The Mobile Home Park Lawyer Podcast

It’s always critical to your deal the level of due diligence you can apply before purchasing a property. In this episode of the MHP Lawyer Podcast, Ferd Niemann shares his own due diligence list specific to mobile home parks and highlights the importance behind each one of them to how they can be leveraged strategically to manipulate the contract and timing associated with your offer. The devil is in the details and the victory is in the details of the contract. Tune into this episode to use the ultimate seller deliverable list that will change the way you write your contract and change the outcome of the offers that you write.   Highlights of the episode:   00:47 - The importance of a seller due diligence list 03:20 - Copies of existing surveys  04:12 - Third-party reports 06:01 - Copies of the permits 06:25 - Copies of leases 06:39 - Private utilities and insurance policies 07:06 - Right of first refusal 07:13 - When to get copies of property tax bills 08:15 - Letters of non-compliance 08:46 - Copies of utility bills 08:56 - Copies of vendor contracts 09:50 - List of the 5 best and worst aspects of the property 10:21 - P&Ls 10:45 - Tax returns 11:15 - Capital expenditures 11:29 - Age, type, and material of the structure  12:24 - List of infrastructures and refurbishing issues 13:08 - Personal property included in the sale 14:29 - Criminal activity and problem tenants 14:52 - Copies of title 15:21 - Copy of any title policy or insurance   Notable Quotes  “The part of this due diligence list, for purposes of due diligence, is also kind of a way to extend your inspection period and your closing period.” - Ferd Niemann “It’s crucial to understand property taxes. It’s one of the most important variables in the operating expenses that I see brokers lying about all the time, and I see buyers and sellers not understanding all the time. ” - Ferd Niemann “The devil’s in the details, but sometimes the victories are in the details of contracts.”  - Ferd Niemann   Connecting with MHP Law: Website: https://themobilehomelawyer.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Mobile-Home-Park-Lawyer-103814958118069 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themhplawyer-ferdniemann6923147/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themhplawyer   #DueDiligence #Checklist #MHP

This week's episode is about the pros and cons of owning a small mobile home park. Ferd Niemann shares the pros and cons of buying a small mobile home park. While some pros exist such as getting a chance to connect with tenants on a more personal level, cons also do exist such as not having the ability to hire a full time property manager. In addition to this discussion of contrast between the two, Ferd also weighs in by using his personal experience as a small mobile home park owner and addresses the problems that he faced and had overcome.   Highlights of the episode: 00:20 - What Is A small park 01:21 - Initial Cons of owning a small park 03:24 - Paying The Park In Cash 03:40 - Not having a full time manager 03:52 - Finding at a higher cap rate  05:00 - Easier to Zone 05:23 - Less tenants equal less headaches 05:34 - 1 vacant unit will be a big hit to the business 06:06 - Getting more personal with the tenants 06:34 - Issues with scaling 07:53 - Conclusion   Notable Quotes “In general, smaller parks are going to cost less, it’d be cheaper and require less cash.” - Ferd Niemann “It may be a nice trial park, depending on where you are financially.” - Ferd Niemann “You could know all the tenants by name” - Ferd Niemann   Connecting with MHP Law: Website: https://themobilehomelawyer.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Mobile-Home-Park-Lawyer-103814958118069 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themhplawyer-ferdniemann6923147/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themhplawyer   #SmallMHP #ProsAndCons #MHP

Jamie Simerly has experience in installing sewer and water utilities for new residential and commercial construction. He has been with Homestead Inspection since 2019. Homestead Inspection is a family-owned and operated business with over 30 years of residential building experience and over 24 years in home inspection services. In this episode, Jamie will deep dive into the common problems investors face with sewer lines such as identifying a previous repair, a tree root clog, and more. He also discusses why Orangeburg pipes still exist today even though they’ve been disallowed by the government. Finally, Jamie shares his typical quotes in service at Homestead inspection so that you can have a baseline in your market or even possibly inquire about his services should you need them for your properties.    Highlights of the episode: 00:32 - Introduction of Jamie Simerly 01:03 - Background of Jamie Simerly 02:42 - How to do sewer surveys 05:53 - Determining an Orangeburg pipe 08:44 - Why you should check your sewer line 09:30 - Other materials you should avoid for your sewer line 12:43 - Failure points of clay pipes   17:21 - Common fixes for clay pipes 18:43 - Different Types of sewer piping problems 18:57 - How to tell if it’s had a previous repair 20:08 - How to tell if it’s a tree root clog 22:16 - Why there shouldn’t be water sitting on the pipe 23:52 - Checking out on the disconnects 24:35 - Pricing for Jamie’s services 27:54 - Knowing if your manhole is connected to the sewer line 30:27 - Talk to people in the community first 33:11 - How to reach Jamie   Notable Quotes  “If you don’t have it properly cleaned out and descalled, then you don’t know what you’re dealing with until it breaks” - Jamie Simerly “If you don’t have enough room to actually put a 4 inch pipe into a line that’s been reduced down to 2 inches, then you won’t be able to sleeve it at all.” - Jamie Simerly “We want to give you the most information that we can, possible, out of us going out and doing a sewer survey.” - Jamie Simerly   Connecting with Guest Phone Number: (816) 883-1090 Website: https://www.homestead-inspection.com/   Connecting with MHP Law: Website: https://themobilehomelawyer.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Mobile-Home-Park-Lawyer-103814958118069 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themhplawyer-ferdniemann6923147/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themhplawyer   #Sewerline #TypesOfPipes #SewerSurvey

