Welcome to The Accelerated Investor Podcast with Josh Cantwell, if you love entrepreneurship and investing in real estate then you are in the right place. Josh is the CEO of Freeland Ventures Real Estate Private Equity and has personally invested in well over 500 properties all across the country. He’s also made hundreds of private lender loans and owns over 1,000 units of apartments. Josh is an expert at raising private money for deals and he prides himself on never having had a boss in his entire adult life. Josh and his team also mentor investors and entrepreneurs from all over the world. He doesn’t dream about doing deals, he actually does them and so do his listeners and students. Now sit back, listen, learn, and accelerate your business, your life, and your investing with The Accelerated Investor Podcast.
Josh: So, hey, what’s going on, everybody,
welcome back to Accelerated Investor. This is Josh Cantwell and I am so excited
to be with you all. This is my first podcast that I’ve recorded in about 40
days. For those of you guys that have seen on social media, you know that I’ve
been down in Florida for about a month, about five weeks, deep sea fishing,
going on catamarans, checking out dolphins, walking and hanging out my family
on barrier islands. We’ve just been having a blast. And so I’m back. I just got
back about 36 hours ago. And so I’m excited to have Andrew Keel. He is the
owner of the Keel team. His team currently manages over 20 manufactured housing
communities across seven states. They’re currently managing over fifteen
hundred lots in units, which is amazing.
Josh: And so I was excited. I was kind of
building up my calendar to get back into the swing of things, to get to know
Andrew a little bit better and talk about property management, building out a
team. And how do you do this? He many who manages properties across eight or
nine different states. So for those of you that have maybe just bought your
first rental and you’re thinking, oh, my God, how do I manage this thing? Or
you just bought your next hundred units of apartments, how do I manage this
thing? You know, we’re going to talk to Andrew today about how he manages over
1500 units, which is amazing. Andrew, welcome to Accelerated Investor. How are
you?
Andrew: I’m great. Thanks for having me today.
Josh: You bet. So your expertise is around
basically taking under managed manufactured housing communities. So anybody can
relate to this if it’s an undermanaged, single family home and undermanaged
apartment building and undermanaged single family housing portfolio and
basically taking your proven systems to maximize the basically the net
operating income, which is what we all want. Right. Taking a look in. How do
you turn over units, get more rent, you know, create efficiencies in your
operations?So tell us a little bit more about that.
Josh: Tell us, Andrew, what are you and your
team working on right now, right in the middle of Covid and all this craziness
that we’re experiencing? But tell us a little bit about your business. What are
you guys doing right now inside your company?
Andrew: Yes. So we closed yesterday on 90 more
units in Norfolk, Nebraska. So that was a big deal for us. I leave on Monday to
fly up there and I’ll be there for a week at the new acquisition getting
notices out and starting our projects. We about a month ago purchased one
hundred and forty lots in Crookston, Minnesota, which is just outside of Grand
Forks, North Dakota. So I went up there initially. I have a team on site up
there. That’s a larger project, more infill and things like that. So, yeah,
we’re in the middle of Covid, still executing, still buying deals. You know,
back in March, I’ll be honest, we were nervous. We didn’t know what was going
to happen. Yeah, some of it. There was a large operator that told us. He said,
hey, you guys should expect only collect 50 percent of your rents. So we were
worried and freaking out. But thank goodness we have collected over ninety five
percent of our rents every month, you know, during the Covid crisis. So we feel
really confident about the asset class of manufactured housing communities and,
you know, the recession resistance that it holds. So we’re happy.
Josh: Nice. Tell our audience, what do you
define as a manufactured housing community?
Andrew: Yeah. So manufactured housing
communities, a fancy way to say mobile home park. Right. So, you know, it goes
by many names, but the stigma kind of catches people initially. And it catches
some investors as well. But it’s basically mobile homes that are on land that
we own and we rent out just the lot. So there’s lower repairs and maintenance
because we don’t have to fix, you know, appliances or AC units or roofs or
whatever, because we just own the land underneath of the homes. So that’s our
whole business model is built around the fact that, you know, we’re renting the
land and not the homes themselves.
