51 Units at Age 23 (& Counting)!

51 Units at Age 23 (& Counting)!

Investor · Sevierville, TN · Member since 2015 · 121 posts · 674 votes

It's been nearly 2 years since my first post "$1,300,000 Deal at Age 21 & I'm Retired!", I wanted to share an update. 

Last year, 13 months after I bought my first 20 unit apartment, I had increased the gross monthly income from $12.8K to $17.2K, that allowed me to refinance out $163K ($33K more than I initially invested).
I did this through a combination of cutting expenses, raising rents to market, implementing late fees, pet/move in fees, and adding a 21st unit. 

After the refinance, I'm still cashflowing $3K+ per month, and I have all my money out of the deal.

From hundreds of hours of podcasts & reading, I decided to shift my focus to mobile home parks (in addition to apartments). I spent over a year cold calling, talking with brokers, meeting other investors, and even door knocking at owners homes directly to find MHP deals.

Finally in January of this year, another investor I knew sent me a lead on a portfolio of 3 parks. After many meetings, we settled on a price of $750K for 2 of the parks, a 30 unit and a 13 unit + a SFH.

Both parks are on city water/sewer direct billed, excellent location with strong demand, and a lot of upside in terms of low rents, addressing deferred maintenance, etc. The plan is to stabilize & refi out within 12-18 months, then snowball the capital into future deals. Essentially, the BRRRR method applied to commercial multifamily properties.

On these 2 deals, I had the capital to take them down myself, but I decided to partner with another local investor, we formalized a partnership agreement where we split all expenses/profits/work equally.

We finally closed on the 30 unit park as of May 3rd, and the 13 unit + SFH park is closing the end of this month. Including my apartments (which I own individually), that puts my total rental unit count at 51, and on June 1st it will be 65.

The main takeaways I'd like to share are:
1. Stay focused! If you haven't done a deal yet, or it's been a while since your last one, keep searching. Every day you move closer to reaching your goal; don't stop short of finding your next great deal.
2. You're better off buying no deal than a bad deal. I analyzed, went under contract, and/or visited at least 12 other MHP deals before proceeding on these. In this market particularly, you have to be sure your numbers and assumptions are accurate.
3. If you want to be successful in a particular niche, copy others who are successful in it. Don't skimp on your education, it's an investment in yourself. I've attended multiple live events & went through training courses from both apartment & mobile home park operators. Success leaves clues; you don't have to reinvent the wheel, copy what works.

Don't wait for something to happen, go out and make it happen. 👍🏻

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Real Estate Investor · Lake Charles, LA · Member since 2009 · 271 posts · 52 votes
7y

Congratulations !! All of these deals are in your market ? Also what podcasts do u listen to regularly?

See this reply in the discussion

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  • Real Estate Investor · Lake Charles, LA · Member since 2009 · 271 posts · 52 votes
    7y

    Congratulations !! All of these deals are in your market ? Also what podcasts do u listen to regularly?

  • Weare, NH · Member since 2016 · 59 posts · 23 votes
    7y

    Congratulations @Abraham Anderson! I just read your other thread that is pretty inspiring. Was the 1.3M property your first rental after selling the one you flipped? Do you recommend going all in on a big property like that? I am 28 and thought about going for a large property like that it since I am still young and can afford to take chances.

  • Investor · Sevierville, TN · Member since 2015 · 121 posts · 674 votes
    7y

    @Stephen Moore Wheelbarrow Profits (Jake & Gino), Mobile Home Park Mastery Podcast (Frank Rolfe) & of course Biggerpockets.

    @Nate Wilson If the deal makes sense, go for it. Don't be scared of larger deals, they're both easier to finance & manage than smaller properties (and they're a lot more profitable).

  • Yonah WeissPro Member
    Cost Segregation Expert and Investor · Lakewood, NJ · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    7y

    Thanks for sharing your story and tips @Abraham Anderson! You are an inspiration.

    I think a LOT of people here on BP are afraid of jumping into their first deal, but as you said, Don't wait for something to happen, go out and make it happen.

  • Rental Property Investor · Glen Rock, NJ · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    7y

    @Abraham Anderson

    Congrats on yet another great success of yours! We've met at Jake&Gino and I was impressed with your dedication and enthusiasm even then. Very happy to see folks like yourself starting early in life. Good luck with your MHP venture. If you need any help feel free to PM me.

    Best of luck!

  • Real Estate Agent · Salt Lake City, UT · Member since 2014 · 473 posts · 230 votes
    7y

    @Abraham Anderson

    Awesome work! I’m looking to get a mobile home park soon, so hearing of your success is pushing me to do the same. How much did you all have to put down on the parks?

  • Rental Property Investor · Lindale, TX · Member since 2019 · 37 posts · 9 votes
    7y

    @Abraham Anderson

    Great job brother!

  • NY · Member since 2018 · 38 posts · 5 votes
    7y

    Any book recommendations??

