All Forum Posts by: Paul Moore

Hey @Joe Threats unless you are fully committed to being obsessively focused on a certain asset class…as an ACTIVE investor…I would highly recommend that you deploy your capital into a passive investment opportunity. It is just too difficult to chase multiple paths to success. It usually ends in failure or massive burnout or difficulties in having a life and family, etc.

There are lots of passive opportunities on crowd-funding websites like Crowdstreet and Fundrise. There are also lots of syndications and funds you can invest in.

If you do want to be obsessively, 100% focused however, I would defer to some of the commenters above and ask; “what do you really want to do?” Good luck!

@Fayez Shantanu , as @Scott E. said above, you are stepping into dangerous waters filled with sharks. Especially with the uncertainty in the economy with interest rates rising.

Unless you are really set on doing multi-family, I would recommend looking elsewhere. There are just way too many great, experienced competitors you are fighting against and it is easy to lose in those situations.

My company was faced with this decision a number of years ago and we decided to look elsewhere in fact. We began looking for asset classes with a lot of mom-and-pop operators who leave a lot of upside available for professionals to acquire and harvest. We found this in self-storage and mobile home parks, and I would highly recommend that you look at those asset types.

About 85% of America’s 43,000 mobile home parks are owned by mom-and-pop operators and they leave a lot of upside typically. About 50% of America’s 53,000 self-storage facilities are owned by single-asset operators. Often, a great operator can go in and significantly upgrade operations, increase income, and maximize value for their investors. One more asset type to consider would be RV parks though they are very labor intensive if done well. I wish you the very best in your investing journey!

Hey @Sam Dal, the complexity of your question shows a depth of thoughtfulness on your part that is unusual among passive investors. Great job! It also reminded me that you…and all of us…need real estate-oriented tax strategists in our corner not just regular CPAs.

You got one of the best people I know in the US replying to your question in @Michael Plaks above. Michael, as always, I appreciate your detail and knowledge.

Great reply @Taylor L. This was an intuitive question and one that needed to be asked.

Hey @Nathan Ruffrage I don’t have a definite answer for you but as someone who is involved in self-storage I can probably connect you to a few people who could help. I would especially recommend AJ Osborne. AJ was the guest on a few BiggerPockets podcasts on self-storage and he is a real pro. I would be glad to connect you if you PM me. Good luck!

Hi @Quinn Hahs welcome aboard! You got some great responses above. Feel free to reach out and PM me. Our company is hiring an Investor Relations Specialist and I could get an application in to your hands if you are interested.

Hi @ , wow, I wonder why this park is so poorly occupied? Maybe it’s poor marketing, deferred maintenance, maybe there are issues with the water and sewer…I would really check it out carefully before proceeding.

I really like @Mark Wooldridge ideas above. I would certainly do that to try to gauge market interest. And I agree that your price should not pay the seller for all of the upside you could gain for doing this right. Of course, you are going to want to carefully and thoroughly inspect every single unit and make sure that the water and sewer are up to speed, no code violation, etc. I recommend reading The Mobile Home Park Manifesto a 2020 book that could be quite helpful for you. I also recommend partnering with or getting mentored by professionals before diving into something like this. It sounds like it could be an opportunity so tell us what happened! Good luck.

Hi @Matthew Masoud when properties are selling for a price that includes future improvements and appreciation, you know you have entered a speculative market, it is not true investing. Investing is when your principle is safe and your cashflow is secure, and you expect to make a return from your improvements. Speculating is when your principle is not safe, and cashflow and value are based on future appreciation which is not guaranteed. Hope is not a good business strategy and neither is this.

I wrote a book on multifamily investing and committed to only investing in apartments for the rest of my career. But issues like this one caused me to look outside of multifamily to self-storage, mobile home parks, RV parks, etc. The speculation in future value was just too risky for me. I recommend looking for asset classes that have a lot of mom-and-pop owners that don’t have the desire, resources or knowledge to upgrade their assets, increase income and maximize value. Though there might be a little speculation involved because of the fact that you are counting on your ability to make these value-add improvements, you are generally counting on the current cash flow to derive the underlying value and thus the price.

I have written several BP posts on this topic, including this one: Attention, Multifamily Investors: Why You Must Raise Rents 33% to Break Even (Part I). Happy investing!

Hi @Theodore Menchaca. I agree with several of the comments above. I am in my third decade as a real estate investor. I can tell you that mobile homes are the very worst investment I have ever made. But investing in mobile home parks is tied for my favorite all time investment. Why?

Owning and renting out mobile homes means that you are owning and managing a cheaply built home to tenants who don’t have a history with an ownership mindset. There is a lot that can go wrong including extreme maintenance and capital expenses. Three of the four mobile homes I owned and rented out were destroyed by the tenants, and two had to be hauled off to the junkyard with no chance for repair. I would never do it again.

Investing in mobile home parks is entirely different. You are owning and leasing out dirt and infrastructure. The cash flow and potential profitability are very high. It is critical to buy from a mom-and-pop owner and there are lots of things to look out for. Many pitfalls can be avoided by getting proper training and mentorship. I recommend a recent book The Mobile Home Park Manifesto. You can also listen to a BP podcast from Frank Rolfe and check out his training as well. Happy investing!

When I transitioned from single family residential to commercial real estate, I made a commitment to my family to stay in the multifamily arena for the rest of my life. I had spent years as a shiny object chaser and I had hit 50 and was ready to stay totally focused.

After writing a book on multifamily and then banging my head against the wall for years trying to find apartments that made sense, in frustration, my firm transitioned to start investing in SS and MH parks. We have been thrilled with the upside potential of self-storage and mobile home parks and we've never looked back.

The key is the number of mom-and-pop owner/operators in this space. 75% of self storage assets are owned by independent operators, and 2 out of every 3 of those, are owned by single-asset owners...typically mom-and-pops. These owners don't have the desire, knowledge, or resources to upgrade the facilities, increase income and maximize value. Let's face it, they don't have to. The market has given them massive appreciation over this last decade. By acquiring these mom-and-pop self storage assets, a professional operator can do a lot of magic to upgrade the facility and increase income. Many that we have invested in have gone up 50% or more in value within a few years. AJ Osborne did a fantastic BP podcast on self storage in July 2018 and I did a show on this topic in November 2021. Happy investing!

Hi @Fernando E.. That is very kind of you to say. Feel free to PM me and I’ll send you the ebook Vwrsion of my book on multifamily investing. Good luck!