Josh: Got it. So help our audience
understand. When you say under managed, what makes a community under managed or
poorly managed and allows you guys to step in with your operational systems and
your management systems and make it better?
Andrew: Definitely. So the great thing about
this asset class and this niche of mobile home parks is that 90 percent of
these properties across the country are owned by mom and pop owners. So it’s
very highly fragmented. And these mom and pop owners have owned these assets
for a long time, you know, 20, 30 years. And some of them have been in the
families for generations. So these mom and pops, they don’t have a lot of debt
on these assets. If any at all. Most of these are paid off and they let things
slip. You know, the occupancy is usually not at 100 percent. Usually occupancy
is down to 60 to 70 percent. And, you know, the mom and pops are still making a
boatload of money.
Andrew:So they’re fine with that. And there’s
other deferred maintenance and so forth that we come across because, you know,
as the mom and pops, these owners are getting older. You know, they just kind
of take their foot off the gas. Sure. When they when they initially own these
things and they were younger, of course, they were more hands on. They were
fixing up the homes themselves when they would go vacant. But now that they’re
in their 70s or older, they’ve kind of taken their foot off the gas. So it
leaves opportunity on the table for young, not even young, but just new
professional operators that can come in and come in with some new energy to
increase the curb appeal and esthetics of these assets and also increase the
occupancy. You know, Bill, back for utilities, things like that, to ultimately
increase the net operating income and value of these assets. So there’s mobile
home parks are one of the highest asset classes for NOI growth opportunities,
which is so huge, you know, a huge component to making any investments
successful.
Josh: That’s great. So help our audience
understand. And you can use an example, maybe use an example of a recent deal
that you guys just bought or took over, would do the same thing with value, add
apartments and even single family residential. I mean, we’ve just bought in the
last month or so three duplexes and a five plex that we’re about to close on.
Plus, an 80-unit apartment complex, all very much the same situation that you
just described. Older owner doesn’t have a lot of money left, doesn’t, you
know, doesn’t have the labor, the energy to continue to manage the building,
put money into it. They’re ready to sell it. And we’re buying it at a value
price because it needs work. It’s got deferred maintenance of 10 or 20 years
and anybody can relate to that.
Josh: So, Andrew help us understand, take
maybe a recent deal or recent asset and say, OK, here’s maybe the most
important four or five things that we’re going to do to this park to increase
an ally, have that a wide growth, but do these value add components, filling in
vacant lots, utility efficiencies, esthetics to describe that and even maybe
the deal that you’re going to fly out here in the next couple days. What’s on
your checklist like? What are the first couple things that you’re thinking? How
can I make this park better? And I think, again, our audience, it doesn’t
matter if you’re in mobile home parks or your apartments, single family
rentals, all these management efficiencies can relate to your business about
what you can do to make you more net operating income for you, too. So, Andrew,
tell us about that. What’s on your mind with some of these assets you guys just
took over?
Andrew: Definitely. So about a month ago, we
bought another property in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This would be a great example.
It had fifty-seven lots at the time we bought it. Only 26 were occupied. The
remaining lots had homes on the lots, but they were all empty. There was no one
in them. The owner is an older gentleman, moved to Florida. He used to live in
Fort Wayne. He moved to Florida and was trying to manage this mobile home park
from Florida. But when he left and went down to Florida 10 years ago, the park
was full. But now, as these units have gone vacant, he used to rehab the units
himself when he lived in Fort Wayne. But now that he’s in Florida, he doesn’t
have the energy to hire contractors and do things like that. So he’s just let
these units stay vacant when they would go vacant, when they would go empty.
Andrew: So now this asset is, you know, less
than 50 percent occupied or able to come in, buy it at a discount. And we
walked through all these homes before we bought it. It’s going to cost around
three to four thousand dollars to put some new flooring and new paint on the
walls. And we’ll be able to sell these homes for five to ten thousand dollars
and then collect lot rent on each of those units that currently are not
occupied. So that’s one example of some value add. The property that I’m flying
out on Monday to in Nebraska. That’s a really nice property. There’s
eighty-nine occupied out of 90. So we’re going to buy one home. Bring it in.
