Welcome back,
In today’s mobile home investing Q&A video series I’m honored to be joined by active mobile home investor, Brandon. Brandon’s company has been investing in mobile homes actively for over one year and is already amassed a sizable portfolio of cash flowing mobile home properties. Brandon’s secret?… Hard work, ambition, no excuses, asking regular questions, daily action, the right team, and more.
Brandon has already made a name for himself locally helping parks, owners, other investors, mobile home sellers and buyers. While watching the video below it is easy to see how much Brandon loves taking distressed mobile homes and bring them back to very livable standards for a new family. Brandon has already gone through some ups and downs, some described in the video below, however always continues to push forward daily.
In today’s hour-long video we dive deep into Brandon’s business to learn what actions are working great and which actions need to be improved or eliminated. In the video below we discuss:
- Raising private money.
- Dealing with Park managers.
- Working win-win with sellers and buyers.
- Outsourcing certain daily or weekly tasks.
- Management & more.
Outsourcing & Automating
Crawl. Walk. Run. If you are just beginning your mobile home investing business, this may be the mantra that you want to have. Sometimes it is important to go slow temporarily, in order to go fast later.
As Brandon describes in the video below it took roughly 12 mobile home investments for him to begin outsourcing certain action items and tasks. For Brandon’s first 12 deals he was performing 100% of the tasks himself and learning his local market inside and out. It was this real-world local knowledge and experience that prepared him to train his new team-members once he began outsourcing.
The choice to outsource was a choice Brandon made for his business. This choice may not be right for everyone’s business. Brandon explains that he quickly realized he needed to stop micromanaging his business and start outsourcing activities to save time and stress. Brandon explains, “other people can do certain jobs better and more creatively than I can.” He now outsources a majority of his advertising, buying funnel, funding process, paperwork, closings, repairs, and sales process to others locally or abroad.
Pro Tip: It is perfectly acceptable to outsource only a small fraction of your business, or none. Many mobile home investors around the country perform most of the jobs and actions required by a successful investor themselves. With that said, most investors may wish to outsource 1.) making repairs and 2.) dealing with potential-buyers before they are prequalified.
Mobile Home Investing Q&A #13
A very special thank you to Brandon. Thank you for opening up your business and being so candid in your answers and information to help others you’ll likely never meet. Keep up the great work!
In today’s mobile home investing episode we cover: (Times are provided to fast-forward video if needed.)
- 0:31 Brief bio of Brandon’s real estate background.
- 2:02 How did Brandon find private money?
- 5:10 How to potentially use credit card funds for investing purposes?
- 6:15 How Brandon connected money lenders with investors needing money, and made a small profit?
- 8:01 Brandon’s business buying homes and working with private money investors.
- 9:26 How Brandon begins looking for potential private money people?
- 10:36 Is there a secret sauce when it comes to raising private money for mobile home deals?
- 13:40 Is investing with a credit card dangerous?
- 15:20 Zero interest credit card money.
- 17:21 Brandon discusses his outsourcing strategy.
- 19:14 What does an average day and week look like in Brandon's investing business?
- 23:07 What did his business look like before outsourcing?
- 27:07 Who’s on your team?
- 33:29 How do you identify what mobile home investments are for your portfolio versus homes for your other investors?
- 35:30 How much do you typically pay your private money investors?
- 42:05 How nice are you fixing-up your mobile home investments?
- 43:47 Tell us about selling your first mobile home?
- 49:30 What task(s) does Brandon never want to outsource to others?
- 50:35 What is the average down payment Brandon collects per home?
- 53:45 What was different that allowed you to generate higher down payments?
- 55:40 Have you had any bad tenant-buyers or residents? What happened?
- 1:00:04 How many different parks are you investing within?
- 1:03:50 Tips working directly with park owners.
- 1:06:42 Do clients treat you differently with visible tattoos?
- 1:08:04 What advice would you give to the audience?
Private Money
How much capital do you have set aside for investing purposes? Will you need more? Are you sure? These are questions you should fully understand about your personal finances and access to capital. No matter how much capital you have set aside, aim to protect it, stay frugal, and only invest your capital in very wise investments. Aim to always understand the costs, expenses, procedures, repairs, and realistic exit-strategies for every opportunity before ever making any purchase offers to the sellers.
