The Mobile Home Park Broker's Tips & Tricks To Investing Maxwell Baker

In this episode of The MHP Broker’s Tips and Tricks podcast, Maxwell Baker, president of The Mobile Home Park Broker, interviewed PA Manufactured Housing Association President Mary Gaiski about key issues for park owners and investors in her state.
This and every Tips and Tricks podcast episode is brought to you by The MHP Broker’s’  proprietary Community Price Maximizer. Use this four-step system to get the highest price possible for your mobile home park or RV community when you sell it through The MHP Broker. Guaranteed. Ask Max for details.
Here Are the Show Highlights:
-        Mary has been a member of the PA Manufactured Home Association since 1986. The association will celebrate its 75th anniversary next year. (Mary, 1:20)
-        Mary has been in the industry since 1978, As a state, Pennsylvania is quite active in manufactured home manufacturing, with 11 factories exporting homes to several nearby states, especially in the north. (Mary, 1:35)
-        PA also has 30 to 40 retailers selling homes to residents, and over 2,200 mobile home communities, including the very smallest. (Mary, 2:20)
-        That includes a number of parks below what Max thinks of as investment grade for buyers’ purposes. The MHP Broker data report finds about 1,000 parks in the state that are mid-size to larger. (Max, 3:42)
-        Waves of investors have already bought many of the larger parks in the state, and now they’re starting to buy the mom and pop-size parks too. A single investor might typically buy several parks within a geographic region to achieve dominance. (Mary, 4:34)
-        Many of these smaller parks have fallen below market rents over the years, so the new owners immediately raise rents, which gets them in conflict with the state over issues such as rent control and right of first refusal, whereby tenants have the right to buy their communities before sales to outside investors. (Mary, 5:30)
-        Max has seen similar legislation enacted in Virginia, in that tenants have 90 days or so after a proposed sale to determine if they want to buy their communities. (Max,6:06)
-        In Pennsylvania, legislators want to give residents as long as 365 days to decide first refusal, which would be crippling for park buyers and sellers. (Mary, 7:16)
-        Most regulations in the state are at the state or the local levels. (Mary, 12:41)
-        The state is basically divided into three geographic areas in terms of regulatory environment. The southeast park is the most progressive, and therefore most aggressively regulate. Central PA has some local communities that are aggressive in terms of regulations, and some others that aren’t. The western part o the state is the least regulated, and park owners there are hoping things stay that way. (Mary, 14:44)
-        Like elsewhere in the U.S., PA suffers from the aging of the mobile home moving industry. As movers retire, fewer take their place. Home installers, service and repair people are also in short supply in PA. (Mary, 16:14)
-        Less than ten percent of mobile homes are moved from one park to another in the state. (Mary, 17:17)
-        Mary Gaiski of the PA Manufactured Home Association can be reached at (717) 774-3440 or Mary@PMHA.org. (Mary, 19:35)
Want to know more about the ordinances and regulations that affect mobile home park ownership in your state or locale? Just reach out to Max Baker, president of The Mobile Home Park Broker, (678) 932-0200.
Power Quotes in This Episode:
“About 70 percent of the homes built in the Commonwealth are shipped out (of the state)(Mary, 2:20)
“The mom and pops weren't very big on keeping rents at market rate or worrying about all of that. So, these communities are being sold with rents well below market rate and because of that, it has left us right for having to address issues such as rent c