Fill a vacant lot. The real value add component in this park is twofold.
Andrew: Number one, currently the owners of
the park are paying for all of the water for all of the residents. So we’re
going to install sub meters and we’re going to build back the residents for
their consumption. And in other properties, when we do this, that reduces our
utility expenses. Completely off of our PNL, which ultimately will increase the
value of the property because the income goes up. So also total consumption
usually drops by like 30 percent. Because now people that are having car washes
and dog washes and everything else, now they’re more concerned because they’re
paying for their consumption. They’re going to reduce their usage. So that’s a
huge component going to build back for their utility usage. And in addition to
that, are going to fill a vacant lot rents also. Like which ones are what
they’re paying to be on? The property is very low. They’re paying 150 a month
right now. Lot rents in the market or other mobile home parks are in the area
are closer to 250 a month. So we’re going to do some modest rent increases.
And, you know, increase the value of this asset.
Josh: And the interesting thing about mobile
homes is if you’re renting that out for 250 a month just the space, just the
dirt, you know, there’s not a whole lot of expenses that goes with that 250.
Right. So a lot of people buy a single family home, fix it up, refinance it.
The typical BRRRR method. Right. Pull some cash out of it. And they’re making
maybe two to four hundred dollars a month. But then they’ve got the asset that
they own, which is great. I mean, well, total single-family homes. And we love
them. And there’s depreciation, but there’s upkeep. You know, dealing with
tenants and turnovers and still water and sewer and things break. You don’t
have to do with any of that. And you’re still getting about that 250 a month,
which is fantastic. I love that idea.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s great. About 30 percent of
our gross revenue is spent on expenses. You know which are taxes, insurance and
the various general area common area improvements, things like that.
Josh: Got it. So when you’re looking for
mobile home parks. Help our audience kind of understand. How do you find one?
You know, how do you and how do you do you want to do a deep dove here? But on
a valuation, what do you what are some thoughts on how do you find a mobile
home park? Is it through commercial brokers? Is again through mom and pops as a
direct mail? I don’t own any mobile home parks. I’m curious to know the answer
for my own education. And then when you’re evaluating that deal again, comes
down, it comes down to rents. What does that look like? And what are some
things that you’re looking at when you have a deal? Maybe you’re an executive
summary set to you of a potential deal that you could buy. What are some maybe
three or four things that you’re looking at right off the riff to say, OK,
where’s the potential growth? Where’s the potential value add? Where’s the
potential rent increase?
Andrew: Yeah, great question. So, you know,
you can find mobile home parks through any commercial broker. You know, that’s one
option. My background, I started out flipping houses around central Florida.
So, you know, I prefer to buy stuff off market. And just like when I was single
family home wholesaling and flipping houses, we did yellow letters. We went
direct to owners with different mailing campaigns. We do cold calling. And
through that, you can do the same stuff in mobile home parks and that’s what we
do. So we have a whole campaign. We dropped voice mails. We text, you know, we
have different marketing setup to attract, you know, mom and pops that own
these assets to reach out to us. And then we’re direct with the seller. We’re
usually able to get better deals because we don’t have to pay a commission and
so forth.
Andrew: So that’s how we find the deals. And
then what do I look for? You know, I look for the number of lots. Our company
now, we look for deals 50 lots or higher. Just you get more scale that way
there with the more units. We look for public utilities. The utility
infrastructure is huge in mobile home parks. These assets were built, you know,
50 plus years ago. So we’re looking for parks that have city water, city sewer.
Typically, that would be the perfect setup. But other times, you know, wells or
septics, you know what? We’ll look at properties with those as well. But you
want something that has good utility infrastructure because it’d be very
expensive to try to replace something like that.
Andrew: And then I’m looking at what the
market is, you know, what the market rents are compared to what the current
rents are and if there’s any room to increase that. So those are just a few
things that I look at.
