We’re definitely entering uncharted territory going into 2021. Between the national pandemic, urban unrest, and a host of consumer behavioral changes and desires, there will be some real estate sectors that grow less popular and others that will be the next “hot” thing. So what are some of the changes coming in real estate and what are some of the creative deal making strategies to harness these changes?

If you’ve got a low downside and a big upside, you go do it. If you’ve got a big downside and a small upside, you run away. The only time you have any work to do is when you have a big downside and a big upside.

When Lyndon Johnson enacted the Highway Beautification Act in 1965, he had to choose the limits of the area covered under the law. Since he assumed that billboards would need to be near the road, he selected all the land within roughly 660’ of the highway right-of-way as the “controlled area”. However, this was based on the typical sign sizes of that era. He underestimated the creativity of the billboard industry, and the U.S. has regretted it ever since.

Webster’s defines “tough love” as an expression used when someone treats another person harshly or sternly with the intent to help them in the long run. Right now our nation has never been more off track and that’s filtering down to your residents. In this episode of the Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast, we’re going to talk about current trends in personal accountability, political missteps, and how to fight back against a rising tide of bad resident decisions on a number of fronts.

If you believe the U.S. economy is in great shape then you must not be in your 60’s. That’s because you’d have to be in your 60’s to have been an adult during the era of Jimmy Carter and “stagflation”.How did that era work out? Well, here’s a preview: inflation goes up, the stock market crashes, bonds plunge, and single-family home values plummet. Those who lived in the era of Carter are permanently scarred by what they saw and are better investors because of it. I am one of those people. And that is why I’m 100% bullish on the mobile home park industry at this moment in American history.

Todd from Ohio built a huge single-family home portfolio and then lost most of it during the Great Recession of 2008, as did most Americans during that dark period in American history. Then he found a new investment he felt worthy of his talents: mobile home parks.

Webster’s defines “partnership” as “a pair of people engaged together in the same activity”. But as simple as that sounds, there are some concrete steps to take in structuring these relationships. That’s the topic of this episode of the RV Park Mastery podcast.

There are two realities in life: death and taxes. And property tax is a part of every self-storage facility budget. But how do you know how much to estimate? And what do you do when the tax assessor thinks the value is more than you do?

If you study the data on www.Bestplaces.net, you will see one unusual anomaly that has a direct bearing on understanding the attractiveness of a market for mobile home park ownership: the astounding difference in single-family home and apartment pricing. Perhaps the best example of this is to be found on the stats for Cairo, Illinois. This city of around 2,100 inhabitants has a median home price of $31,500 yet a three-bedroom apartment rent average of $1,000 per month. How is that even possible? Here are some thoughts:

Shenandoah Acres is located in Virginia near the Shenandoah Valley. It’s a location that’s known for a scenic setting with fun activities. But it’s also now known to be a huge money-maker for the recent owners who bought it for reportedly $3 million and then sold it in less than a year for $17 million to SUN, a mobile home park and RV park REIT. It’s discussed in this article https://www.rvtravel.com/andy1003/ . The question is, how did this property go up in value around $14 million in less than a year?

The number one topic in the news is the return of inflation. It’s at the highest pace in nearly two decades, and that’s got serious ramifications in a number of areas. So how will the return of inflation impact self-storage investing? That’s the topic of this Self-Storage University podcast, and we’re going to explore all the pros and cons.

Negotiating RV Park deals is an art. And a science. And if you’re not competent in this skill, you’re never going to realize your full potential. The good news is there are some basic laws of negotiating, and much that you can to do stay in practice. In this RV Park mastery podcast we’re going to review what’s new about negotiating, and check in on what tips can make you a better negotiator.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over four years since we started the Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast. If you linked all those episodes end to end it would last almost 35 hours. So to celebrate our Bicentennial we’ve selected the five top most-viewed episodes and we’re going to discuss how those topics have changed over the course of these broadcasts.

Every self-storage facility purchase requires a title company to handle the transaction – but which one should it be? The answer is that you should always steer for the largest title company in the metro area in which the property is located. There are several good reasons for this.

I get a lot of calls from various mobile home park owners that find my name and phone number on the internet. These are people that I have never met and have never read a single book or article I have written. Instead, they are going through the internet desperately looking for help to save their property from failing, and when you Google “mobile home park” I come right to the top. One call I remember vividly was from a new park owner named Rosie. Here’s her story.

We are all accountable for our destiny. But sometimes it all comes together at one time and you never forget it. In this Billboard Mastery podcast we’re going to talk about the exact moment that I had to choose between success and mediocrity, and how that impacted my billboard career. In the current economic chaos that has become America, you can still gain an edge when you understand how you really do control how your life turns out.

