All Forum Posts by: Samuel Coronado

I was in a similar situation. We sold everything and through the money in a mobile home park that is doing well. We only plan to do commercial and small time developments here on out.

Hello, everyone. In 2022, I bought a home and 20 acres with a VA loan right after I retired. The plan has always been to develop out some of the land into rentals, but I am looking at a new strategy after some success with it. That strategy is taking small tracts of land, throwing mobile homes on it, making it real property, and then selling it. I am in the process of one of these deals now and then I want to start carving up the land. The plan is to take 5 of the acres, put a doublewide on it, and sell it. The lot next to me just did that and sold for $230,000. In addition to that, I want to carve out three acres that are with the house, and sell it. (FMV may be around $315,000 when the land and house based on what is selling a half mile away.) That would essentially leave me 12 acres or so free and clear to do a small park. I owe 341k on the property right now, but I'm not sure how the mortgage and everything will work as it gets divided. Trying to prep for the spring season. Any advice on how to subdivide land with a VA mortgage?

This is the great Dave Ramsey debate. I think it's a great one to have at the end of the day. debt free is an amazing feeling and people who are debt free scientifically sleep better at night. My goal is to have a few debt free properties, but do it through the way Chad Carson explained in Retire with Real Estate. I'm buying a property a year up to a threshold, then turning around and making all those properties pay off one at a time very very aggressively. My plan is to be in Spain in 5 years. I am already very financially free, making about 150k a year from real estate and military pensions, but I am holding my 90k a year job to get more and pay off debt asap. 

You may be able to absorb this extra 50 a month, but there is a bigger picture of coming insurance hikes that often result from the re-assessments. Blue collar wages are also going up every year whether you use a Mr Electric type service or the local guy down the street who has to charge more because his cost of living is increasing, plus his competition is dying of old age or retiring, which puts his skills at a higher premium than they were last year. (10,000 boomers a year are exiting the labor force, many were in these blue collar jobs.) The materials may be trending down, but they are still relatively expensive. We don't raise rent just because we want more money. We raise rent to stay afloat. I've bought properties from several landlords who thought they were doing their tenants a favor until the 15 year HVAC went out and they didn't have reserves for an 8k fix. The tenants had to use space heaters until they could find a new place to live, which put a bigger strain on the property owners who couldn't carry the note themselves for a long period. Sub to deals are made of people who don't raise rents. 

It depends on how the lease is written. If there is a clause in there that it's two years, but Year 1 is X and Year 2 is Y, then rent can be raised according to what the lease says. Other than that, if your lease says rent is X for 2 years, then you can't raise it at all without tenant consent and an amendment to the lease. 

I closed on one in October and actively building one now as well. 

If they are lying about this, imagine what else you will find. I just bought a park where a few shower drains were not even fully connected to the main drain and pouring water in the crawlspace. Be very aware of these people. If they are wholesalers, I would ask around and detail their comments and name drop who said it. This helps flush out the bad apples from the local group. Document every interaction. 

I had a guy apply with me. He was a great candidate. I ask what's the deal. Why live in lower end housing in a low cost of living area when there is a lot better options? In my part of the world, you are much more than comfortable at 70k a year with two kids. I know other parts of the country, that's not even a living wage , but here it is. He said he everywhere else wanted literally almost double what I was charging. 

 I am getting into this now as a way to expand my mobile home park. I'd love to talk.

The customer is always right. So many businesses are forgetting this.