Josh: Perfect. Love it. Andrew, you
mentioned that you started flipping houses in central Florida. So tell us, how
did you get your start in real estate? You know, you mentioned that flipping
houses. Were you doing wholesaling? Were you doing fixand flips? Turn keys. How
did you get into it?
Andrew: Yeah. So a friend of mine actually had
a wholesaling business and I just became very intrigued in what he was doing.
So I left my corporate job to come and work with him kind of underneath of him
and help out. And through that process, I started marketing myself through
bandit signs, you know, mailing out letters and so forth. And that’s how I
initially got started, was focusing on the low-income areas of Orlando and, you
know, wholesaling, wholesaling deals for cash. And that’s where I got my start.
Josh: Nice. And tell us about your first
jump into the manufactured mobile homes. If you’re wholesaling and then sort of
doing flips and but ultimately you learn about that, your first mobile home
park. Everybody, let’s talk about their first one. Tell us tell us about that.
How did you get into it and make the pivot in the mobile homes.
Andrew: I had it’s actually a funny story. So
through my wholesaling efforts, I mailed a yellow letter out and I got a lead
on two manufactured homes in Ocala, Florida, which is just north of Orlando.
And so I went up there and met the seller. I knew the seller was motivated. It
was off of a probate situation. And I could buy two mobile homes that were
like, really nice manufactured in the nineteen nineties, you know, vinyl sided
shingle roof homes, I could buy two of them for twenty two hundred dollars
cash. I was like, this is my first exposure to manufactured housing. I didn’t
know what I was doing. I just knew as a motivated seller. And you couldn’t
build these things for twenty-two hundred dollars cash. Right. So I was like,
all right, I bottom, I got the titles and I came home and I got on YouTube and
I typed in how to make money with mobile homes.
Andrew: And I came across this guy named
Lonnie Scruggs and he wrote a book called Deals on Wheels. And he tells people
how they can buy mobile homes and then fix them up a little bit and then sell
them on contract to the end buyer. So I ended up doing that with these two
homes. I sold them for three grand down each. So I got my money back on the
down payments. You know, right there, I got six grand off down payments and
then I sold them for 250 bucks a month for five years. And so it was just like
I was like, this is this is it. This is amazing. And the demand was insane. I
put an ad on Craigslist for the home I had available and I had like twenty-five
people reach out in the first two days. So I was like instantly attracted to
manufactured housing. And that’s ultimately how I got my first start.
Andrew: I ended up buying 19 more of those
individual mobile homes. And through that process, I met a park owner who told
me that, you know, the value of owning a mobile home park was, you know,
there’s ITRs there’s a lot of benefits to owning the real estate versus the
personal property that is the mobile homes themselves, because you can you can
get more leverage with financing. You can get depreciation. And just the, you
know, building wealth was was built through owning the real estate. So that was
an aha moment for me. And I went all in I, I got my hands on as much education,
as much, you know, content as possible about mobile home parks. And I committed
myself at that point to just buying my first park. I literally went home after
that conversation and wrote on my refrigerator with a dry erase marker that I
wanted to buy my first mobile home park in 2016. And I didn’t end up executing
in 2016, but in 2017, the following year I bought my first park. And ever since
then we’ve been on an all-out sprint acquiring these assets.
Josh: It’s nice. Yeah, sometimes you’ve got
to sprint. Right. I mean, the journey, it’s a marathon. We all know. But there’s
times in business where it’s just heads down 16 hour days. Let’s go look at
every asset. And there’s such a thrill, especially in that initial growth phase
for that. Can’t sleep because you’re so excited. You know, it’s just an
awesome, awesome feeling. So, Andrew, let’s jump in a little bit more to today.
But a lot of our audience continues to think like we’re in the middle of Covid
and all this stuff is going on. I don’t know what anybody beliefs are around
Covid. Some people believe it’s oh, my God, it’s such a terrible. Other people
are like, dude, the survival rate is almost a hundred percent. And other people
are like, it’s totally government inflated. Then other people are like, no,
it’s all real. I don’t care about any of that.
