Rental Property Investor · Greeley, CO · Member since 2017 · 226 posts · 99 votes
Mobile home parks are outside my area of expertise. I'm trying to build a foundation of knowledge on the subject. I have experience with other rentals. What books, blogs, podcasts, or other resources do you recommend?
The 21 Biggest Mistakes Investors Make When Purchasing Their First Park and How To Avoid Them by Charles DeHart and Kevin Bupp (available for free from www.mobilehomeparkacademy.com)
Podcasts:
The Mobile Home Park Investing Podcast with Kevin Bupp and Charles DeHart
Mobile Home Park Investors with Jefferson Lilly & Brad Johnson
Websites/Blogs:
Park Street Partners - http://parkstreetpartners.com - This is the investment firm run by Jefferson Lilly and Brad Johnson. They focus on mobile home parks and have solid educational content on their website.
Mobile Home Park Investors - http://mobilehomeparkinvestors.com - This is the LinkedIn group led by Jefferson Lilly. It's the largest group on LinkedIn that is exclusively focused on mobile home park investing.
Mobile Home Park Academy - https://mobilehomeparkacademy.com - This is the educational site that's run by Kevin Bupp and Charles DeHart. They also run an investment firm, Sunrise Capital Investors, that is focused on investing in mobile home parks.
Mobile Home University - http://www.mobilehomeuniversity.com - This is the site maintained by Dave Reynolds and Frank Rolfe. I recommend subscribing to their newsletter.
Specialist · Springfield, IL · Member since 2011 · 700 posts · 479 votes
9y
George Allen is the author of a number of books on manufactured housing communities and has two different monthly newsletters available as well as a Sunday blog. His Annual Roundtable is coming up early next month in Indianapolis which is a terrific event for both newbies and experienced community owners alike. Check out his website for the blog and details on registering for the Roundtable.
Real Estate Coach · Asheville, NC · Member since 2016 · 176 posts · 172 votes
9y
I like to follow Frank Wolfe and Dave Reynolds at mobilehomeuniversity.com. They do a boot camp that people rave about (I've never been). If you sign up for their emails they will send you some very informative newsletters and links to podcasts and interviews that are super helpful. They wrote a book, which the informative part is kind of short, but the back of the book (like 75% of the pages) is them working through a ton of their own deals, pros/cons, what they should have done differently, how much they paid and what they sold for (if they sold). These guys are the 5th largest owner of MHPs and are strong advocates for substanable and low income housing.
The 21 Biggest Mistakes Investors Make When Purchasing Their First Park and How To Avoid Them by Charles DeHart and Kevin Bupp (available for free from www.mobilehomeparkacademy.com)
Podcasts:
The Mobile Home Park Investing Podcast with Kevin Bupp and Charles DeHart
Mobile Home Park Investors with Jefferson Lilly & Brad Johnson
Websites/Blogs:
Park Street Partners - http://parkstreetpartners.com - This is the investment firm run by Jefferson Lilly and Brad Johnson. They focus on mobile home parks and have solid educational content on their website.
Mobile Home Park Investors - http://mobilehomeparkinvestors.com - This is the LinkedIn group led by Jefferson Lilly. It's the largest group on LinkedIn that is exclusively focused on mobile home park investing.
Mobile Home Park Academy - https://mobilehomeparkacademy.com - This is the educational site that's run by Kevin Bupp and Charles DeHart. They also run an investment firm, Sunrise Capital Investors, that is focused on investing in mobile home parks.
Mobile Home University - http://www.mobilehomeuniversity.com - This is the site maintained by Dave Reynolds and Frank Rolfe. I recommend subscribing to their newsletter.
Thanks Jack. I thought the forum rules prohibited listing other websites so I avoid listing telephone numbers and website addresses. Apparently not, which makes it much easier.
Mobile home parks are outside my area of expertise. I'm trying to build a foundation of knowledge on the subject. I have experience with other rentals. What books, blogs, podcasts, or other resources do you recommend?
Thank you in advance!
The thing that should be mentioned is that by reading from a number of sources and attending a number of different meetings you learn there are differences of opinion about a number of things.
I would recommend Frank and Dave's bootcamp, and their publications strongly, but, and this is a big but, I only agree with some of what they advocate. The same is true for George Allen, and George and Frank and Dave do not fully agree with each other. I'm also sure that not everyone agrees with me, but, I haven't written any books on communities or anything in manufactured housing although I have published a newsletter and written many white papers used throughout the industry.
When considering the size of someone's community operation, remember that none of the largest operators in the country that were huge in the 1960s-1980s are still around as the largest of operators. Many ultimately crash and burn. The Zeman family which started out in the 1980s is still around and growing, as are several other family operations. I'm still around, but most of my focus today is on our consulting company and yet, in the 1970s and 1980s I was one of the ten largest community operators in the country.
Some of the changes were because the operators either died or just aged or just had made enough money and wanted to live the lifestyles of the rich and famous. My first partner, (who I should have stayed partnered to) Maury Wilder, became one of the industry billionaires long before he died. Sam Zell, who learned the industry by reading his books and then hiring George Allen as a consultant started in the 1980s in MH and is still active to some degree despite his multiple billions. All of those are exceptions because most are long gone.
However, there have been many spectacular crash and burns as well that should serve as cautionary tails. Capitol One out of Chicago bought a community from me and my partners that set a record in 1998 for the highest price ever paid for a community, and at their zenith owned over 12,000 pads. Today the principal is bankrupt and in semi hiding. There are many, many stories like that.
The short story: Read everything you can get your hands on, and then compare what is being advocated. Never take anyone's business advice as the only right answer, unless you are dealing with specific fact based issues.