The March 2021 Commercial Real Estate Investing Newsletter

Lessons Learned From Over 1,000 Mobile Home Park Deals Reviewed

Frank Rolfe has been reviewing mobile home park deals with potential mhp buyers for over a decade. It’s the similarities and correlation between these properties and their respective values that is the topic of this event titled “Lessons Learned from Over 1,000 Mobile Home Park Deals Reviewed”. He’s discusses a variety of factors that serve as macro and micro clues that a deal is attractive vs. not something any buyer should pursue.

Watch The Video

Mobile Home Park Mastery Podcast: Episode 190 - Why Managers Fail And How Can You Minimize That

Every mobile home park must have a manager, and not all of those work out. So what are the key reasons why mobile home park managers fail and what can be done to mitigate these issues? In this Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast we’re going to review our lessons learned from hundreds of managers and how to improve your odds of success.

Listen To Episode 190

Mobile Home Park Mastery Podcast: Episode 189 - The Best Parts About The Mobile Home Park Owning Lifestyle

If you talk to mobile home park owners about the best parts of property ownership, most will tell you that it gives them a very high-quality lifestyle. But what does that mean? In this Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast we’re going to review the top benefits of owning mobile home parks from a quality of life perspective.

Listen To Episode 189

Think Twice Before Diving Into That Mobile Home Park

Buying a mobile home park is a lot like diving into that lake: it seems like there is no risk. After all they are not like factories, gas stations or urban tracts. The environmental risk is not obvious.

Read More

Expanding RV Parks: A Primer

It is estimated that there will be roughly 51,000 new sites of expansion in the U.S. among existing RV park owners. In many markets, this can be the right choice to expand your profitability and the depth of your product offerings. But is this the right choice for your RV park? Here’s a primer on the key issues to consider.

Read More

How To Rent The “Impossible” Billboard

Not all billboards are created equal and some have some really big hurdles to get over in order to find a suitable advertiser. These hurdles can include poor visibility, low traffic count, bad demographics and other features that make them less than appealing to most advertisers. However, every sign has a logical user if you think hard enough. So how do you rent the “impossible” billboard?

Read More

Should You Obtain Self-Storage Financing On Your Own Or Should You Use A “Loan Broker”?

All self-storage investing revolves around obtaining financing. While most people think this is their job and must do it themselves, there is another option and that’s utilizing a “capital consultant” which is also known as a “Loan broker”. And you should think about this before you start contacting lenders.

Read More

Billboard Mastery Podcast: Episode 19 - Why Digital Is Not The Answer

LED “digital” billboards can serve a useful purpose – but most of the time not in the manner the buyer or builder hopes for. Sure anyone can strap an LED onto a billboard panel (assuming you can get the permit) but is that really the right decision? That’s the topic of this Billboard Mastery podcast and we’re going to review what makes LED work and what does not and how to make that decision.

Listen To Episode 19

RV Park Mastery Podcast: Episode 23 - Lessons Learned From Failed RV Parks

Most RV parks are successful, but there are some that just don’t work out for any owner. So what are the attributes that make an RV park a loser, and can those be fixed? That’s the topic of this RV Park Mastery podcast. We’re going to explore what qualities make RV parks too dangerous to handle, as well as strategies to mitigate those risks.

Listen To Episode 23

Self Storage University Podcast: Episode 21 - Think Like A Banker

Many people see their banker as a roadblock and a pain. But I see bankers as role models for smart storage investing. So why would all smart self-storage investors be better off thinking like a banker?

Listen To Episode 21

A Park We Bought And Sold In Illinois

Mobile home parks are, at the end of the day, all about making money, and in this video we give you a tour of a property we bought and sold and review how much money it made and what the key profit drivers were. This property was a total turnaround that needed infrastructure repair and new leadership to bring it back to life – it had piles of dead leaves higher than the decks in some spots. However, using the standard science of cleaning up the common areas and then helping the residents to regain their pride of ownership, the community came out of its coma and the financial rewards were huge.

Watch The Video

Mobile Home Park Mastery Podcast: Episode 188 - Mobile Home Manufacturing Has Nothing To Do With Mobile Home Parks

January single-wide sales of new mobile homes are down 7.5% from last year – and park owners could care less. In this Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast we’re going to review why there is no correlation between mobile home manufacturing and mobile home park performance. While many Americans believe that mobile home retail is where the money is, that couldn’t be farther from the truth and the future of both segments could not be more divergent.

Listen To Episode 188

What You Do Today Defines Your Tomorrow

2021 will be no different than 2020 if you don’t take action today. Just like a gardener, you will not have a majestic oak in the future unless you plant that acorn today. And if you want to improve your financial health, then this is the time to make movement. For many investors, the correct action should be to buy an RV park. Just one of these assets can change your financial stability for generations. So how do you take the first steps toward successfully buying and operating an RV park?

