There is a general misconception that larger players dominate self-storage acquisitions and make it hard for smaller buyers to compete. While it is true that large players like Public Storage do own the largest facilities due to high cost and difficulty in obtaining debt for those properties, the truth is that smaller players definitely have the upper hand in the majority of storage purchases. Why is that?

There are a lot of billboard options in America, ranging from giant steel monopoles to smaller 8-sheets mounted to walls, but there are a range of choices that cost $5,000 or less. These options include 1) wooden telephone pole units 2) vinyl wallscapes 3) 8-sheets on metal poles and 4) 8-sheets mounted to walls. There is no greater investment option based on rate of return than these billboards and, if not, I challenge you to let me know what that option is. So what type of rates of return should one expect?

There are a lot of great RV park investments to be made in the U.S., but even the greatest deals of all time can easily be destroyed by buyers who make some fundamental mistakes. Some of these are the result of bad business habits, and others from simply lack of knowledge. But they can all derail your financial independence and make you regret what you did. Here they are:

There are around 44,000 mobile home parks in the U.S., with roughly 40,000 of those still owned by the original moms and pops. It is the challenge – and opportunity – of the current generation to bring these selectively back to life. Some qualify for investment and others don’t, but the trick is understanding what makes money and what’s hopeless and following established guidelines for making them successful again. The photo above is from the 1955 book titled “How to Build and Operate a Mobile Home Park” and, as virtually all mobile home parks in the U.S. were built between 1950 and 1970, the photo above represents the “before” shot for many of these investment projects. So how do you create the successful colorized “after” photos?

The sudden rise in inflation to levels not seen in 40 years has changed the playing field for successful investments. Americans have become accustomed to inflation rates of 1% to 2%, and therefore tolerated investment returns that were only mid-single digits in everything from stocks to bonds. Even those who ventured into real estate often did so with REIT dividends of around 4%.

What really makes customers stay in mobile home parks for decades on end? Is it truly a barrier to removing their homes or is it something more? In this Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast we’re going to focus on what really makes residents stay in place, as well as what makes them leave, and what the options are when they want to go.

Every business reaches a moment in which it is better served to seem “corporate” in nature. Is it that time for your RV park? That’s the focus of this RV Park Mastery podcast, in which we’ll explore the benefits and disadvantages of appearing “big” and how to get the most bang for your buck.

Many self-storage owners and buyers have the wrong impression on the relationship between occupancy and rents. Due to this misunderstanding they often miss out on important opportunities to boost revenue. In this Self-Storage University podcast we’re going to unlock the mysterious relationship between rents and occupancy, and how to harness that knowledge for greater profits.

There are many different ways to rent vacant billboard space, and some are more effective than others. In this Billboard Mastery podcast we’re going to review some of my favorite methods and why. It’s not hard to rent any billboard if you follow all of these methods, but some have more impact than others.

Warren Buffett is a big fan of “moats” that protect your investment, but probably the largest ones in America are industries that are “regulated”, thus constructing the supply of competition. There are only a handful of such business sectors, and I have been fortunate enough to be involved in two of them: billboards and mobile home parks.

In honor of the start of baseball season, our next event is titled “Three Home Runs” and it’s the story of Nevelle from Utah’s fantastic journey from zero mobile home parks before Boot Camp to now three deals purchased.

“Chainsaw” Al Dunlap was a well-known corporate raider and business efficiency stalwart of the 1960s through 1990s. His approach to turning businesses around was a simple motto: “sell, sell, sell and cut, cut, cut”. And it’s not a bad mantra for RV park owners, as well. When you buy an old RV park and bring it back to life financially, there are typically three key areas to focus on for maximum impact to the bottom line.

The second largest capital investment of any self-storage facility – after the building – are the roads and parking areas. These are an essential part of everything from access to aesthetics, and the lenders are phobic about their type and condition. They are expensive to install and to maintain. So the bottom line is that it’s important to understand what the options are for roads and repair and how those choices will impact your investment returns.

Many people look at a handful of listings on Mobilehomeparkstore and Loopnet and declare “mobile home parks are overpriced!” But is that really true? In this Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast we’re going to focus on this topic and examine it factually. Are all the good deals gone? We’re going to talk about that.

One of the few books ever written about mobile home parks was the 1955 “How to Build and Operate a Mobile Home Park” by L.C. Michelon. What’s amazing about this book is how little has changed over the decades regarding what makes a mobile home park successful. In this Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast we’re going to discuss all the similarities reflected in the book and why they continue to hold true.

One of the most common questions we get regarding buying mobile home parks is “can you make $100,000 per year on a single asset?” This is understandable as most investors are looking at alternative investing to do what the stock market fails at, and that’s to provide predictable and significant cash flow on a recurring basis. With the average dividend yielding around 2.5%, you would need $4 million in stocks to accomplish this. And to own $4 million in stocks you’d have to earn around $8 million pre-tax. That’s not much of a business model. So here’s why mobile home parks can hit this target, but based on complete science and not a “get rich quick” infomercial premise.

One of the hallmarks of great leaders is the ability to discern between what is significant and what is trivial. So what about RV parks is important and what is more minor? That’s the topic of this RV Park Mastery podcast. We’re going to not only go over these items but what the impact would be and how to figure these out in due diligence.

When buying a self-storage facility all financing is good financing, right? Not always. There are some unusual risks in non-traditional debt. In this Self-Storage University podcast we’re going to review the different types of non-traditional debt and what’s good and bad about them, as well as methods to mitigate the risk.

If you want to make faster progress, a lot of it comes down to planning. In this Billboard Mastery podcast we’re going to review some methods of attaining greater control of your time and how great the net impact can be on the productivity of your billboard portfolio.

If you own a mobile home park with even one vacant lot, you probably have a plan to fill that lot with a new or used home to obtain stable, monthly lot rent. And if you are going to sell or rent a home in a mobile home park, your success or failure begins with the simple action of picking up the phone. In this Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast we’re going to explore everything you need to know about getting that phone line answered and answered properly.