In this episode, Ferd Niemann shares his thoughts on why the concept of rent control should be removed. Ferd expands on the detrimental long-term effects of Rent Control such as low quantity and quality of housing. He also discusses the three types of Rent Control (strict price, vacancy control, and vacancy de-control) which are all real-world examples of the impacts they can have on the future market. Finally, Ferd notes that other investors may not know that they are victims of Rent Control and why Rent Control isn’t institutionalized. Highlights of the episode: 00:32 - Introduction 03:25 - Why Rent Control Is Bad In The Long Term 06:08 - Types of Rent Control 12:00 - Long Term Impact of Rent Control 13:48 - Why Rent control isn’t institutionalized 19:35 - Conclusion     Notable Quotes  “Capital goes where it is welcome, and it stays where it’s appreciated.” - Ferd Niemann “If my expenses keep going up and my revenue is fixed; I’m going to choose not going to do some of the discretionary stuff.” - Ferd Niemann “In the development game, I'm not going to add more risk in capital if you’re not going to increase my upside.” - Ferd Niemann   Connecting with MHP Law: Website: https://themobilehomelawyer.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Mobile-Home-Park-Lawyer-103814958118069 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themhplawyer-ferdniemann6923147/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themhplawyer   #RentControl #RentRegulation #AffordableHousing

In this episode, Ferd Niemann discusses the importance of hiring a great property manager in the mobile home park business. Ferd expands on the importance of hiring slow and sometimes needing to fire fast. Ferd reviews the soft and hard skills that it takes to become a great property manager along with the core values that he and his team look to align with when hiring. If you’re looking to hire a property manager for your mobile home park, you’ll want to listen to the ‘12 steps to hire best’ clearly outlined in this episode.   Highlights of the episode:   00:32 - Introduction 01:31 - Recent experience at Mcdonald’s 03:19 - Why having a good property manager is essential 08:16 - Skills that all employees need to have 11:22 - 12 Steps to a proper hire     Notable Quotes  “I’d much rather pay somebody 30k base and 30k in commissions than pay someone 40k base. What I found is that the guy/gal that will take the lower base is hungry for commissions and they’re my best players.” - Ferd Niemann “Not having the person here is a pain, but hiring the wrong person and then having to fire them or they quit and then do it all over again is a bigger pain.” - Ferd Niemann   “I’m calling references at this point because they can make or break the deal sometimes.” - Ferd Niemann   Connecting with MHP Law: Website: https://themobilehomelawyer.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Mobile-Home-Park-Lawyer-103814958118069 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themhplawyer-ferdniemann6923147/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themhplawyer   #TeamBuilding #HiringProcess #PropertyManager

After 25 years as a developer, investment banker, and real estate analyst, Brad Thomas believes there’s only one rule in investing: protect your principal at all costs. He’s built his career on trust, staying smart, and conservative on researching, connecting and doing what’s best for his clients. Besides real estate, Brad is an editor for the Forbes Real Estate Investor newsletter and writes weekly for Forbes.com and Seeking Alpha, where he maintains “real-time” research on many publicly-listed REIT securities. He is also the co-author of The Intelligent REIT Investor, and has also been featured in Forbes Magazine, Kiplinger’s, U.S. News & World Report, Money, NPR, Institutional Investor, GlobeStreet, and Fox Business. He was also ranked as the #1 contributing analyst on Seeking Alpha from 2014-2019.   Highlights of the episode: 00:32 - Introduction 01:24 - Background of Brad Thomas 03:27 - What are REITS and Why You Should Invest  07:01 - The Pro’s and Con’s of REITS 09:47 - Total return of investment from REITS    14:56 - Minimum assets under management to make REITS worthwhile 21:57 - Underlying Ground Lease 27:41 - Importance of finding your passion 31:42 - Why You Should Invest in REITS   Notable Quotes  “You shouldn’t compare REITS on a price to earnings multiple. You should compare it to a price to funds from operations multiple.” - Brad Thomas “It (REITS) gives the individual investors all types of options and alternatives to invest in Real estate.” - Brad Thomas “Most private companies today cannot compete with the cost-to-capital that these public REITS have. It’s not even close.” - Brad Thomas   Connecting with the Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rbradthomas/ Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradthomas/   Connecting with MHP Law: Website: https://themobilehomelawyer.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Mobile-Home-Park-Lawyer-103814958118069 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themhplawyer-ferdniemann6923147/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themhplawyer   #REITS #StockMarket #BradThomas