  • Hamilton, NJ · Member since 2019 · 78 posts · 15 votes
    7y

    This is amazing. I want to purchase a multifamily building in NY or NJ. Working with hard money lenders and speaking to owners. I plan to raise the rent, add washer and dryer in the basement and renovate any empty apartments to raise the value in small increments.

  • New York, NY · Member since 2019 · 60 posts · 82 votes
    7y

    @Abraham Anderson

    wow! more power to you.  Great to hear you're making big moves.

  • Investor · Sevierville, TN · Member since 2015 · 121 posts · 674 votes
    7y

    @Alina Trigub I remember, it was great talking with you then, I PM'd you.

    @Taylor Chiu 20% down, we each brought 10% to the table. Remaining 80% was through a local bank.

    @Andres Felipe Aristizabal My favorite business book is "Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude" co-authored by Napoleon Hill (who wrote Think & Grow Rich) & W. Clement Stone, another motivational speaker & businessman.

    @Kenny M. Lewis Sounds like a good plan, stay focused & make it happen, brother.

  • Real Estate Agent · Salt Lake City, UT · Member since 2014 · 473 posts · 230 votes
    7y

    @Abraham Anderson What's the MSA population like out there? How much under market rent are you currently?

  • Investor · Sevierville, TN · Member since 2015 · 121 posts · 674 votes
    7y
    Originally posted by @Taylor Chiu:

    @Abraham Anderson What's the MSA population like out there? How much under market rent are you currently?

    Metro is 1.1M, current rents are $170, market rent is $325-350. The plan is to go up $50 annually until we're at market (that way it gives residents time to adjust, and time to make improvements to the park, such as cleaning, landscaping, lighting, roads, etc). 

    There is a lot of deferred maintenance, the rent bumps will be going into reserves to address that. Residents know that we plan to make the investment of improvements to the park, and they're willing to pay the increase knowing they'll have a nicer, cleaner, safer community to live in.

  • Real Estate Agent · Salt Lake City, UT · Member since 2014 · 473 posts · 230 votes
    7y
    Originally posted by @Abraham Anderson:
    Originally posted by @Taylor Chiu:

    @Abraham Anderson What's the MSA population like out there? How much under market rent are you currently?

    Metro is 1.1M, current rents are $170, market rent is $325-350. The plan is to go up $50 annually until we're at market (that way it gives residents time to adjust, and time to make improvements to the park, such as cleaning, landscaping, lighting, roads, etc). 

    There is a lot of deferred maintenance, the rent bumps will be going into reserves to address that. Residents know that we plan to make the investment of improvements to the park, and they're willing to pay the increase knowing they'll have a nicer, cleaner, safer community to live in.

     Wow man, those are great numbers, congratulations again!

  • Member since 2019 · 1 post · 1 vote
    7y

    great job, thanks for sharing

  • Rental Property Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2017 · 1 post · 3 votes
    7y

    Abraham, 

    Dude you are awesome, and inspire me to start looking for my second deal! I'm 22, my new goal is get to your unit count by 23. lol

    Numbers are great though, seems like a solid deal. Hope the best for you man.

    -JS

  • Investor · Elgin, SC · Member since 2014 · 18 posts · 20 votes
    7y

    I still don't understand how you acquired an office building "free and clear" by age 21.  Or built 4 townhouses from the ground up as a teenager. Could you expound the details on those deals prior to your first apt building purchase?

  • New York City, NY · Member since 2017 · 33 posts · 11 votes
    7y

    Congratulations! Out of curiosity, how did you raise the seed capital for your first unit?

  • Member since 2019 · 4 posts · 2 votes
    7y

    Congratulations & Truly inspirational!

  • Investor/Agent/Entrepreneur · Dallas, TX · Member since 2016 · 464 posts · 564 votes
    7y

    Wow that's great Abraham, congrats! Great to see such a matured mindset and knowing when to walk away from a deal when it doesn't fit your criteria.

  • Rental Property Investor · Bakersfield CA · Member since 2018 · 10 posts · 4 votes
    7y

    Thats so freaking awesome!

  • Rental Property Investor · Wilmington, DE · Member since 2017 · 12 posts · 4 votes
    7y

    Wow thats amazing, knowing someone the same age as me has been so successful in this field gives me the motivation even more to get my first deal. Thank you.

  • Member since 2019 · 3 posts · 4 votes
    7y

    Congrats @Abraham Anderson. My question is more general in prespective of managing 65 rental units. How are you managing them operationally in terms of handling their requests ( repairs , rent collecetion etc). Would be helpful if you share your experience and the best practices. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2018 · 19 posts · 9 votes
    7y

    Currently 22 with 13 SFHs, very inspiring to read someone so far ahead of me at 23! Congrats on finding such a great MHP deal, seems like a great asset. 

  • Garland, TX · Member since 2016 · 28 posts · 4 votes
    7y

    Congrats

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