Who Is doing something NEW and CREATIVE out there?!

Question

I am looking to connect with people who are doing something new and creative. We have plenty of capital, and let's be honest, there is a ton of capital to go get.

Putting yourself in my shoes, I have plenty of investors and they are looking for a good place to put their money. I have been doing mobile home parks but the cap rates are getting depressed just like apartments. Self storage seems like a good idea, the big players in MHP are buying 35%-40% self-storage deals for their investors. What else is out there that I don't know about?

Who would like to partner up with me on something?

Air-bnb communities? Tiny Home communities for the retired people and for the millennials? Building XYZ from the ground up? Floating Homes in Portland?

Who has something outside the box?

For those of you who have been around for a few cycles.... what worked well when there was a ton of capital? Have you seen this before, and what did you do, or watch someone else do?!

PS if you have an actual deal on a mobile home park, We have 2.5 m ready to put into parks. Send them my way.

Thanks all and have a great weekend!!!

Mathew Wray · Answer

Great conversation starter Zachary!

On floating homes in Portland-they often don't pencil out and you can lose the appreciation value from the land. Plus, only some of the marinas allow long-term rentals (some you can only occupy on weekends). That being said, I love the idea of them and still think they could make an interesting value add to a portfolio, especially if combined with some sort of short-term/unique/corporate/vacation rental aspect. There are a couple of owner financed options available in the market right now. PM if you want details.

But, I know that's not what you're actually asking about!

Here are a couple ideas I've heard about over the last year coming up from folks:

Cottage zoning is new in Central Oregon near Bend to provide low cost alternatives to apartments. Basically, buy an acre of land, run utilities to it, install four prefab (I think 800 Square Feet is the max) park-model homes/tiny homes and then sell 3, keep 1 for rental. Obviously there is more to it than that, but it's a rough overview.

I've also heard and know of at least one example of boarding/rooming houses in the urban core. It was an updated triplex in a historic building, converted to something like 18 individual rooms to rent out. These aren't flop houses, they're high end, fairly large rooms (maybe 200 SF) with shared living spaces. It definitely maximized rents and helped try to relieve the housing crunch.

On the commercial (but it could be done for residential too), I think there's something to be said for the idea of building a modular container home community. Take advantage of economy of scale by doing a bunch off-site, shipping them in to be assembled and connected to utilities, and you're ready to go. Again, not as easy in real life, but the concept is easy enough.

Those 3 are my .02 cents

Karen Margrave · Answer

@Zachary Phelan I've been doing this for 30 years, and have seen many different cycles. The old saying about real estate usually holds true (except for the the historic crash), and that is, all real estate is local.

All of us would love to have a crystal ball and be able to predict what's coming, but we can't. You can however watch some of the posts of people like Jay Hinrichs, and others that are in a lot of different markets and see what's happening in them.

As to creative, there are people on BP in every niche you can imagine, things like mini storage, renting out houseboats, owning marinas, parking lots, boarding houses, sober living, student housing, and so many more. In fact I one time did a post asking all the unique niches and was astounded at the answers.

Here in Bend/Sunriver there are Vacation Rentals, (homes, condos, lots to park RVs., multi family). Rivers, mountains, lakes. The area is a recreational paradise. It's unbelievable the beautiful properties here.

Account Closed · Answer

@Zachary Phelan - Are you still open to exploring tiny home community developments?

Minh Dong · Answer

Thanks for reaching out @Zachary Phelan . With enough capital, building apartment from prefab (container homes) could work out well imho. We would get the prefab unit with a relatively low price (around $30k for 700sqft 2bed 1bath) due to the connection we have with the container manufacturers. Put together an apartment complex for rent could work for this scale.

Another option I'm looking into is multiple small units for Airbnb

Zachary Phelan · Answer

Thanks all to have commented!

I am interested to see who has been around for several cycles thinks or has seen in the past?

Learn from the past and anticipate the future.

Really, like all I just want to get ahead of the wave and ride it out! :)

Karen Margrave · Answer

Seniors are a growing market, and will be for several years. I've thought about pocket neighborhoods with smaller houses though not tiny homes, and lots, where people can still maintain their independence but have less maintenance, and close proximity to neighbors, etc. Maybe an area for gardening and common space for community interaction, etc.  If you look on the website for Ross Chapin Architects, they have homes of all sizes and speak to some of this. I like how the neighborhoods they design are oriented with homes facing each other. I think in many areas where safety is a concern, it's a great way to create interaction among neighbors and a sense of community, like we used to have.

Co housing and shared housing are also a growing trend for various demographics, seniors, students, and singles. In tight markets it makes sense. Much like boarding homes. I have a large home in Redding CA that I lease out to someone that rents rooms out to women that are rebuilding their lives after various life traumas.

As to tiny homes, there is a development here in Bend. Personally I don't think tiny homes will be a lasting thing, more of a trend.

Marlina Eckel · Answer

This is a great thread, thanks for posting!

Who Is doing something NEW and CREATIVE out there?!

Most Popular Reply