This episode of Mobile Home Park Investing features MAI Appraiser and manufactured housing expert Erik Hanson. He is Executive Vice President of Midwest Appraisal Group, a real estate appraisal and consulting firm with offices in La Crosse and Madison, Wisconsin.
Erik specializes in mobile home parks, franchise hotels, and convenience stores. He also earned his MAI Designation from the Appraisal Institute in 2014, where he serves on the board of directors as vice president and educational chair for the Wisconsin Chapter.
Kevin and Erik dive into industry and rental trends, cap rates, sales activities going on now, and predictions for the industry in the coming years. Erik also shares a couple of stories from his experiences in the mobile home park industry.
Quotes:
"Definitely the new buyers are far more aggressive. I don't know if that's a good thing or not but it seems like they're really willing to pay all those cap rates and maybe buy in an area that doesn't make a whole lot of sense."
"I think a lot of it is the supply side is so small right now for anything that's out on the market that people just tend to gobble up whatever they can find."
"It seems like it's a little more accepted now on the park-owned homes side, especially on the newer homes--the older homes is still kinda hit or miss--but the newer homes it seems like if they can't get them sold, they're willing to rent now."
"We also look at it from a rental side. If the rents are exactly the same but one tenant's got to pay 150, one tenant's got to pay 40 in addition to rent, you have to consider that especially if there's vacant sites in those parks."
"You got to buy a couple of parks on your own first before the brokers are going to even consider you. Get your track record kind of in order before you start reaching out there."
Discussed in this Episode:
New people in the industry: Trends and experiences
Appraising homes and risk assessment
Case study on utilities
Trends with market rents
Noteworthy stories on the field
RESOURCES: