Investing in Real Estate for the GREATER GOOD

General Real Estate Investing
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Investing in Real Estate for the GREATER GOOD

Logan M.
Investor · Provo, UT · Member since 2016 · 759 posts · 626 votes

In 2018, I purchased my first mobile home park. It had 12 occupied spaces and 3 vacant spaces. 

Over the years, I began to fall in love with creating safe communities and filling vacant spaces. 

Here in Utah, over the last five years, we have gone from $320,000 to $536,500, this number includes all types of housing, and single-family homes are even higher. My point is that housing in America has become extremely unaffordable, and I want to stress that it's not like buying an expensive hamburger, housing is essential, everyone needs it and if we don't create solutions as investors then everything we do is for ourselves and not for others.

PEOPLE MATTER MORE THAN THINGS.

My call to all Bigger Pockets investors is to find ways to make money while solving big problems for your community.

For me, this has become mobile home park investing. I am not bringing this up to get people to think I am special because my point is that all of you are capable of making your community better. 

SOLVE THE PROBLEMS, BE THE SOLUTION. LEAVE AN IMPACT THAT IS WORTH LIVING FOR.


 Below is a project that I am currently working on. We are planning to go from 16 spaces to 35 spaces and we will sell all of the homes at roughly $150,000 in a county where the median home price is $585,000. 

For me, creating 19 new housing units that are non-subsidized by our already broke government IS WHAT I LIVE FOR.

I just want you to take a second after you read this to think of how you can make your community just a little bit better because you live and work there.

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Noah BaconPro Member
Property Manager · Lansdale, PA · Member since 2021 · 844 posts · 1k+ votes
3y

Amazing job thinking about tackling the supply shortage in your mobile home park portfolio!

How are you able to more than double your space capacity? Did you have undeveloped spaces or acquire more land? I am very interested following this project!

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  • Noah BaconPro Member
    Property Manager · Lansdale, PA · Member since 2021 · 844 posts · 1k+ votes
    3y

    Amazing job thinking about tackling the supply shortage in your mobile home park portfolio!

    How are you able to more than double your space capacity? Did you have undeveloped spaces or acquire more land? I am very interested following this project!

    1Reply
  • Logan M.
    OP
    Investor · Provo, UT · Member since 2016 · 759 posts · 626 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Noah Bacon:

    Amazing job thinking about tackling the supply shortage in your mobile home park portfolio!

    How are you able to more than double your space capacity? Did you have undeveloped spaces or acquire more land? I am very interested following this project!


     This purchase ended up with an additional 5 acres in the back, some cities will allow you to expand.

    1Reply
  • Samuel CoronadoPro Member
    Investor · Huntsville, AL · Member since 2016 · 348 posts · 182 votes
    3y

    All of this is goals. I have 20 acres in Athens, AL that I want to do something similar with. Affordable housing is a big priority in our country. I'm looking at a pricing strategy that balances not targeting Section 8 levels, being competitive in the market, and being affordable for an average American family. So many are going into credit card debt for the basic necessities these days, never mind a spend happy middle class buying $75,000 cars. It will eventually come back on all of us in a big way but I look at what I can control. What I can control is whether or not I use my land to add to the housing supply or let it sit vacant and not add as much value to the community. The loose plan now is tiny homes or mobile homes. I am looking at putting in the infrastructure and doing some in-fil operations with TOHs. I will need some partners though. 

    1Reply
  • Steven Foster Wilson
    Rental Property Investor · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    3y
    Quote from @Logan M.:

    In 2018, I purchased my first mobile home park. It had 12 occupied spaces and 3 vacant spaces. 

    Over the years, I began to fall in love with creating safe communities and filling vacant spaces. 

    Here in Utah, over the last five years, we have gone from $320,000 to $536,500, this number includes all types of housing, and single-family homes are even higher. My point is that housing in America has become extremely unaffordable, and I want to stress that it's not like buying an expensive hamburger, housing is essential, everyone needs it and if we don't create solutions as investors then everything we do is for ourselves and not for others.

    PEOPLE MATTER MORE THAN THINGS.

    My call to all Bigger Pockets investors is to find ways to make money while solving big problems for your community.

    For me, this has become mobile home park investing. I am not bringing this up to get people to think I am special because my point is that all of you are capable of making your community better. 

    SOLVE THE PROBLEMS, BE THE SOLUTION. LEAVE AN IMPACT THAT IS WORTH LIVING FOR.


     Below is a project that I am currently working on. We are planning to go from 16 spaces to 35 spaces and we will sell all of the homes at roughly $150,000 in a county where the median home price is $585,000. 

