The August 2022 Commercial Real Estate Investing Newsletter

The Impact of Noise and Odors on Mobile Home Park Success

In many parts of America, you’ll find mobile home parks located next to sewage treatment plants, cattle feed lots, airport runways and railroad yards. These can create massive noises and odors on a daily basis. So what is the impact of these on mobile home park success in both operations and valuation?

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Mobile Home Park Mastery Podcast: Episode 260 - Inexpensive Amenities That Residents Love

One of the best ways for any mobile home park owner to create a nicer community is the addition of amenities. These come in all price ranges, but there’s a surprisingly large number that are very inexpensive yet have huge bang for the buck. In this Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast we’re going to explore what these amenities are, what they cost, and why they are so effective.

Listen To Episode 260

Is Even Vice Media Now Promoting Investing In Mobile Home Parks?

Vice Media recently released a video to its American audience, attempting to play on their woke sensibilities with the worn-out theme that mobile home parks are nothing more than rich landlords beating up on the poor. Instead, this misguided reporter and story probably built one of the best videos ever on the benefits of mobile home park investing. Here’s what the video basically tells the viewer.

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3,000 Miles & Counting with Patrick from Alaska

Patrick lives in Alaska yet owns and manages mobile home parks that are roughly 3,000 miles from his home. How is that possible?

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Mobile Home Park Mastery Podcast: Episode 259 - The Seller And Broker Lie Detector Test

A ‘lie detector” is a device that gives you insight into whether a statement is true or false. So in this week’s Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast we’re going to analyze some of the most common things we get told by sellers and brokers to see if they are telling the truth or simply trying to spin fiction into their own selfish motives.

Listen To Episode 259

RV Park Mastery Podcast: Episode 60 - How To Make A Seller Sell

Before you can buy an RV park you must have a willing seller. But how can you make them sell to you? In this RV Park Mastery podcast we’re going to discuss what motivates a mom and pop RV park owner to sell and what you can do to push that concept forward. Why you can’t control the whole process, there are definitely three actions you can take to improve your odds of success and that’s what we’re going to review.

Listen To Episode 60

Self Storage University Podcast: Episode 58 - Asset Vs. Entity

There are two ways to buy a self-storage facility: as an asset purchase or an entity purchase. What’s the difference? That’s the topic of this Self-Storage University podcast in which we’ll explore which one is superior and which is not nearly as good.

Listen To Episode 58

Billboard Mastery Podcast: Episode 54 - When A Landowner Goes Bankrupt

With rising interest rates, it’s becoming the perfect environment for landowners to start going bankrupt, as it’s harder to carry mortgages on raw land and it’s hard to cover mortgages on developed properties. In addition, it’s hard to sell land for new construction when people factor in the interest cost. So what happens when you have a billboard on a property that goes bankrupt, and what can you do to mitigate that risk? That’s the subject of this Billboard Mastery podcast.

Listen To Episode 54

What, Me Worry?

Sure, the U.S. is now officially in a recession. And this one will be more serious than the 2020 Covid dress rehearsal. But mobile home park owners are not worried about the decline of the economy. It’s the same phenomenon that “dollar stores” are currently experiencing: in times of financial decline, more customers look for less expensive options. That’s why dollar store sales are up over 70% while every other form of retail is in total decline. So why do mobile home parks do better when times are bad?

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Scholar Series: Innovation

Once upon a time, a mobile home dealer named Jim Clayton, frustrated by look-alike mobile homes, decided he could do better and opened a little factory to produce innovative mobile homes. Or tried to, before learning how difficult that task would prove to be. Clayton became very successful, but his homes look just like the competition. Innovation is hard.

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Mobile Home Park Mastery Podcast: Episode 258 - Don’t Get Too Creative

Creativity is defined as “the use of imagination or original ideas” – and that’s a great tool in forging some mobile home park deals. But there are limits on what you can do with creativity. In this Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast we’re going to review what you can and cannot fix with your inner Picasso, and some tips on staying out of trouble with your custom creation.

Listen To Episode 258

To Fix or Not to Fix? That is the Question

Six years ago, the transmission went out in my aging GMC Yukon. It had about a billion miles on it and The Blue Book Value was around $2.75. It made no sense to fix it as it was not worth the cost. So I moved on and found another used GMC Yukon. After six hard years and multiple crossings of the continent, the head gasket blew on my second GMC Yukon.

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How To Fire An RV Park Manager

Nobody likes to fire their manager, and this is as true for RV park owners as any other group. When you get rid of your manager you set in motion having to find, train and hire their replacement, as well as the unhappy act of letting someone go. It’s perfectly natural to have an aversion to firing an employee, for a multitude of reasons.

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In Praise Of Bollards

Webster’s Dictionary defines “bollards” as “any of a series of short posts set at intervals to delimit an area (such as a traffic island) or to exclude vehicles” but self-storage owners define them as a way to save thousands of dollars on building repairs on a regular basis. Indeed, installing bollards in your self-storage facility may be the best idea you have this year.

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How To Rent Billboards During Recessions

The U.S. economy is well known for its cycles, from boom to bust and back again. Two quarters of negative GDP growth is the definition of a recession, and America officially entered that zone just a few days ago. Having successfully guided 300 billboards through the horrific Texas depression of 1987 to 1991, I am pretty well qualified to talk about how to successfully rent billboards during recessions.

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Mobile Home Park Mastery Podcast: Episode 257 - The Dangers of Indecisiveness

Life is all about making decisions. And if you can’t make good decisions quickly you’re going to miss out on a sea of opportunities as well as make those around you frustrated and lose confidence in your abilities. So how do you make fast and effective decisions? In this Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast we’re going to review some methodologies to help you make good choices in a reasonable time frame.

Listen To Episode 257

RV Park Mastery Podcast: Episode 59 - How To Make Low But Not Insulting Offers

There’s no purpose to making offers to buy RV parks unless they get countered by the seller. But many RV parks are only deserving of prices much lower than what the seller is demanding. In this RV Park Mastery podcast we’re going to review the art of making low offers without them appearing insulting, with the simple goal to get the seller to share in our vision, counter our offer, and ultimately end up with a signed purchase contract.

Listen To Episode 59

Self Storage University Podcast: Episode 57 - Going Where The Water’s Deep Without Drowning

Conrad Hilton’s mother once told him “if you want to launch big ships you have to go where the water’s deep”. But that sentiment almost cost him his career when 1929 hit. In this Self-Storage University podcast we’re going to review the dangers of going “big” and how to mitigate those risks.

Listen To Episode 57

Billboard Mastery Podcast: Episode 53 - All About Length of Lease

How short is too short and how long is too long? That’s a reasonable question for both potential billboard land owners as well as the billboard company itself. In this Billboard Mastery podcast we’re going to drill down on the importance of lease length in every billboard deal.

Listen To Episode 53

Is This Really Investing? Or Just A Scam?

Many Americans were surprised when it was announced that Mark Cuban’s crypto bet that he’d been hawking for months had collapsed. But the bigger question would tie to one of Mark Cuban’s recent quoteas to what makes an investment have inherent value:

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Mobile Home Park Mastery Podcast: Episode 256 - The Economic Evolution of Housing And Why It’s Ok

Housing is getting more expensive. The old saying “you’re either growing and changing or your dead” is true for places we live, as well. And that’s OK. In this Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast we’re going to discuss how housing is changing, how it displaces customers, how mobile home parks are not immune to this metamorphosis, and why that’s just a natural part of life.

Listen To Episode 256