Property type guide

Cost segregation for mobile-home & RV parks

A mobile-home or RV park is almost pure infrastructure. The owner rarely owns the homes — they own the pads, the hookups, the interior roads and the utility network that make the site rentable. There is very little vertical building, which means the depreciable basis is dominated by 15-year land improvements to an unusual degree.

At a glance
Modeled reclass range	20–45%
Typical study fee (Cost Seg Smart)	See pricing guide
Recovery periods captured	5-, 7- and 15-year vs the 27.5-year shell
Delivery	Engineering-based; virtual or on-site depending on the provider

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Top 5 providers for mobile home / rv parks →

Contents

What gets reclassified
Typical results and what drives the spread
By the numbers (original data)
What a study costs for this type
Provider comparison — Top 5
Is it worth it — break-even
Frequently asked questions

1What reclassifies in a mobile-home & RV parks

In a mobile home / rv park, cost segregation typically reclassifies 20–45% of depreciable basis out of the 27.5-year building shell into 5-, 7- and 15-year property. The components that recur:

Mobile home / RV park — commonly reclassified components
Component	Recovery period	Authority carried (with caveat)
Utility pedestals & hookups (water, sewer, electric per pad)	15-year	Land improvements (Asset Class 00.3) — pad-serving distribution and pedestals; connections integral to a building the owner holds would instead follow that building.
Concrete or paved pads	15-year	Land improvements improving the developed site; underlying raw land and general grading are not depreciable.
Interior roads, drives & guest parking	15-year	Land improvements — private circulation serving the park; the paved footprint is a large share of park cost.
Site utilities & drainage (mains, lift stations, storm)	15-year	Land improvements where the distribution serves the site; excavation tied to raw land value stays non-depreciable.
Clubhouse, laundry, pool & office FF&E	5- or 15-year	Loose furniture and equipment are 5-year personal property; the pool shell and hardscape are 15-year land improvements; the split tracks what is affixed.
Landscaping, irrigation & entry signage	15-year	Land improvements serving the developed park rather than any one structure.
Perimeter fencing, site lighting & mailboxes	15-year	Land improvements serving the site rather than a building system.

The one thing to know about mobile-home & RV parks: A park is a land-improvement asset first and a building asset almost not at all. Pads, pedestals, interior roads, and the water-sewer-electric network are nearly all 15-year land improvements, so an unusually large share of depreciable basis reclassifies out of the long-life pool. The one hard boundary is underneath it all: raw land and general grading are non-depreciable no matter how the site is developed, so a clean study separates the improvements from the dirt they sit on.

2Typical results and what drives the spread

Across standardized mobile home / rv park configurations, the engine models an accelerated share of roughly 20–45%. Pad count, how much of the utility and road network the owner installed, and the size of any common buildings drive the spread. These are modeled ranges, not a promise for any specific building — see by the numbers.

3By the numbers (original data)

The accelerated-% range on this page is an internal model range: generated by running Cost Seg Smart's commercial component engine across standardized mobile home / rv park configurations. It is not a summary of completed client studies, and it is not a prediction for your building. Actual results depend on the property's facts, documentation and your CPA's positions.

4What a study costs for this type

Study fees track building size, documentation quality and whether an on-site inspection is performed. See the pricing guide for current market bands; competitor fees are sourced there, not quoted in prose here.

5Provider comparison — the Top 5 for this asset class

Every provider below is scored on the same fixed rubric, weighting relevant mobile home / rv park evidence most heavily. Facts are drawn from each provider's public materials and dated.

Provider

Score*

Relevant mobile home / rv park evidence

Profile

RE Cost Seg

Engineering-first · National (Houston, TX)

Best published pricing
Best for virtual delivery
Most transparent turnaround

7.9

How this score is built (sub-score ÷ 5 × weight):

Methodology & technical documentation	3.8/5	24%	18.2
Relevant property-type evidence	3.0/5	30%	18.0
Deliverables	4.0/5	14%	11.2
Pricing transparency	5.0/5	10%	10.0
Delivery options	5.0/5	7%	7.0
Audit-support terms	5.0/5	8%	8.0
Turnaround transparency	5.0/5	7%	7.0
Total		100%	79.0 → 7.9

Generic coverage only

source · as of Jul 2026

Profile →

Cost Seg Smart site owner

Engineering-first

Best published pricing
Best for virtual delivery

7.8

How this score is built (sub-score ÷ 5 × weight):