In this episode of The MHP Broker’s Tips and Tricks podcast, Maxwell Baker, president of The Mobile Home Park Broker, interviewed Marc Henn about tax decisions that can positively influence mobile home park and RV community owners.  
This and every Tips and Tricks podcast episode is brought to you by The MHP Broker’s’ proprietary Community Price Maximizer. Use this four-step system to get the highest price possible for your mobile home park or RV community when you sell it through The MHP Broker. Guaranteed. Ask Max for details.   
Here Are the Show Highlights: 
Max met Marc Henn of Harvest Advisors of Cincinnati in a Strategic Coach program last June. They discussed tax strategies that would be ideal for investors who sell their parks and want to save as much of their money as possible from taxation, or use their land for additional revenue growth. Marc introduced the topic of the five super asset classes and Max thought Marc would make an excellent podcast guest. (Max, 0:22)  Marc has been in the investment field for over 30 years. In that time, he helped his clients get into the super asset class or classes that were most appropriate for each. For those with wealth to invest in the range of about a half million to $2 million, many choose investments in the paper asset class, consisting mostly of stocks and bonds. (Marc, 1:50)   Marc found a particularly under served client group to be those in the asset range of about $4 million to $15 million. In addition to paper assets, the five asset super classes include real estate, personally owned businesses, oil and gas, and investments in other commodities. (Marc, 3:12)    Max invited Marc to be a podcast guest because of his experience with oil and gas investment tactics and strategies and tax benefits that might be of value to his audience. (Max, 4:36)  One effective way of investing in oil and gas is to get involved in a direct drilling program, which can provide a significant tax write-off in year one. Keep in mind, like a lot of investments it’s not risk-free. (Marc, 712)  Take as an example a client making a million dollars a year. His last $100,000 will be federally taxed at a 37 percent rate, so they’ll lose $37,000 in taxation on that income. But invest that money in an oil and gas drilling program and they’ll pay about $3,700 in taxes on that $100,000, for about a 90 percent tax write-off. That’s just a starting point. (Marc, 8:04)  You’re also given a depletion allowance on income earned, because the IRS knows that the well revenue will deplete over time. So instead of being taxed on 100 percent of income earned, you might only be taxed on 85 percent. However, some wells have a much longer life. Mark has a well in his family that’s produced for 110 years, though that’s not typical. (Marc, 9:07)  As an advisor, Marc and his company don’t promise any sort of investment return on oil and gas, but finds that it’s not unrealistic to get a complete return on investment in a well-chosen drilling program in a year and a half to two years. (Marc, 10:36)  One big determining factor is the price of a barrel of oil, which can fluctuate greatly. If it gets down to $30 or lower, the investment could be at risk as a revenue producer, but the tax benefit is still there. (Marc, 11:46) You need to watch out for companies that might have just recently gone into the drilling business in reaction to rising oil prices, but lack experience, insurance and adequate capital for such essentials as drilling platforms and rigs. Instead, invest in experienced producers with good track records and connections to the large drilling companies such as Anadarko and Occidental. Marc and his people can help vet their clients’ partners in oil and gas investments. (Marc,  13:40)  For many clients, Harvest Advisors offers diverse investments in multiple super asset classes. So your money might flow from paper asset class investments to oil and gas t

In this episode of The MHP Broker’s Tips and Tricks podcast, Maxwell Baker, president of The Mobile Home Park Broker, interviewed Mark Brisebois, the founder and managing partner of EZ Evict USA.    

This and every Tips and Tricks podcast episode is brought to you by The MHP Broker’s’  proprietary Community Price Maximizer. Use this four-step system to get the highest price possible for your mobile home park or RV community when you sell it through The MHP Broker. Guaranteed. Ask Max for details.   

Here Are the Show Highlights: 

Mark Brisebois recently started EZ Evict USA, a company serving mobile home park owners as well as the owners of single- and multi-family homes with non-paying tenants. (Max, 1:05) 


Mark has worked in the real estate industry for almost 40 years. His responsibilities have taken him into such related fields as title and mortgage servicing, loan origination, training and wholesaling. From there, he started working with mobile home park owners, improving their valuation before sale. From this he learned about the high cost of evicting tenants, which can be as much as $8,000 in some cases, and the negative impact a high eviction and non-payment rate had on parks. He was not particularly impressed with the actions of local professionals he saw in the eviction line of work. (Mark, 1:44) 
Mark was seeing evictions taking 60 to 90 days, and wondered why it couldn’t be done sooner. He realized that the tenant who wasn’t paying rent was a non-performing asset, so the eviction needed to happen as soon as legally possible. (Mark, 4:04) 
He also noticed that there was not a national eviction service. All existing services were local, and of varying quality. Another shortcoming was that the client was rarely able to see the process in real time to know how it was going. In frustration, he decided to start his own service, which he launched in March of this year. (Mark, 4:55) 
His company, EZ Evict USA, works with attorneys across the country and is currently active in 25 states. (Mark, 6:14) 
Max said that Mark’s earlier comment about some evictions costing $8,000 were situations where the resident was renting and not paying for the pad, but had their own mobile homes. It was when the entire home had to be moved out of the park in a legal manner that generated that high eviction cost. (Max, 6:32) 


