How wild is this idea

mobile home university
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We are in some of the most challenging times in my entire life.

I think there will be tremendous wealth created in the next few years by folks NOT afraid to invest. I’m not talking about investing savings or retirement accounts, I mean folks willing to sign on the dotted lines on mega parks sold 30 cents on the dollar. many of the REIT’s are divesting themselves of MHPs. I think there will be trmendous need for affordable housing in the near future. i got home at 8:30 tonite because after work, I drove to Orlando to look at a 134 space park with 47 empty spaces. I will sell our 1.5 acre family plot to L/O the thing if i have to and go live in the Park. It casflows over 13K per month at asking price.

And Rick you are right, I am not buying the Park, I am buying (leasing actually) the cash flow stream.

There wqll be fortunes lost and new fortunes made in the next few years…I want to gain as do most of the folks on this Board.

I am throwing something out that is mind boggling in it’s scope.

I propose that some of the other seminars and Bootcamps and possibly other forums (CRE and even MHPS) combine resources and contacts and have a jointly sponsored mega meeting devoted strictly to looking for answers to some of the questions folks are asking in these troubled times.

I realize the logistics are daunting. We have different formats, agendas, pricing schedules, etc. but that will just make it more …er challenging. We have some of the best MH investing minds(minds period) in the world on this forum and this is a way to sort through the problems confronting us ALL and look for some answers that can help us all!

I get bored when I drive and this just popped into my mind. We face fantastic obstacles right now, but with these are fantastic opportunities to finally buy that mac daddy park we ALL want at a price that finally makes sense. On my own, I am not smart enough to be scared. I am trying to BUY Parks and would hesitate to sell ANY income stream right now. Iam looking for another hard money source as i type and will go in debt to secure one or more of these parks…I believe in the affordable housing paradigm as much today as I did the first time I read DOW in 2002. In fact, more so. Folks have to live somewhere and MY last 4 move-ins are great people that had their homes foreclosed. I have electric in my name to these homes because the utility will not turn on power to credit damaged folks without huge deposits. All have great jobs but the 2700 per month mortgage payments almost bankrupted them (one it did).

I’ve never been shy about sharing concerns, fears, or ideas…this is how I learn.

Things are changing, times are tough, money is tight, there is safety in numbers. These are all facts in my life and i no longer believe I am alone. Is this a good idea? Come on folks, tell me if this makes some sense…

Regards,

Greg

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Greg so long as the cash flow is realistic and achievable by you without using hyped up numbers I see no reason not to pursue a property that you believe to be 30 cents on the dollar.

Do your due diligence and make sure it’s not a monster and if it checks out they money is there my friend! I personally don’t desire to own a 100+ unit park but you can bet your bottom dollar that if I locate one at 30 cents on the dollar I’m going to be buying it and prepping to hold for a year or two until things settle back down only to sell it even if for 50 cents on the dollar of what I thought it was worth.

Think about it this way, if you mess up the numbers and it’s only clearing 6k a month and you can sell in 2-4 years for 1.5 times (45 cents OTD) what you are looking at locking it in at is it worth your time? You’ve had you taste of parks with your little one, do you want to go bigger? Do you want to infill or just clean it up and hold till the economy turns and let someone else do the hard work and make the lions share? What do you want to get outa this?

A property that far from home is going to eat some serious time, with your mentality I can’t see you being happy doing a long distance turn around… Is your crew all on board with this?

There is always going to be a need for housing! Remember the old streamline travel trailers of yesteryear? I drove past a small camp ground yesterday that has historically been a drug den with a couple travel trailers parked on pads rented out by the week… yesterday it was FULL and had people from every walk of life, the trailers ranged from old 50ish streamlines to newer models that had been moved in and setup semi permanent.

Best wishes,

Ryan Needler

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Greg

Count me in as a member of the Not Smart Enough To Be Scared Club. There are more opportuities now than ever and I keep saying this like I am a broken record. I looked at a park here in CA the other day that has been owned by the same family for 15 years. It is an absolute cash cow. But guess what its going into foreclosure, because one of the members of the family used it as collateral to buy a single family subdivision that is now upside down. I am seeing more and more mobile home parks go into foreclosure. As I research the reasons why it is not from the cash flow shortage of the park but the cross collateralization to some other investment. I have a 90 space park under contract that is being foreclosed on. I am now working with the sellers bank and not the seller. There is $850K owed on the park and my offer is $650K.

If I am going to follow the herd I want to follow the small herd that has the vision to see the world is not coming to an end but instead opening up to more opportunity without the massive greed of the past. I would love a new format of meetings that wants to work on opportunities. In my personal experience if I need a reason not to pursue or to be scared of opportunity I watch the news. Good Luck with your new deal in Florida.

1 Like
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Greg, I like your idea for a jointly sponsored meeting,as an industry we need it. I think the buyers, would-be buyers, and sellers should get to know each other and get busy putting some deals together on some of these properties. I have thought that one of the annual MH trade shows would be a good event to meet at as they are situated close to airport, hotel and already have many of the players in attendance.

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Great idea to take advantage of this bad economy I believe so. Let’s do it!

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Greg, As a newbie in this niche, I have found that there are MANY others who have some funds, (can you say IRA?) but are either scared or lack the full capital to pull the trigger on a big deal. I went to MHM in Austin and loved the info…met a lot of good people, but when I got home…back in the grind of work, lost the enthusiasm to do anything. I’m working 50-60 hours a week between 2 jobs to try to build a retirement.

My point is…I agree in the contrarian theory…the best time to buy is when things are bad. Seems like there are a lot of folks who would be happy to jump on board with a proven owner/operator for the learning experience and some cash flow. I know most of the ones I met at MHM felt a lot like I did…we want to do something, but lack of experience and funds has us all paralyzed. In my opinion, your idea for a new style “mega meeting” should include the idea of linking newbies with experienced owners in a mentor/investor type relationship. This provides capital for the bigger deals and provides a wealth of experience for the newbies. In my opinion, much better than any bootcamp or seminar.