit with tax-free gains. MHCs already provide naturally affordable housing in underserved regions, and with these incentives in place, they’re now better positioned than ever to receive funding from long-term OZ-focused investors.
Expanded Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)
The Big Beautiful Bill allocates an additional $17 billion to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program and expands access in rural and non-metro areas. While traditionally used in multifamily development, this expansion opens the door for mobile home parks to participate, especially when new pads are reserved for lower-income residents or parks are redeveloped in partnership with state housing agencies.
For park operators aiming to provide affordable housing while improving aging infrastructure, LIHTC can lower development costs, attract equity partners, and open up new financing options—especially when layered with Opportunity Zones or municipal incentives.
Broader Housing Market Support & Final Takeaways
Beyond investor-focused tax incentives, the Big Beautiful Bill includes several measures that support the broader housing ecosystem—many of which indirectly benefit mobile home parks by stabilizing the lower end of the housing market. The BBB delivers exactly what long-term mobile home park investors have been hoping for: clarity, incentives, and tools to grow while solving the housing affordability crisis.
- 1) Super-charged depreciation accelerates returns.
- 2) Uncapped 1031 exchanges & ‘lazy 1031’ refi’s keep equity compounding.
- 3) Permanent 20% QBI deduction cements pass-through tax efficiency.
- 4) Opportunity-zone and LIHTC expansions.
- 5) Broader housing credits reinforcing MHCs as a dominant niche.
For operators like Comfort Capital—who own, improve, and manage communities with long-term vision—this legislation isn’t just helpful. It’s a generational tailwind.
