All Forum Posts by: John Jacobus

@Scott Schaar I’ve not heard of the program but am interested.  I also know that Vanderbilt Mortgage offers a similar program, though I don’t know the details.  Care to share the underwriting highlights and application process for the Revive program?

Seeking help with the search for and acquisition of distressed, old, underutilized property in South Austin (between Zilker and I-35 & Riverside and Oltorf).

I intend to execute a tear down and/or implement significant additions to increase the density of an existing single family lot and/or small, old home. The goal is to create room for 2-3 families while creating a small, separate space for me to live in. I will consider re-zoning, if feasible.

I am looking to connect with others who know the zoning rules, have done similar projects in the neighborhood (Soco, Zilker, Travis Heights, Bouldin, South Lamar) and/or have access to distressed deal flow in the area.

I understand that cash returns are difficult to generate in this neighborhood. Investment returns are not my primary objective. I’m looking to subsidize my cost of living in the area while creating value through a moderate/heavy development project.

Thanks in advance for any insights, referrals, and /or lessons learned.

Seeking help with the search for and acquisition of distressed, old, underutilized property in South Austin (between Zilker and I-35 & Riverside and Oltorf).

I intend to execute a tear down and/or implement significant additions to increase the density of an existing single family lot and/or small, old home. The goal is to create room for 2-3 families while creating a small, separate space for me to live in. I will consider re-zoning, if feasible.

I am looking to connect with others who know the zoning rules, have done similar projects in the neighborhood (Soco, Zilker, Travis Heights, Bouldin, South Lamar) and/or have access to distressed deal flow in the area.

I understand that cash returns are difficult to generate in this neighborhood. Investment returns are not my primary objective. I’m looking to subsidize my cost of living in the area while creating value through a moderate/heavy development project.

Thanks in advance for any insights, referrals, and /or lessons learned.

@Joseph Anderson We look at smaller parks as long as they are 15+ lots and I’d be interested in taking a look at the one you’re considering.  We’re actively looking for MHP’s to acquire in the big metros in Texas.

In small towns, you need to make sure there is demand for the kind of housing available in your park.  It’s not a foregone conclusion that you’ll be able to fill the vacant lots.  I recommend that you run test ads in the major paper and on Craigslist at your desired monthly lot rent to determine if there’s interest.  You want at least 30 calls over a 10 day period.  If you come in lower than that, I would not only be concerned about your plan to fill the vacant lots, but also about the overall viability to keep the park occupied and push rents.

Texas is landlord/investor friendly, as you know.  We are going through the eviction process for one of our San Antonio park residents now and it is simple and fast as long as the procedures are followed.

@Gulliver R.  Have you used Snickfish to obtain titles on abandoned mobile homes before and do you recommend their services?  Approximately how much do they charge and how quickly can they complete the title transfer?

We recently purchased a mobile home park in Fayetteville, NC that has 20 vacant lots.  We are seeking partners in the area who invest in mobile homes and/or rehab and sell mobile homes with the goal of expediting the infill of vacant lots with used homes.  Looking for lessons learned from others who have explored this path, worked with mobile home investors, and/or faced the challenge of filling a significant number of vacant lots with new and/or used mobile homes.  We are exploring multiple channels, including obtaining our NC dealers license and registration with 21 Mortgage's CASH Program.

@Aaron Olsen I haven't been through the MHP Academy but I have attended MHU Bootcamp and have been through the home study course materials.  I think the best value is offered through MHU Bootcamp (I attended last Feb in Irvine, CA) as you get all of the home study course materials, the due diligence manual, a list of all 45k MHP addresses in the USA, dozens of sample documents to use in acquiring and operating your first park, and more.  While Bootcamp is expensive, I found it worthwhile as I was able to participate in on-site tours of several MHP's in SoCal with Frank and gain insights that don't immediately come to the surface when reading books.  

My personal view is that you can reach a fairly high level of education by a) leveraging the free resources above; and b) networking with experienced MHP operators.  The community of operators is small and very collaborative.  This option will take time but it's free.  If you want an accelerated path at a reasonable price (<$2k) I would recommend the MHU Bootcamp.

@Aaron Olsen  Here are a few resources that I found valuable when I was learning about the details of investing in mobile home parks:

Books:

1. Mobile Home Park 10/20 Investment System by Dave Reynolds, Frank Rolfe
2. Mobile Home Wealth Part 2: How to Become Even Wealthier investing in Mobile Home Parks by Zalman Velvet, Stuart Silver
3. The New Investor's Guide to Owning A Mobile Home Parkby Laura Cochran, Erin Cochran

Podcasts:

1. The Mobile Home Park Investing Podcast with Kevin Bupp and Charles DeHart
2. Mobile Home Park Investors with Jefferson Lilly
3. Mobile Home Park Mastery with Frank Rolfe
4. Mobile Home Parks in Real Life with Ryan Narus

Websites/Blogs:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Mobile Home University - http://www.mobilehomeuniversity.com - This is the site maintained by Dave Reynolds and Frank Rolfe. I recommend subscribing to their newsletter.
4. Mobile Home Park Academy - See above

@Aaron Olsen