All Forum Posts by: Ian Tudor

@Account Closed - I didn't use a contract. I trusted someone whom I built a relationship with the prior year. I called him up and we used all his contracts and legal dollars. 

Again, there is a lot to learn. Provide huge amount of value to local investors in your area. The money will come. But first you have to understand how the real estate process work. If you had a deal right now, how would you close it? What would you do? If you don't know the steps, you have to learn this. I understand your eagerness to get paid. I get it. But you must build the relationships, find the deals, understand the process before any of that happens. You have to do the work before the money comes.

Take the small steps you need to get paid. Real estate isn't a get rich quick track. I think online selling will get you paid quicker if that is what you're chasing. It takes time but it is lucrative if you do the work. 

@Account Closed - Become an expert in real estate. Learn everything you can. Find deals. Deals is the real value in today's market. Capital is everywhere. You can close real estate deals without money. I closed one last year and made over $75K. I didn't put any of my money into it. I found a deal via a broker before it hit the market and brought in an investor. You will have to get creative to find your way into opportunities given your age and lack of money. 

On the other hand if you want some spending cash, you can flip cell phones or thrift store items on ebay and Amazon. Search YouTube, there are lots of people doing it. 

@April Chim - This really depends on your deal size. Large banks aren't interested in mobile home parks. Fannie will consider certain properties but doesn't usually consider smaller ones (less than $1.5M loan size). If over a $1M loan size, you can try a loan broker. 

If you think it is a good deal and it is smaller, call 50 local banks within a 50 mile radius of the park. One of my first properties, I had to call 40 banks before I found a good one. Persistence is the name of the game. 

@Account Closed - Love your ambition, Michael. At 14, you are thinking the right way. Your age shouldn't stop you from going after what you want. 

1. First, consume as much information on real estate as you can. Podcasts, forums, books, etc. At your age, people will question your ability to know anything. Be as educated as you can. 

2. Network. Uber to a real estate events if you have to. Surround yourself with bosses who get things done. This will help elevate your game and get you into deals. 

3. Volunteer your time to a realtor or flipper or someone with lots of deal flow. Real experience is the best reference to have. Reading can only get you so far. Work for free if you have to. It will pay off in the long run. 

Do these things and your world will open up. You will find yourself in opportunities and ways to make money. Over time, someone will take a chance on you. Chase your dreams buddy. I'm rooting for you. 

@Gentry B. - I've purchased four parks in the past year. Most commercial brokers don't have any deal flow and really don't understand how to correctly value a mobile home park. First look at mobilehomeparkstore.com and go to the broker section. I called down that list when I started for the areas I was interested in. 

Look on Loopnet. Some brokers will have multiple listings for mobile home parks. Call them. You want people who get the business. Otherwise, you will likely be overpaying for park-owned homes. This is my experience. 

The one thing that is key for brokers is follow up. The market is too hot for you to call them once and they will remember that you want mobile home parks. Follow up once a month and remind them you are still in the market. 

@Jonathan Norris - Michael Strickland out of Raleigh has closed a mobile home park deal for me. They are very competent and reasonable in price. 

In general, people make their success public and failures private. There is some public embarrassment involved among many other reasons. However, success stories can be misleading and point others in the wrong direction. Mistakes can provide some context and guidance especially for new investors.

This is an experiment to share your biggest due diligence miss. My hope is that people of all levels - from newbies to veterans - will be able to help others from making a similar mistake in their due diligence process. 

I will be the first to share. 

In short, I purchased a mobile home park earlier this year. Everything was running smoothly until I realized the park was using 3x the amount of water that it should be for the amount of units. Over $10,000 has been spent and the issue hasn't been resolved. If I was more diligent in my research, I would have noticed this before the purchase. I wasn't. 

Below is a blog post I wrote giving more details on the situation.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/9807/64372-my-...

I would love to hear more stories. 

@Ronny Tiburcio - My guess is no. Unless you have an angle that others don't have then going to one of the most competitive places in the world to start is not the best use of time. Depends on what you want for yourself. If you want to be a high-powered broker in NYC, it's the only option. If you want cash flow, go elsewhere. 

@Ekaterina Stepanova I haven't use any of other services. One thing to keep in mind is that majority of mobile home park owners are in their 70s or older. On multiple occasions, owners have told me they have no email or cell phone. They like building rapport and some don't want to sell to a corporation. This might change as the industry changes hands in the coming years. But if a method works for you, then you have to exploit it. Let me know if you have success using those. I'm definitely open to new strategies. 

@Elisa Uribe - thanks for your kind words. 

@Andriy Boychuk - thank you. 

@Ekaterina Stepanova - good luck. Charles told me it would take about 1 year to source my first deal. He was correct. Keep grinding. 

@Calene Lambert - Great. Give it your best shot.