In the video above Brandon outlines his previous years working in the credit industry and dealing with private money lenders looking to invest in traditional single-family homes. Years later after making these private money connections Brandon asked if these folks would care to lend money on some lucrative mobile home investments. Some happily agreed.
As an active mobile home investor it may be very prudent to begin considering a future where you form win-win relationships and borrow money with local or not-so-local private money lenders. Great work if you have already accomplished this win-win situation. In some cases, these private money lenders are other real estate investors that like lending money to proactive investors on lucrative opportunities. In other instances, private money lenders you meet may simply be non-real estate-professionals (doctors, lawyers, teachers, family, etc.) with extra money or retirement funds they would like to invest with you for a higher rate of return.
Remember, once you borrow other people’s money you are now responsible to repay this debt, typically with an interest rate to the lender. Aim to always keep your word if possible. Aim to keep your investors happy and repay all money as agreed.
Pro Tip: Future private money lenders you deal with will typically want to see a proven track record of deals you have successfully completed and are managing. Aim to always keep track of all expenses, income, and residents associated with each real estate investment you deal with. It may be wise to take pictures inside and outside of every property before and after repairs.
In conclusion, mobile home investing takes hard work and relatively daily effort to make a consistent name for yourself and help multiple buyers and sellers monthly. You will never learn everything you need to know about real estate investing from reading books or watching videos. While there are many ways to make money in real estate, there are countless ways to lose profits as well. Have fun and take daily action to reach your financial goals.
Have mobile home comments or questions? We’d love to hear them below?
Love what you do daily,
John Fedro
support@mobilehomeinvesting.net
13 Comments
edgar salizar
September 14, 2018this is very good. he is a very good investor. can you help with paperwork when borrowing money. i am starting with little money or credit near oklahoma city. i see mobile homes all around me and would to start buying and selling. thank you for helping.
John Fedro
September 17, 2018Hi Edgar,
Thank you for reaching out and connecting. I am very proud of everything Brandon has accomplished as well. Glad to hear that you are interested with regards to investing in manufactured homes. You are certainly in a decent area of the country for this type of investing. After a quick search I found over 200 mobile home parks within a 50 mile radius of Oklahoma City. While this business is absolutely possible with little to no money, it would be ideal if you had a few thousand dollars to get started. I would encourage you to continue saving money now and moving forward to continue reinvesting into your mobile home investing business. With that said some people certainly do use credit or private money while starting.
The paperwork I use has been formed and developed has come a number of years while working with a number of private money lenders, being a private money lender, and having some bad things happen every now and then. I’ve also seen other investors and lenders using very basic paperwork that is essentially an IOU or promise to pay. Keep in mind that many knowledgeable moneylenders may want a lien on the property. Additionally, many moneylenders may be hesitant on lending for a mobile homes inside pre-existing mobile home communities. With that said there are absolutely moneylenders out there that would be willing to help assuming you have a good plan and ideally experience and a proven track record in the local market. Since there are a lot of different scenarios in most mobile home deals are a bit different, I would encourage you to reach out to a local real estate attorney that could help with regards to paperwork for lending or borrowing money when it comes to mobile home investing. I apologize I’m not able to be more of a help with regards to this. With that said if you have any follow-up questions about paperwork or lending or other concerns never hesitate to reach out anytime. All the best.
Talk soon,
John
Cornell
June 2, 2020Hey quick question did Brandon use a stronger agreement to purchase the homes and re sell them and would I have to get that paper work together or would the park manager create the storage agreement.
Love the informations thanks
Cornell
June 2, 2020I mean to write storage rental agreement **
John Fedro
June 3, 2020Hi Cornell,
Thanks for reaching out and connecting. A storage agreement can be used in these situations. The park will typically write these up. Hope this helps. Feel free to keep in touch. Any questions big or small never hesitate to reach out.
Talk soon,
John
Justin Graves
September 18, 2018First, thank you for your wonderful website. It has helped me a lot already.
I have a mobile home that I want to sell, and I’ve never done this before.
Just how do you “Verify buyer has funds.”? Do you ask them for bank statements? Or paycheck stubs? Or what?