Methodology & technical documentation	4.2/5	24%	20.2
Relevant property-type evidence	3.0/5	30%	18.0
Deliverables	5.0/5	14%	14.0
Pricing transparency	5.0/5	10%	10.0
Delivery options	4.0/5	7%	5.6
Audit-support terms	3.0/5	8%	4.8
Turnaround transparency	4.0/5	7%	5.6
Total		100%	78.0 → 7.8

Generic coverage only

source · as of Jul 2026

Profile →

Baker Tilly

National accounting/advisory · National (Chicago, IL)

Best for national on-site coverage
Most transparent turnaround

7.6

How this score is built (sub-score ÷ 5 × weight):

Methodology & technical documentation	4.2/5	24%	20.2
Relevant property-type evidence	3.0/5	30%	18.0
Deliverables	5.0/5	14%	14.0
Pricing transparency	3.0/5	10%	6.0
Delivery options	3.0/5	7%	4.2
Audit-support terms	4.0/5	8%	6.4
Turnaround transparency	5.0/5	7%	7.0
Total		100%	76.0 → 7.6

Generic coverage only

source · as of Jul 2026

Profile →

Source Advisors

Engineering-first · National (Fort Worth, TX)

Best for national on-site coverage

7.3

How this score is built (sub-score ÷ 5 × weight):

Methodology & technical documentation	5.0/5	24%	24.0
Relevant property-type evidence	3.0/5	30%	18.0
Deliverables	5.0/5	14%	14.0
Pricing transparency	2.0/5	10%	4.0
Delivery options	3.0/5	7%	4.2
Audit-support terms	4.0/5	8%	6.4
Turnaround transparency	2.0/5	7%	2.8
Total		100%	73.0 → 7.3

Generic coverage only

source · as of Jul 2026

Profile →

Cherry Bekaert

Engineering-first · National (Richmond, VA; #1 Southeast)

Best for national on-site coverage

7.2

How this score is built (sub-score ÷ 5 × weight):

Methodology & technical documentation	4.6/5	24%	22.1
Relevant property-type evidence	3.0/5	30%	18.0
Deliverables	4.3/5	14%	12.0
Pricing transparency	3.0/5	10%	6.0
Delivery options	3.5/5	7%	4.9
Audit-support terms	4.0/5	8%	6.4
Turnaround transparency	2.0/5	7%	2.8
Total		100%	72.0 → 7.2

Generic coverage only

source · as of Jul 2026

Profile →

Top 5 of 22 firms scored for mobile home / rv park. See every firm's full profile and per-type standing in the provider directory.

*Score is this site's published rubric output (0–10) for mobile home / rv park, weighting relevant property-type evidence most heavily (see how we compare) — click any score for its build-up. It is not a customer rating and no reviews are used. Cost Seg Smart is the site owner and is scored on the same rubric.

6Is it worth it — break-even

Because pads, hookups and roads carry almost the entire cost of a park, a modeled 20–45% reclassification of depreciable basis is typical for mobile-home and RV parks — among the highest of any residential type — and the benefit generally clears a study fee at a modest basis, accelerated further by bonus depreciation on the dominant 15-year pool.

7Frequently asked questions

Why do parks reclassify so much more than apartments?

Because a park is mostly site work. Pads, utility pedestals, interior roads and the water-sewer-electric network are 15-year land improvements, and there is little vertical building to anchor cost in the long-life shell. The short-life share is proportionally very high.

The owner does not own the homes — does that matter?

It focuses the study. Because tenants typically own their coaches or RVs, the owner's depreciable basis sits in the pads, hookups, roads and utilities — precisely the assets that reclassify as land improvements. The homes are not part of the owner's cost basis.

What stays non-depreciable?

Raw land and general grading. No matter how developed the site is, the underlying land and the rough grading tied to its value are not depreciable. A defensible study carves those out and depreciates only the improvements added to the site.

Are the utility pedestals really 15-year property?

Generally yes. Pad-serving water, sewer and electric distribution and pedestals are land improvements. The exception is a connection integral to a building the owner holds — such as an on-site clubhouse — which would follow that building instead.

Is a park residential rental property?

A park leased for residential occupancy is generally residential rental property, so any owner-held buildings sit on a 27.5-year life. In practice the analysis barely touches the shell — the value is in the 15-year site improvements — but the residential baseline governs whatever structure the owner does hold.

Sources and authority consulted

Rev. Proc. 87-56 (MACRS asset classes)
IRS Cost Segregation Audit Techniques Guide (Pub 5653)
Cost Seg Smart per-vertical component engine (modeled ranges + component authorities).

Cost Seg Smart, which operates this guide, publishes commercial studies and fees at costsegsmart.com and details its methodology and sample reports at commercialcostseg.com.