Josh: What I care about are collections of
my buildings. What I care about or people paying the rent. And it’s just like
you said, that our apartment assets, especially the A and B assets, almost a
hundred percent collection rate. The collection rates for April, May and June
are almost the same exact as February and in January. A little bit more
breakage in the C class stuff. Collections are still really good, but not quite
as good as the A and Bs. Tell us about mobile homes. What are you guys doing?
You said your collections are really good. Ninety five percent. Have you guys
had to be more creative? Have you had to reach out more? What have you done
specifically in this environment just to make sure that you’re optimizing
collecting as high rate as you can?
Andrew: Yeah. So it’s not hidden that mobile
home parks are collections based business. You know, it’s affordable housing.
So we’re ninety five percent any month really, Covid or not. So that extra five
percent we always have to work for and we do. So during Covid though, one thing
that I’ve noticed is that a large portion of our tenant base are on fixed
incomes and they they’re getting Social Security income or SSI and, you know,
whether they’re not dependent upon a job to pay rent. And so that is a huge a
huge factor for us to diversify collections or not. But we have had some
tenants that, you know, needed a needed some time until they got their
unemployment started before they could pay us so we would sign payment
arrangements and things like that. But. Over all we’ve maintained above 95
percent collections, and that’s something that I think speaks volumes for the
asset class as a whole.
Josh:So let’s talk, Andrew, for a second. So
last sort of business question and then I would ask you some personal questions
about self-development and health and wellness and energy. I like to talk about
that, too, as well on the podcast. If you look back at your experience,
especially this last five years or so, there’s probably a lot of things you’ve
learned, you know, fifteen hundred lots and units in the last really four
years, 2017, 18, 19. You’ve learned a ton. So tell me if you as you optimize
your business today and you just bought these couple of parks in the last few
months. What are some things that you’re doing today that you’re like, man, I’m
so glad we’re implementing these strategies today. I wish I would have known
this five years ago. And specifically, maybe speaking to our audience that
maybe on the newer side, who’s maybe interested in mobile homes are interested
in building a rental portfolio or apartments. What are some things that you
learned over the last couple years? Just invaluable stuff that you wish you
could tell your younger kind of former self.
Andrew: Yeah, definitely one of those things
that I would tell someone newer. Just starting out, as I would say, hey, you
know, focus on finding, you know, good quality deals because anybody can do
that. You know, it doesn’t take, you know, all the money in the world to find
good deals. You know, you literally could drive by a commercial property and
stop in and try to talk to the owner. And you could be that first person that’s
ever done that. So I would say focus on the deals more so than the money.
Andrew: You know, as we’ve taken on investor
capital, we’ve been very, very fortunate to have a good amount of investors
interested in investing in the space. So it’s usually not about the you know,
that’s usually the easiest part of putting a deal together is raising the money
for it. But, you know, the bottleneck in in our business is finding really
solid deals, you know, especially as the asset class becomes more competitive
as more people are funneling in. So I would say, you know, find good deals and
focus on that and the rest of it will come together. You know, you’ll be
surprised how the money flows when you have a good, solid deal put together.
Josh: No doubt. And I think to, you know,
buying a mobile home park, you’re buying an apartment. Even if you plan on
buying a single family or a duplex or a quad. You plan on owning that asset for
a long, long time. You buy it. Right? Finance it. Right. Take care of it. You
know, don’t ignore it. I think it was Teddy Roosevelt who said it’s you know,
it’s about the most secure, safe, safest asset in the world if you buy it. Right.
Finance it right. Give it some care and some love. It’s got all the tax
advantages, all the breaks and everything that you ever want. Compared to
another asset class.
Josh: And so, yeah, as the stock market
continues to be super volatile, which we all know it is right now, but it’s
always been that way. People continue to flock to mobile home parks,
apartments, you know, real estate as a way to really get a great return. And,
you know, and have really a lot of safety and security. One more business question
before I jump in.Help me understand what’s a typical model for your
syndication. So as you’re raising for a mobile home, are you doing a pref
return? Are you giving a piece of equity in perpetuity? Help me understand
that.
Andrew: Yeah, all of our deals are set up
based off of an infinite return model. So we will usually offer some sort of
pref, usually like a seven percent pref and then 50 percent of the equity in an
asset that we acquire. So we’ll come in. We’ll buy the asset. Investors are getting
seven percent. Then we’re going to value-add stage. So we’re raising enough
money to increase the value to get it to a higher level immediately. And then
we try to refinance usually within 12 to 24 months. Pull out all the initial
equity, pay back investors and then investors will still own 50 percent of that
asset and get quarterly distributions off of that cash flow into perpetuity.
Right. So that’s our value-add model.
Josh: It’s exactly what we do. I love it.
Same thing we do with apartments. Fantastic stuff. Andrew, listen, all of my
audience would like to be a bigger, better version of themselves. Healthier,
more energy, more, maybe more wise, healthy, wealthy and wise. You know, I
think that was Tim Ferris’s model for his book, Traits of Titans. Everybody
would like to be healthier, wealthier, smarter. I know you’re on a health kick.
You take care yourself. You played college football. Tell us about some things
you’re doing today. What are some maybe books, podcasts, health and wellness
tips? What are some things that you do personally that you think help you be
the best version of yourself and some things that you can maybe give it back to
our audience to help them be a bigger, better version of themselves?
Andrew: Yeah. So I’m currently training for an
Iron Man. So with that, you know.
Josh: You had to go there, huh?
Andrew: I had to go to there. That is like a
high level. But I, I really enjoy training for them because it’s more of a
mental thing. You know, it’s how do you train your mind to, you know, treat
yourself and let yourself know that you could do anything if you put your mind
to it. You really focus on doing it. So in terms of health and wellness, I
drink a lot of water. That’s one tip that I, I highly recommend anybody. Do you
know if you’re having trouble with energy levels or with weight problems, you
know, you’re going to eat less if you’re drinking more water.
Andrew: So that’s a that’s one thing that I’m
a big fan of. Number two, I do intermittent fasting a couple times a week. You
know, I think that that helps kind of keep some of the inflammation off and in
helps with various things. And number three, one thing that I really enjoy
doing is just taking a walk a couple of times a day. I just try to get outside
and just take a walk and kind of clear my head. You know, I’m in the office a
lot kind of getting things done. But I always take time and. Kind of get out
and get away a little bit. So but yeah, with Ironman training it’s a mental
thing.
Andrew: You know, I’ll never forget the first
time I ran ten miles, I came back and I literally thought that, like, I was my
legs were gonna fall off, like my knees were hurting. I felt like an
80-year-old man, like, you know, where they’re talking about arthritis and
everything. And as I continued to build a little more every week and a little
further every week, you know, now I could run 20 miles and come back and have a
whole day afterwards and not even not even be an issue. So while I think that,
you know, training yourself, too, to realize what you’re actually capable of is
huge. And, you know, helps with the mental side of it as well.
Josh: That’s right. So a couple of quick
questions around that. So how long will it take you to run 20 miles?
Andrew: I usually average around a nine to nine
thirty pace. So it’s not, I’m not flying. But, you know, it’s not bad either.
Josh: OK. Nice. And when you intermittent
fast, when will you stop eating in the evening and when will you allow yourself
to start eating the next day? How long is the fast?
Andrew: Yeah, usually a 16 hour fast, so
usually around seven or eight. And then it goes till lunchtime the next day
usually.
Josh: OK. And you mentioned in for audience
that doesn’t understand fasting. What are the benefits you mentioned, you know,
reducing inflammation that organs inside your muscles, inside the whole thing,
your body kind of clears itself out by not having food in the system. So just
describe that for people who don’t know yet.
Andrew: I mean, if you’ve never tried it
before, which a lot of people haven’t tried fasting at all, and it’s not just
something that’s like New Age and in 2020 that people started doing it. People
have fasted for hundreds of years. You know, you can go back in and look in the
Bible and see fasting. So it’s very healthy. It cleanses you. And, you know, I
just I just I’m a really big fan of it, especially, you know, drinking lots of
water during the fasts and really just getting out that inflammation and kind
of just renewing your system, I think is very important.