    For me, creating 19 new housing units that are non-subsidized by our already broke government IS WHAT I LIVE FOR.

    I just want you to take a second after you read this to think of how you can make your community just a little bit better because you live and work there.


     I completely agree with that sentiment, My wife and I invested in RE in Ohio for 5 years, in preparation to move to Indonesia full time to do relief work! We realize we could stay in Ohio and grow our business, make more money, get more houses, but we realize there is a greater purpose in life....People!

    1Reply
  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Logan M.:

    Your posts give the impression you are sacrificing personal wealth to serve people. According to my basic understanding of your plan and some basic math, you'll make millions of dollars in profit. Am I right?

    I believe manufactured housing is the best solution for affordable housing. The problem is that most cities, counties, and states will not allow new park development. They only allow the ones that already exist, and even those they are trying to crack down on. Most parks are poorly maintained, with trailers that are 40+ years old. Who wants to put a new $150,000 trailer next to a 1972 rust bucket that's been patched together 13 ways to Sunday?

    Here's a harsh truth about parks. They start with nicer(er) trailers, green lawns, beautiful trees, and everything portrayed in your pretty pictures. Eventually, the "affordable" housing will slowly degrade, then attract only the worst of society. It concentrates a lot of bad people in one location, and they ruin the community. 

    I grew up with a family of six in a 1966 600 sq.ft. trailer. We were happy to have running water and an indoor toilet instead of the outhouse. We lived on government cheese and powdered milk, so I know a little about the subject. My uncle bought that trailer from us in 1981, raised three kids in it, and still lives there today. It's a junkyard. All my relatives lived in trailers. Most of them were unemployed drunks living on welfare and draining society. They had no motivation to be productive as long as they could afford to live in their tin can. The parks they lived in were eye-sores even in the 70s and have long since been torn down.

    I would love to see a solution to creating affordable parks, but only if it came with heavy regulation to ensure sustainability. 

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    1Reply
  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Logan M.:

    And I don't mean to be raining on your parade. I think you are doing a good service for your community. I feel it's important we be honest about what will eventually happen and why this isn't a permanent solution for the country's housing problems.


    The DIY Landlord Book4.7247 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
  • Logan M.
    OP
    Investor · Provo, UT · Member since 2016 · 759 posts · 626 votes
    2y
    Quote from @Nathan Gesner:
    Quote from @Logan M.:

    And I don't mean to be raining on your parade. I think you are doing a good service for your community. I feel it's important we be honest about what will eventually happen and why this isn't a permanent solution for the country's housing problems.



    Even though I understand what you are saying it is a major generalization that doesn't address the real issue, local government has not created new manufactured home communities at any rate close to the demand.

    Since there are no other communities those residents don't have a choice of another community because it is not a free and fair market. If there were new communities there would be more options and that is what has driven the cost of living in these communities to increase.

    I have made millions investing in mobile home parks but I have invested millions to add hundreds of housing units in my area through expansions of parks, renovations of units, and filling vacant spaces.

    0Reply
  • Pamela Perkins Phillips
    Member since 2022 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    2y
    Quote from @Logan M.:

    In 2018, I purchased my first mobile home park. It had 12 occupied spaces and 3 vacant spaces. 

    Over the years, I began to fall in love with creating safe communities and filling vacant spaces. 

    Here in Utah, over the last five years, we have gone from $320,000 to $536,500, this number includes all types of housing, and single-family homes are even higher. My point is that housing in America has become extremely unaffordable, and I want to stress that it's not like buying an expensive hamburger, housing is essential, everyone needs it and if we don't create solutions as investors then everything we do is for ourselves and not for others.

    PEOPLE MATTER MORE THAN THINGS.

    My call to all Bigger Pockets investors is to find ways to make money while solving big problems for your community.

    For me, this has become mobile home park investing. I am not bringing this up to get people to think I am special because my point is that all of you are capable of making your community better. 

    SOLVE THE PROBLEMS, BE THE SOLUTION. LEAVE AN IMPACT THAT IS WORTH LIVING FOR.


     Below is a project that I am currently working on. We are planning to go from 16 spaces to 35 spaces and we will sell all of the homes at roughly $150,000 in a county where the median home price is $585,000. 

    For me, creating 19 new housing units that are non-subsidized by our already broke government IS WHAT I LIVE FOR.

    I just want you to take a second after you read this to think of how you can make your community just a little bit better because you live and work there.


     This is amazing!  I hope to do the same some day as well.  God Bless.

    0Reply
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