In this week’s episode of The Mobile Home Park Lawyer Podcast, we have Victor Alves, a real estate entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Vecno capital. Victor was a former sales district manager for a Fortune 500 company, who won several top performance awards before pursuing his career in real estate investing. He is a licensed contractor in the city of San Antonio, TX, a licensed manufactured home retailer, broker, and installer in the state of Texas, and actively serves as a Real Estate Coach for one of the nation’s leading real estate investment education companies. If you are thinking about transitioning from single-family flips to mobile home parks, you have to see this episode. Victor tackles the steps required to take when transitioning from single-family flips to MHP, understanding demographics and clientele, finding and working with good people in the industry, and being ready for the unexpected.   Highlights of the episode: 00:50 - Introduction of the guest 01:30 - Background of the guest 06:10 - Motivation for the transition from single family flips to MHP 11:38 - Easy and hard steps through the transition 12:16 - Understanding demographics and clientele 14:05 - Utilities and working with a septic company 14:48 - Understanding infill 18:40 - Tips for people who are thinking about following Victor’s footsteps 19:58 - Finding good people in the industry 23:03 - Loans and working with lenders 26:42 - Underwriting 30:49 - Ensuring recovery when things don’t go as planned   Notable Quotes  If you don’t like it now, the chances that you’re gonna like it later is very minimal.” - Victor Alves “Get into the business” - Victor Alves   Connecting with the Guest: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/victor.alves.7587 Email: victor@vecnocapital.com Website: https://www.vecnocapital.com   Connecting with MHP Law: Website: https://themobilehomelawyer.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Mobile-Home-Park-Lawyer-103814958118069 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themhplawyer-ferdniemann6923147/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themhplawyer   #mobilehomepark #singlefamily #transition

Joining us for this week’s episode is Adam Sobieski, a real estate investor, professional coach, speaker, and president of Sobieski INC.  Adam set a world-class track record in sales but after the recession, he started to venture into real estate, buying single-family homes for respectable cash flow. Initially, mobile home parks were not on his radar but today his cap rates and cash flow are the highest yields in his portfolio while owning several mobile home parks debt-free.  In this episode, Ferd and Adam share the importance of knowing your investor’s DNA, how to build proper relationships, and having better deals in small mobile home parks. So if you are seeking to venture into the mobile home park industry, you don’t want to miss the insights from this episode!  Highlights of the episode: 00:32 - Introduction 01:02 - Background of the Guest 04:30 - 30 lots Mobile Home Park 07:47 - Knowing your Investor’s DNA 10:29 - Building relationships    14:09 - Capital gain strategy 15:55 - Joint Venture Sale 17:52 - Easement in Mobile Home Park 19:55 - Better Deal with Small Park 22:20 - Management Perspective 25:39 - Return on time and aggravation 27:45 - Lesson of due diligence 31:50 - How rich are you coming into this business Notable Quotes  You add value with creative solutions so you can get paid for it - Ferd There's not necessarily a right answer it's just what's your vision, what's your goal like. - Ferd Figure out your effective hourly rate and then don't do anything lower than that rate. - Ferd Optimize what you're best at and focus on that. - Ferd Connecting with the Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-sobieski-6b561a14 Contact No: 760-310-6714 Connecting with MHP Law: Website: https://themobilehomelawyer.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Mobile-Home-Park-Lawyer-103814958118069 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themhplawyer-ferdniemann6923147/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themhplawyer #DueDiligence #InvestorsDNA #LifestyleInvestor