Josh: Fantastic. Well, under any kind of
final thoughts, kind of parting shots, words of advice? And of course, if
anybody wants to reach out to you, to connect with you, whether it’s bring you
a mobile home deal or invest in one of your deals or just kind of mastermind’s,
share some ideas. Also tell us where they can reach you, whether it’s a Web
site or on social media.
Andrew: Yeah, another tip that I use that kind
of piggybacks on the health and wellness. I got this one from Craig Rochelle,
who has a leadership podcast on iTunes and such, butwe don’t eat carbs in the
morning. You know, we eat carbs in the evening. I’ve just noticed are actually
not vice versa. So I will eat carbs in the morning, but not in the afternoon
because it kind of like makes me more tired I found out. So that’s something
that I’ve implemented. But yeah, I would say, you know, whatever you’re gonna
go into, you’ve got to have a passion and you’ve got to go in, like all in. You
can’t just kind of step your foot in and say, okay, I’m going to try to get
into real estate and try to wholesale a little bit. And you’ve got to be very
dedicated and you got to be willing to withstand that initial kind of that
initial phase. What do they call it? The sorrow. Right. The initial phase of
sorrow to kind of get through the rock.
Andrew: It’s that initial phase where you’re
not feeling like you’re getting anywhere. It’s building up. You’re building
that funnel and it’s going to start flowing once you get over a certain point.
So let’s say you just go in with a passion and don’t give up too, too quickly.
Don’t give up before you reach the, you know, the good stuff. And if someone
wants to reach me in and has questions about manufactured housing communities
or, you know, possible investment opportunities, they can check out my Web
site, which is KeelTeam.com. That’s just KeelTeam.com.
Josh: Fantastic. Andrew, fantastic interview,
but I really appreciated getting to know you a little bit better. Learn more
about mobile homes and manufactured homes, little health and wellness. I
appreciate your story. Thanks so much for joining us today on Accelerated
Investor.
Andrew: Yeah. Thank you so much for having me,
Josh.
Josh: Hey, Josh, you’re in. Do you want to
win a free accelerated investor T-shirt? All you have to do is give Accelerated
Investor our podcast, Accelerated Investor a rating and a review on iTunes. OK.
Do that now, then send us a screenshot on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. What
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Andrew Keel bought his first two mobile homes almost on accident, but after putting them up for resale and receiving a deluge of interest, he realized that they were an easier market for him than the fix and flips he was doing. Now Andrew and his team manage over 20 manufactured housing communities spread out over 7 states, which totals about 1500 lots in units.
The stigma around investing in mobile home parks causes some investors to pause initially, but there are some benefits that investors may not consider. Because they just rent out land, the maintenance on a park looks a lot different than an apartment complex. Andrew discusses why he prefers mobile home parks with city utilities, and he shares about his newest acquisition in Nebraska.
A lot of current mobile home owners are mom and pop investors who are aging, and they’ve sort of taken their foot off the gas. As they’ve aged, they deferred maintenance for the last 10-20 years, and that means there is huge potential to purchase these properties at a discount and then do value-add. Andrew focuses on this model by purchasing undermanaged manufactured housing communities, bringing in a new team, and maximizing the net operating income.
Because they qualify as affordable housing, mobile home rents are pretty steady and nearly recession-proof. The impending doom predicted in rent collections hasn’t even been a problem for Andrew and his team.
If you loved today’s episode, like us and leave us a review on iTunes. For a chance to win some Accelerated Investor gear, take a screenshot of your review and send it to us via social media. Come back every week to hear us announce the winner on our podcast.
What’s Inside:
- What an undermanaged mobile home park looks like.
- How Andrew prioritizes what must be done first to add value to a property.
- How you find a mobile home park and evaluate a potential deal.
- Why affordable housing can recession-proof your portfolio.