Read More

Bill Gates Becomes A Self-Storage Investor

Bill Gates is best known for being the founder of Microsoft and one of the richest people in the world with a net worth of around $140 billion. But he has recently branched out into a new arena as a significant self-storage investor. He has bought a large stake in StorageMart, which is the largest privately-owned self-storage provider in the world.

Read More

The Tale Of This Florida City Mobile Home Park Is Becoming A Common One

It’s becoming pretty common for mobile home parks to be torn down to make way for a new and more profitable use. But this story is different, because the owner of the property it the city itself, not your typical park owner. So how did this 15-acre mobile home park meet its fate? And what are the lessons learned for all of those out there that complain about higher mobile home park lot rents?

Read More

Mobile Home Park Mastery Podcast: Episode 187 - The “Moat” Keeps Getting Wider And Deeper

Warren Buffett has long championed the concept that all great business models share one big attribute: a “moat”. This “moat” protects that business from competition and from other damaging risks to profitability. Mobile home parks have long held the position of having one of the largest “moats” in the United States, and it just keeps getting wider and deeper, to the chagrin of many who find it “unfair”.

Listen To Episode 187

Self Storage University Podcast: Episode 20 - Let's Get Creative

Being creative sometimes allows you to build successful deals from seemingly hopeless beginnings. In self-storage investing it’s the ability to think outside the box that makes some deals possible. In this episode of the Self Storage University podcast we’re going to review some strategies that allow you to take deals that are never going to work and put them back on a solid footing using just one ingredient: creativity.

Listen To Episode 20

Billboard Mastery Podcast: Episode 18 - Finding The Capital To Build Or Buy Billboards

Even though they’re relatively inexpensive compared to the other sectors of real estate investment, it still takes capital to build a billboard or buy an existing one. So how do you get the money to get your dreams off the ground? In this Billboard Mastery podcast we’re going to review various ways to obtain the capital to start your billboard investing, including how these loans can be structured.

Listen To Episode 18

RV Park Mastery Podcast: Episode 22 - Understanding Mom And Pop Sellers

Many of the best RV park deals involve sellers who are the original builders of the RV park – and these are commonly known as “mom and pops”. But what makes them unique and what do you need to know about working with this select group? In this RV Park Mastery podcast we’re going to review the typical attributes of mom and pop sellers, and how to position yourself as a buyer for maximum success.

Listen To Episode 22

Mobile Home Park Mastery Podcast: Episode 186 - Why Solving Affordable Housing Is A Political Problem, Not A Structural One

America is in the grips of an affordable housing shortage so large it seems impossible. But the solution is not a structural one – that’s easy – but a political one that is insurmountable. In this episode of the Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast we’re going to talk about why the government is unwilling to make the tough political choices that could solve affordable housing once and for all.

Listen To Episode 186

Retiring On One RV Park: A Reasonable Expectation

The concept of “retirement” is overworked and commonplace on any investing website. But their concept of “retirement” and yours may be completely different. Sure, you’ll get social security, but at $1,200 per month on average it’s less than impressive. So what’s your plan? For many investors, a good one is buying an RV park. And it only takes one if properly purchased and operated.

Read More

Billboard Rents Are Elastic And You Need To Stay Prepared

One thing I learned from past recessions is that billboard revenues are extremely “elastic”. They can go up or down significantly based on how the economy is doing. Although there is typically a renter for every sign, what they will pay is all over the map and is derived from a number of factors. So what do you need to know about billboard elasticity and how to plan around it?

Read More

The Impact Of Covid On Self-Storage And Lessons Learned

Self-storage investing is not bullet proof, and there is no Kevlar vest to protect you if you do not plan accordingly. Although self-storage did well during the 2008 Great Recession – the implosion of the single-family market – it has done nearly as well in weathering the Covid pandemic which began in March of 2020. And there are already lessons to be learned.

Read More

The Many Mobile Home Park Paths To Zero Down

There is no better feeling on earth than when you own a mobile home park and you have absolutely no money into it. Not only do you have no worries (assuming your debt is non-recourse) but your rate of return is infinite (since it’s based on your down-payment and you have none). You can literally own an empire of mobile home parks and have zero money at risk. So if zero-down is living the dream, how do you accomplish it?

Read More

The Life of Ryan

Ryan from Charleston knew nothing about mobile home parks. He decided that affordable housing was a great place to invest, given the trajectory of the U.S. economy. He went to Boot Camp. He made offers. He bought parks. He quit his day job. He has a dream life.

Watch The Video