Joe Girard was the highest-selling car salesman in U.S. history, personally selling over 1,400 cars in 1973 alone. He had a simple rule to hit those kind of numbers: focus on volume of leads. And smart mobile home park buyers and owners share this same sentiment. In this Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast we’re going to discuss how Girard developed this attitude, and how we should all adopt it immediately to hit superior performance on buying parks and filling vacant lots.

In this episode of our “Heather’s Happenings” series, fellow RV Park owner and broker Heather Blankenship gives her thoughts on the types of RV parks and their respective pros and cons.

Many sellers avoid making low-ball offers out of fear of insulting the seller. That can often mean you’ll miss out on great deals because you didn’t take the shot. In this RV Park Mastery podcast we’re going to go over the methods to make low offers without insulting sellers and to forge win/win deals that will make both parties satisfied.

Many investors “partner” to buy properties. But how do you divide up the profits in these cases? In this Self-Storage University podcast we’re going to review the common thoughts on structuring profit splits as well as forging successful, long-term partnership arrangements. As we’ll discuss, there’s much more to partnership considerations than just dividing up the money like a pirate ship. And a strong partnership – one in which all parties feel they are being treated fairly – can be an essential tool to buying storage properties.

One of the big news stories in the U.S. – which gets little coverage in mainstream media outlets since most of them are based in New York City – is the simple fact that people are leaving American cities in a big way to gain a higher quality of life in suburbs and exurbs. Titled “The Great Migration” by some groups,it’s a reversal of the period in U.S. history, starting in the 1920s, when Americans flocked to move to the “big city” from smaller towns across the country, followed by recent trends of both young and old to abandon the safety of outlying areas and move into the city center to be near the “action”. And the net effect of this new exodus megatrend is very favorable for mobile home park owners for a number of reasons.

Despite every bad faith attempt by the Biden administration to accept the Federal Court’s decision that it’s unconstitutional, the national “masks off” policy will probably finally force a day of reckoning on June 30th – the official expiration date of the current CDC evictions order. Here is our opinion of what happens next when the eviction floodgates are opened, and how to best mitigate these factors.

Nobody likes last-minute changes: particularly not mobile home park buyers. In this Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast, we’re going to discuss how to work around sudden changes in deal terms that can happen during diligence, financing – or even closing. You have to be flexible in forging some deals, and this topic should be of interest to anyone who has faced making a sudden decision on a property.

Many deals – despite you doing everything correctly to the best of your ability – reach a moment where an extension is necessary from the seller. It typically is the result of the bank’s attorney not getting the loan documents together as promised or a missing or deficient third-party report such as the survey. But regardless, your deal hangs in the balance if the seller should deny your need for more time. So here are the secrets to successfully getting an extension from your seller.

When I got into the mobile home park business with my first property “Glenhaven”, one of the chief attractions was the financing. The deal was $400,000 with $10,000 down and the seller financed the remaining $390,000 with non-recourse debt. This was insanely compelling to me as it meant that – no matter what happened – I was only out $10,000 if I walked away from the deal at any moment. Sadly, the Governor of West Virginia did not follow this same conservative posture when he borrowed $700 million with full recourse. So what is recourse vs. non-recourse debt, and why do mobile home parks have so many non-recourse options?

To build a self-storage facility typically requires going before Planning and Zoning as well as the City Council. Sometimes it’s just to approve your plans, but in other cases it’s required to get the zoning necessary to have the right to build this usage category. While there are professionals who offer their services in this regard, they are expensive and may not fit your budget. So here’s how you can attack these situations like a professional.

Getting a loan is stressful, and many borrowers put it off too long. In this RV Park Mastery podcast we’re going to discuss the correct timetable to finding a new loan when your current one is expiring. Since real estate requires leverage to maximize return, it’s important that we all understand and respect the lending system and how to approach it in a smart manner.

Americans are moving in a big way from urban centers to suburban and exurban alternatives, and that’s putting more cars than ever on rural roads. In this Billboard Mastery podcast we’re going to review the concept of rural roads and how to make profitable investments in advertising on them. There’s money in every seismic shift of the U.S. population, and this is definitely a time to re-explore billboards that are a little farther out.

One way to borrow money is to simply step into the shoes of the prior owner. In this Self-Storage University podcast we’re going to review the ins and outs of doing debt assumption on a property. In many cases, debt assumption may be your best option, yet many buyers do not even realize that the potential is there.