All Forum Posts by: Micki M.

Ben, I'm a US investor who is now located in the UK and looking to invest locally. Let's chat. What's your interest in the UK market? Feel free to PM me.

I received a proposal from VanWest Partners who are offering a syndication type fund for self storage properties. Other than their own website I'm struggling to find information on the company or partners. So I'm wondering if anyone here (especially in Denver where they are based) has worked with these guys or has thoughts on this type of investment?

I have several other apartment building syndications that have worked out wonderfully so I'm curious about branching out.

That sounds great. I've had single family and own one commercial building in Denver. For my next property I'd like a small multifamily or mixed use property - up to 10 units. Feel free to reach out if I can be of any help as you get started.

@Scott K. I'll buy the parcel next door and park my camper there. As most have said, just hire a title company or attorney to run a title search. Seeing the history of ownership will give good clues as to how likely it will be that someone's great, great uncle will show up claiming the land or not. 

@Jesus Sanchez welcome! I've been interested in the Santa Fe and Albuquerque markets for a long time. It's always nice to see another NM investor on here. What type of property are you going to start with?

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Now that you've got the debbie downer insight, here's my two cents

It's definitely an opportunity. IMHO the price per lot is reasonable. Owner financing may not leave you as much negotiating room on price but it's always worth trying, just make sure the numbers work for your endgame of not owning the homes. 

For the homes you have a couple of options. First of all you can sell them in their current condition but maybe not for $5k, people will fix them up themselves to get a deal. I would run some test listings on Facebook Marketplace and see what kind of response you get. I have a couple of inherited homes in a park right now that I listed on there and got hundreds of replies. Make sure you have your screening process in place and make it clear to the buyers so you end up with a solid tenant.

Owner financing is an option, but from what I've seen and heard from other park owners, the tenants will see it as 'rent to own' meaning you still fix things for them. It is common to default and then you're left with a vacant trailer possibly in worse condition. Basing your purchase solely on lot rent income can be a smarter approach, and then any sales will be bonus income. 

You might also consider weighing the hassle of selling all the units and making sure people keep up their payments with finding a handyman to live in one unit and handle issues with the rental units?

Depending on the demographics of the area another approach would be to replace the oldest/worst units with new units through the CASH or similar program, and slowly upgrade the quality of the park/tenants. Someone who can buy a $20k home might be more likely to stick around and take pride in their lot than someone who buys a $2k home.

So the first question is, what's the worst case scenario. Something happens and the homes are destroyed, what else can you do with the land?

I love Slack (slack.com) as a free interactive app. You can create channels, upload docs, or just communicate in group/private messages. 

Great advice. That shiny object syndrome is a killer. I also really liked thing BIG start SMALL. I've been dabbling in a lot of different strategies and am now drilling down to focusing on what will get me towards my end goals and starting by networking in my local area for people to serve.