John Fedro
September 20, 2018Hi Justin,
Thank you for reaching out and connecting. Additionally, thank you so much for your kind words. Understood about the mobile home that you wish to sell. If you plan to sell to an all-cash buyer or buyer that plans to get bank financing then it can be wise to see bank statements or preapproval letters from manufactured home lenders so they are not wasting your time. However if you’ll be selling the home via a land contract or seller financing it is important that you verify so much more, plus your paperwork should be solid and you ideally know exactly who will be moving into your property. We have created an article and video talking a bit about this which should help answer many of your questions. Please see the link below. I hope this helps and starts to point you in the right direction. As always, if you have any follow-up questions or concerns now or moving forward never hesitate to reach out anytime. All the best.
https://www.mobilehomeinvesting.net/calling-past-landlords-to-verify-rental-history/
Talk soon,
John
Bob Jones
September 20, 2018Hi John,
I’m hoping you can answer a couple of questions. When you sell a home in a park with payments, are you recording a mortgage?
Also, if you evict someone in a park, do you follow the standard eviction procedures that are used for ordinary houses? Or, is there some special method of evicting tenant buyers who are in parks?
Thanks for your help! Just trying to make sure I have a clear understanding of the process.
John Fedro
September 20, 2018Hi Bob,
Thank you for reaching out and connecting. Please see my thoughts below in bold with regards to your questions.
I’m hoping you can answer a couple of questions. When you sell a home in a park with payments, are you recording a mortgage? The answer to this question is, it depends. It depends if you will be truly selling legal title to the tenant-buyer or not. I would encourage you to be careful with regards to recording mortgages and instead need to work with an investor experienced mortgage loan originator if possible. However to answer your question, in my experience some investors record mortgages and many do not. With that said there may or may not be a lien placed on the title as well, if a title is used in said state.
Also, if you evict someone in a park, do you follow the standard eviction procedures that are used for ordinary houses? Or, is there some special method of evicting tenant buyers who are in parks? Mobile homes in parks will follow the same eviction process as other properties in the local area.
Thanks for your help! Just trying to make sure I have a clear understanding of the process. Happy to help. You’ll of course have more questions moving forward. Feel free to keep in touch. All the best.
Talk soon,
John
Mattie Brown
September 23, 2018Great blog! Do you have any helpful hints for newbie investors? There are so many options out there that I’m completely overwhelmed .. Any suggestions? Cheers!
John Fedro
September 25, 2018Morning Mattie,
Thank you for reaching out and connecting. Additionally, thank you for your kind words and kudos. There are so many tips for new be investors. In reality you are going to learn so much and go through almost countless experiences and decision-making processes. Definitely head through this website and write down all your questions and concerns. Definitely start with getting all your questions answered by somebody local or feel free to email me directly. You’ll certainly have a lot of questions and concerns moving forward and that is a good thing. Take the time to get educated and know what you are doing before investing valuable energy and capital. With that said I’m not sure just how much of a newbie you are however I do hope this helps and starts to point you in the right direction. As always, if you ever have any follow-up questions now or moving forward never hesitate to reach out anytime. All the best.
Talk soon,
John
Christopher
October 8, 2018Hi John,
Great video! I love the concept Brandon explained. There’s one thing I’m hoping you can clarify though.
Brandon said he collects a small arbitrage from the monthly payment. I’m not sure I follow. My understanding is that over the lifetime of the note, the other investor will receive 15% more than they gave to Brandon. Brandon figures out how much of the monthly payment they need to receive in order for this to happen. The rest goes in Brandon’s pocket.
So, what’s this arbitrage? Does he collect an additional monthly amount on top of the percentage he would ordinary receive? Does this mean the other investor is actually receiving a little less than 15%?
John Fedro
October 30, 2018Hi Christopher,
Thank you for reaching out and connecting. Additionally, thank you for your great questions. I apologize about the delay in this comment reply. Somehow your comment slip through the cracks. Moving forward if you have any follow-up questions or concerns never hesitate to reach out anytime or email me directly.
I reached out to Brandon and asked him these questions personally. Here is what he said. Brandon’s answer is below in italics.
“With regards to the question, the tenant buyer is paying much more than what is paid to the Investor to give the investor the rate of 15%. For example if a tenant is buying the home and their monthly payment is $400 a month we had wrapped the investors dollars into that deal in which we gave the Investor $300 a month that gives them a percentage of 15% on their money they had invested.”
We hope this helps and makes sense Christopher. If you have any follow-up questions or concerns never hesitate to comment back anytime. All the best.
Talk soon,
John
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