The Trailer Park Podcast

Enon Winkler is a Managing Partner and CEO of OtherStreet Advisors, which is a boutique real estate and advisory firm. Founded in 2014, OtherStreet has been re-imagining stigmatized real estate assets, such as mobile home parks, into innovative communities that generate wealth for investors.Their tailor-made solutions are designed to maximize investor peace-of-mind, as well as the investment's value and performance. Partnering with Crown Capital, which has dominated the commercial real estate market for over 20 years, they have done over $2Billion in sales.Since 2009, Enon has also served as Advisor and Investor at Red Carpet Monday, an exclusive, invite-only business network that hosts black-tie events for successful business owners, professionals senior executives, and entrepreneurs.Listen in as Enon speaks on his diverse real estate background, building and expanding his team, taking investors' money seriously no matter who they are, important budget considerations (especially on older properties), and ways to bring the industry into the future.Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:•[00:25] Enon's real estate background.•[03:00] Creating a national footprint.•[06:06] Growth-friendly states.•[09:12] Considering the investors' money.•[10:49] What does Enon think about Tennessee?•[12:47] Taking advantage of markets in different states.•[19:04] Things you need to consider about debt and budgeting.•[26:48] Upgrading older properties to today's zoning requirements.•[29:33] How do we take the MH and RV industry into the future?•[35:40] Banks and the MH and RV space.•[39:30] What would Enon do if he was handed $10 Million today?Key Quotes by Enon:•You learn as you go.•You want to focus on states that have great growth. You want to follow the migration of what's important to people and where they're moving.•Whether it's your friends and family, or whether it's an individual investor, you've still got to take that very serious with respect to: it's their money.•Anyone out there raising money, you've got a duty to your people. Don't forget that.•Affordable housing is here to stay, it's not going anywhere, and we need it more than ever.•No matter what you budget, it's probably never going to be enough.•If you're buying 1970s park, you're going to run into infrastructure issues whether you like it or not.•There's still good deals out there for people that can effectively operate with technology and can capitalize on the things out there that makes the community better.•I think if you can buy some retail these days at a good price, I think there's going to be some good deals out there.•Enon's $10 Million would go to: 60% MH parks, 20% RV parks, 10% car wash, and 10% retail.INTERESTED IN INVESTING IN MOBILE HOME PARKS?Check us out: https://comfortcapital.com/​

James Cook is the Founder and National Director of Brokerage at Yale Realty & Capital Advisors, which specializes in manufactured housing and RV resorts and provides both brokerage and financing services. Founded in 2010, Yale is the first true fully integrated firm with a dedicated representative in each region of the country to assist MH and RV owners and investors nationwide.The firm handles everything from confidential displacements, to running a full marketing and call for offers process. They focus on institutional grade communities ranging from 50 sites to 1,000+ site portfolios and have successfully closed on the sale or financing of roughly $1 billion in production within this niche asset class.Since 2012, James has also served as one of six partners at Yale Energy Advisors. They offer a diverse suite of services, ranging from capital raising for energy and resource projects, to brokerage of the physical commodities.Listen in as James speaks on how he sees the mobile space evolving within the next ten to 20 years and the many investment opportunities that continue to exist, even in highly-regulated regions such as the West Coast. Here's a glimpse of what you'll learn: ●      [02:21] What James is most excited about today●      [05:30] How the mobile home space will look in the next decade or two●      [11:14] Growing a sense of camaraderie and community in a seniors' park●      [17:30] Comparing 2020 with 2021 so far, and what to expect as the year progresses●      [21:53] Why cap rates lagging behind interest rates●      [28:16] Why some owners part with their properties instead of maximizing their value●      [33:42] States that James is currently bullish on●      [43:34] What James would do if he won $10 million today Key Quotes by James:●      The investor, aka the consumer, always lags the lending world.●      There are probably as many trillion dollar asset managers today as there were billion dollar asset managers ten years ago in our space.●      There are plenty of buyers siphoning out of these West Coast markets that are very mature and very regulated, into more Wild West markets or more opportunistic and less regulated markets. And there are a group of institutional buyers who just want the coupon. That's the virtuous cycle.●      I'm invested in almost every region of this country and there are bright spots in every region of this country. There's money to be made if you're willing to work for it and do a good job for your residents.INTERESTED IN INVESTING IN MOBILE HOME PARKS?Check us out: https://comfortcapital.com/​