In this week’s episode, we have Bryce Robertson, known as “Your Real Estate Mate”, an Aussie-born real estate entrepreneur, adventurer, and founder of PropertyWorkz.  After several trips around the world, Bryce decided to focus on real estate investing to achieve his goal of having a freedom lifestyle. He began acquiring a $570,000 mobile home park with a negative net worth, unseasoned credit, and a mere $2,000 in the bank. By using his skills in underwriting, education in economics, and the power of syndication he successfully teamed up with some of the best operators in the US and expanded US real Estate Investing around the world.  If you are looking for a sign to start your journey in real estate investing — especially in Mobile Home Parks, you don’t want to miss this episode. Ferd and Bryce tackle the impact of underwriting deals, how to mitigate risks, aggressive managing, and how to take the first step in real estate investing.   Highlights of the episode: 00:32 - Introduction of the guest 01:01 - Background of the guest 02:42 - Recreating Freedom Lifestyle 03:19 - Focusing on Real Estate 04:36 - Getting the deal in the finish line 06:41 - Impact in underwriting on Deals 08:05 - Conservative Underwriting 09:41 - Mitigating Risk and Projecting Returns to our Investor  13:26 - Finding deals in market 14:47 - Being in a Tertiary Market 15:53 - Importance of winning deals 17:50 - Private Utilities 18:38 - Conservative Underwriter and Aggressive manager 20:30 - Approach in Remodeling 23:22 - All about Contractors 25:50 - Taking the First Step   Notable Quotes The last, two, three, four years the industry we all know has changed considerably from a competition standpoint. A lot of private equity is buying up all kinds of lots, of new entrants from the minor league guys to the major league guys. - Ferd In a competitive environment we need to set ourselves apart and what's your niche. - Ferd   Connecting with the Guest Website: http://www.propertyworkzusa.com/  Email: bryce@propertyworkzusa.com Phone Number: (949) 954-0880   Connecting with MHP Law: Website: https://themobilehomelawyer.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Mobile-Home-Park-Lawyer-103814958118069 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themhplawyer-ferdniemann6923147/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themhplawyer   #MobileHomePark #ConservativeUnderwriting #MobileHomeParkSyndication

In this week’s episode of The Mobile Home Park Lawyer Podcast, we are joined by a panel of experts on Infills. We have Steven Blank, an experienced Multi-Family Home Community Owner, and Operator who has been involved with the acquisition, infill, value add and sale of more than 200 Manufactured Home Communities; Andrew Keel, CEO of Keel Team, has specialized in bringing in homes to fill vacant lots, implementing utility bill back programs, and improving overall management and operating efficiencies, all of which significantly boost the asset value and net operating income of the communities; and Kolman Bubis, one of the founders of the largest independent advisory firms focused exclusively on the manufactured housing and recreational vehicle asset class. He focuses on the brokerage of Mobile Home properties and assists clients with fine-tuning their property disposition/acquisition and investment strategies. Our guests share the processes and challenges they’ve experienced in bringing a home into a community such as getting the right residents in the right home, transport issues, and how they deal with the inventory. Learn how to bring mobile homes into a community, and the factors of the market associated with infilling successfully while understanding the long term value addition to increase occupancy within your community. If you’re planning or are in the process of infilling your mobile home park, you don’t want to miss out on this episode! Highlights of the episode: 00:36 - Episode Introduction 01:18 - Introduction and Background of the guests 03:20 - Bringing home into a community 03:55 - The hardest thing in bringing in the mobile home into a community 05:34 - Getting the right residents in the right home 07:00 - Hardest Part in Inventory 12:15 - Brokerage side in Mobile Home Park 14:29 - Solving Transport Issues 18:20 - Spending more time in vacant lots 19:08 - Taking value addition through occupancy 20:57 - Vacant Lots as Liability 25:00 - How much infill is possible 28:41 - Understanding Your Utilities 30:09 - Factors of the Market Perfect for Infill 32:32 - Good Market vs Bad Market 36:19 - Understanding the community 39:10 - Getting the right price 43:08 - Small operator getting some big operator pricing 44:09 - Selecting and Working with Manufacturers 50:26 - Factors in Selling or Renting a Home 56:00 - Hybrid Mode vs tenant owned homes only 58:00 - Raising equity at the forefront 61:00 - Infill Execution Strategy Notable Quotes “The infill is not for the faint of heart but that's where the values added and where the values added is where the money will follow”  “Occupancy is what occupancy is with some caveats that I'm sure we'll touch on”. Connecting with the Guest Steven Blank  Website: https://blankfamilycommunities.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-blank-66b4a674/  Andrew Keel Website: https://www.keelteam.com/   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewkeel/  Kolman Bubis Website: https://sunstonerea.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kolman-bubis-9b9a308/  Connecting with MHP Law: Website: https://themobilehomelawyer.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Mobile-Home-Park-Lawyer-103814958118069 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themhplawyer-ferdniemann6923147/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themhplawyer/ #MobileHomeParkInfill #InfillStrategy #MobileHomeParkCommunity