Kolman Bubis is a founding partner at Sunstone Real Estate Advisors, the nation's largest independent advisory firm focused exclusively on the manufactured housing and recreational vehicle asset class. The firm, founded in 2010, strategically operates nationwide with offices in Chicago, Dallas and Houston.In 2013, Kolman co-founded Sunstone's sister company Mortgage Capital, a national commercial and multi-family real-estate mortgage/lending company.Prior to founding Sunstone, Kolman worked at Marcus & Millichap, focusing on brokerage of Mobile Home properties. Kolman assisted clients with fine-tuning their property disposition/acquisition and investment strategies.Listen in as Kolman offers his perspective on the evolution of the market from the beginning of 2020 onwards and what investors can do to keep properties occupied today.He also explains why there is no need to worry, at least in the long run, about the impact that the current presidential administration—or future ones, for that matter—will have on the market. Finally, Kolman explains why site visits are one of the most underutilized ways to gauge the potential success of an investment property.Here's a glimpse of what you'll learn: ●      [01:41] An introduction to Sunstone●      [06:08] Keeping homes occupied in today's market●      [14:00] Minimizing the risk of default●      [17:21] How the Biden administration is impacting the market●      [23:35] Cities that Kolman is currently bullish on●      [29:55] How investment companies can become preferred buyers in Sunstone's eyes●      [41:03] What Kolman would do if he won $10 million todayKey Quotes from Kolman:●      The demand for affordable housing has never been higher. I don't think that's going away. I think that COVID has exacerbated people's need for homes.●      Buy, sell, hold, operate, refinance. Beyond those five things, there's really not that much else to do with these properties.●      We're only seeing stress in the space now with poor operators—operators that are really undercapitalized to start, or thought that mobile home parks were an armchair investment.●      Information is power, and the more you have it, the better you can assess the risk or lack of risk of any particular deal.INTERESTED IN INVESTING IN MOBILE HOME PARKS?Check us out: https://comfortcapital.com/​

This episode of The Trailer Park Podcast features Tom Wolff.  Tom is a good friend of Blake's and is definitely going to be a returning guest on the podcast.  He worked with Berkadia for 7 years, first as an apartment broker then moved over to mortgage banking.  His diverse background in commercial real estate led him to start his own company. He is the co-founder of NStar Multifamily, a vertically integrated investment firm targeting value-added real estate projects in select markets throughout the US.  He is off buying apartments and is currently working on his first deal.Tom starts the conversation with his first apartment deal in Tucson.  He discusses the intricacies of dealing with small balance loans and and how to navigate financing.  They dive into different loan structures to consider when in that realm and their preferred loan terms today.  They talk about how their preferred loan terms in today's climate.  They both prefer the long term hold model versus the fix n' flip model due to its long term stability and the cashflow aspect of it.  They then break down the different parts of the commercial real estate industry from banking to brokerage to ownershipTom brings up the shift in demand for higher quality housing.  Blake mentions how we are seeing a similar trend in Mobile Home Parks.  This being primarily due to the pandemic and most people spending more time in their homes. He talks about how we are currently working on some higher end modern homes to see if we can attract a broader tenant pool.  We are trying to get other demographics, primarily the younger audience, to get comfortable with the idea of manufactured housing and break the stigma.INTERESTED IN INVESTING IN MOBILE HOME PARKS?Check us out: https://comfortcapital.com/​

Bryce Robertson “Your Real Estate Mate” is an Aussie born real estate investing entrepreneur, #1 international bestselling author, world traveler, adventurer and the founder of PropertyWorkz. Bryce's investing career began by acquiring a $570,000 mobile home park with a negative net worth, unseasoned credit, and a mere $2,000 in the bank. Bryce dives into his first deal and discuss the different road blocks he encountered along the way.  His first deal was a 12% cap rate which is far off from today's current landscape.  He talks about how he was able to raise money for his first deal vs. how he his currently funding his investments. Blake and Bryce discuss cap rate compression and its effects on return.  Bryce shares some alternative return structures that he has been exploring that allow him to navigate the current cap rate climate.Bryce shares some details of his current portfolio.  He has mainly been focused on the Southeast and the Midwest.  They discuss the parameters they usually set to “qualify” a mobile home park.  Both Blake and Bryce focus on decent sized Metros that have proven to be sustainable and show growth potential.Blake and Bryce discuss how they both prefer to manage their properties as opposed to having a 3rd party management company.  One of the main reasons for this being, that they both have focused mainly on value-add deals.  Value-add parks require a lot of involvement and coordination to achieve their projected goals.  Bryce talks about the mobile home markets he is in and when used homes are a better financial play than new homes.  They dive into their home financing and sale/rental structures.  They both agree that the goal should be to transition all of the park-owned homes to tenant-owned homes as soon as possible.Bryce's InfoPodcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSo5jy_kZWtB0NJK38Mdo4wWebsite: http://www.propertyworkzusa.com/Interested in investing in Mobile Home Parks?Check us out at https://comfortcapital.com/

In this episode of The Trailer Park Podcast, we welcome Brandon Webb.  Brandon is a former US Navy SEAL sniper, Entrepreneur (SOFREP.com & CrateClub.com), and New York Times bestselling author. He is a member of YPO New York City, a former Veteran advisor to the U.S. Small Business Administration, and Harvard Business School OPM 56.Brandon talks about his recent endeavors in the self storage industry.  He and his son, Hunter, recently purchased their first self storage in Lady Lake, Florida. They took your classic mom and pop owned property and have introduced some newer technological improvements to operations, like transitioning from paper to online leases and enhanced online marketing.  With the help of this advancements, they were able to take it form 55% to 100% occupied in 6 months and they include a 20% bump, which still left room compared to the competition.Blake discusses the formation of Comfort Communities and his initial spark of interest for mobile home parks.  They discuss the benefits of parks compared to other real estate assets.  Brandon believes that the wider income gap in America has brought about a need for more affordable housing.  Through the recent economic events, there has been an awaking of interest and value of hard assets.  Both mobile home parks and self-storage facilities have proven to be extremely resilient during a recession.They talk about the potential upcoming recession with mortgage payments coming due and stimulus eventually coming to a halt.  Brandon mentions that this will lead to great opportunities in real estate.  He also talks about the how the US tends to think short term versus a country like China, who thinks long term.  This could prove to be a detriment in regards to the way the US deals with this recovery.Brandon talks about his company SOFREP Media, which focuses on foreign policy, domestic security and military news.  They serve as non-biased platform for those looking for a trustworthy new source.  Brandon believes journalism is practically dead.  He mentions how most news article now days are sensationalized for clicks and monetary benefits.  This has caused major political division in our country.Interested in investing in Mobile Home Parks?Check us out at https://comfortcapital.com/

Joining us for episode 3 is Art Tuverson.  Art works as a managing director for Berkadia's mortgage banking platform.  He is a debt and equity capital provider dedicated to the commercial real estate industry on a nationwide basis, with emphasis on the Manufactured Housing Community and RV Resort industry. He has over 19 years of experience that have led to a broad customer reach and deep domain expertise in property valuation and analytics.Blake and Art first dive into Texas and property tax reassessments.  According to Art, most Mobile Home Parks have fortunately escaped a lot of the large tax increases.  They will generally look to the appraisal for the property taxes.  When it comes to underwriting, they will look at tax comps.  The mobile home park industry is a smaller pond than other industries like multifamily in which the assessors are more focused on.They discuss a recent California condo conversion loan that Art had worked on.  This conversion loan is a good option for park owners that deal with rent control.  It allows them to unlock trapped equity in mobile home parks by condo-mapping the property and selling the individual lots to the residents.  However, this does require the right lender.They touch on some underwriting factors from the lenders that have become more standardized.  The lenders are focusing on segregating the revenue park owned home P&Ls from the property level P&Ls for more accurate valuations on a property level.  This leads to better loan proceeds.As of the beginning of 2021, the agencies are seeing inflows 2-3x there average run rate for supplemental loans.  In order to moderate this increase there has been a slight increase in pricing, they are being stingier on credit acceptors, and they are limiting discretionary cash-out refinances.Interested in investing in Mobile Home Parks?Check us out at https://comfortcapital.com/

John Sheedy joins us for Episode 2 of The Trailer Park Podcast. John Sheedy is the Senior Vice President of Park Brokerage Inc. focusing his efforts on the Manufactured Housing and RV Park industry and is licensed in Arizona, California, and Nevada. Prior to joining Park Brokerage he was a regional executive devoted to sales and business development functions in aimed towards commercial real estate owners including construction, utility services, and tenant debt collections.  He owns and operates four 55+ MH/RV communities in Arizona and is a limited partner in several other mobile home parks and RV parks which allows him the experience and knowledge to handle your sale in a discreet and profitable fashion.In this episode, John talks about his biggest year ever with a total of 27 MH & RV Transactions.  They discuss how there seems to be no shortage of capital entering the industry.  John also points out that he has noticed a large influx of buyers from other asset classes which is primarily due to MH & RV outperforming the others amidst the pandemic.They breakdown some of the fears that new buyers have when entering into the space.  Blake mentions how you cannot get caught up in analysis paralysis.  You cannot expect for your first deal to be the perfect deal.  You don't wait to buy real estate, you buy real estate and you wait.John touches on some of the primary reasons sellers come to the table. Death, dissolution, and divorce are very common reasons for owners to consider selling their property.  Uncertainty is also a driving factor for many sellers at this point in time.  A combination of the dwindling supply, low interest rates, and CAP rate compression is leading to an increase in prices and demand.  John believes that the increase in pricing could potentially lead to more development due to the fact that it would make more financial sense now.Interested in investing in Mobile Home Parks?Check us out at https://comfortcapital.com/

Ian Hilpl joins us for Episode 1 of The Trailer Park Podcast. Ian is a Senior Advisor for Capstone Manufactured Housing.  He works out of their office in Orlando and has been there for several years now. Prior to joining Capstone, Ian worked in commercial banking as a portfolio underwriter at a Fortune 500 financial institution.  In this episode, Blake and Ian dive into the growth and resilience of the "Freedom States".  They discuss the Landlord-Friendly Laws that often exist in these states and the benefits they offer from an operations as well as an investment standpoint. Ian shares how and why Capstone has had a tremendous increase in sales volume, from $350-$500 million this past year.  They talk about how the uncertainty in our country seems to be one of the driving factors for communities being sold.  Other factors they touch on are the low interest rates and extremely attractive financing that is currently available.  Ian also shares some entry level strategies for mobile home park beginners.Interested in investing in Mobile Home Parks?Check us out at https://comfortcapital.com/