The EZ Evict UA process starts by providing the client with an app through which all of the client’s documents and information on the eviction can be submitted, and the company can provide an agreement that outlines all that EZ Evict will do. It also provides the client with information on how they should proceed (or not proceed) to stay within the law in their state and to not jeopardize the case. (Mark, 7:19) 
The agreement allows the company to be the legal intermediary between the client and the lawyer used for the eviction. That means the client doesn’t have to deal with the lawyer, but can monitor every step taken via the app including the activities of the process server and all court dates. (Mark, 8:04) 
Max pointed out that there are several forms of eviction related to mobile home parks, including lot rent evictions, park-owned home evictions, lease option evictions and foreclosures. (Max, 9:24) 
Mark said that most of the types boil down to non-payment, and can all be handled more or less the same way. (Except lease option non-renewal, which is not a non-payment issue). He emphasized the importance of park owners reading their leases and following the process carefully to stay in compliance with their state laws. (Mark, 10:03) 
 Before working in a state, Mark learns whether it’s what he calls a “tenant-friendly” or a “landlord-friendly” state. He’s not actively pursuing business in tenant-friendly states where it can sometimes take as long as six months to evict a non-paying resident and require

In this episode of The MHP Broker’s Tips and Tricks podcast, Maxwell Baker, president of The Mobile Home Park Broker, interviewed Kevin Caiacci, a closing attorney who represents multi-family and mobile home park investors and sponsors.     

This and every Tips and Tricks podcast episode is brought to you by The MHP Broker’s’  proprietary Community Price Maximizer. Use this four-step system to get the highest price possible for your mobile home park or RV community when you sell it through The MHP Broker. Guaranteed. Ask Max for details.   

Here Are the Show Highlights: 

Kevin Caiaccio is a closing attorney who works with Robinson Franzman in Atlanta and represents investors and sponsors in the multi-family, and specifically mobile home park sector of commercial real estate. (Max, 1:21) 


Kevin graduated from the law school at the University of Georgia in 1995 and has specialized in commercial real estate transactions for most of 28 years. (Kevin, 1:48) 
His primary focus has been on multifamily housing transactions, and a subset of that--mobile home park transactions all over the country. His focus is on trying to make sure deals happen, rather than stifling deals. (Kevin, 2:30) 
Kevin cautions investors and sponsors to remember that, in the vast majority of deals, they’re using other people’s money as part of the capital stack, so they have to stay in compliance with the various loan covenants and obligations. (Kevin, 4:46)  
For instance, if it’s a Fannie Mae loan, there might be limits to the number of park-owned homes you can have in the deal. Other lenders might mandate tenant protections. You must be aware of all such regulations and restrictions regarding the lender portion of the capital stack. (Kevin, 5:31)   
When you take investment money from other parties, whether it’s a corporate syndicate or family and friends, you have a fiduciary duty to act diligently and invest that money prudently. (Kevin, 6:08) 


Sponsors should also remember that no one wins every deal. Some go bust, and when they do you end up with unhappy investors. There’s always a threat that they’ll sue you as the failed sponsor, so it’s imperative that you’ve acted prudently every step of the way. (Kevin, 6:40) 
Kevin writes operating agreements for investment partners that clearly spell out the rights and disclose the risks to all parties. (Kevin, 7:25) 
There’s no guarantee that you won’t be sued for a deal that goes south, but a well-written operating agreement can help reduce the risk. (Kevin, 7:59) 
Kevin sees more uncertainty in the market today than has been there in many years. The value of real estate has steadily climbed since coming out of the Great Recession in 2010. Even the pandemic didn’t create much of a shock to the system. (Kevin, 9:48) 
But today, a couple factors have created a heightened sense of uncertainty. Steadily rising interest rates and questions as to when they’ll come down and how this will impact rent growth have shaken the market despite very low unemployment figures. (Kevin, 10:33) 


Another negative point is the insurance situation, especially in Florida. Increased hurricane activity of late has disrupted insurance markets. Despite all of this, and the confusion in the capital markets, business is still going strong and transactions are still getting done. Kevin’s clients are bullish on the markets, at least in the mid-term. (Kevin, 11:29) 
As a broker, Max has seen lost titles to park-owned homes as a common challenge for sellers. (Max, 12:32) 
Some park owners don’t keep great records, and sometimes the titles to older homes or those bought through affiliates can get misplaced and need to be retitled. Sponsors need to be aware of this problem upfront and address title access as soon into the transaction as possible. (Kevin, 13:15) 
Do this before going to close because

In this episode of The MHP Broker’s Tips and Tricks podcast, Maxwell Baker, president of The Mobile Home Park Broker, interviewed Ed Bridgman, president of EOB Consulting. They discussed the services his team delivers to mobile home and RV community owners.  

This and every Tips and Tricks podcast episode is brought to you by The MHP Broker’s’  proprietary Community Price Maximizer. Use this four-step system to get the highest price possible for your mobile home park or RV community when you sell it through The MHP Broker. Guaranteed. Ask Max for details.   

Here Are the Show Highlights: 

This is a return visit to the podcast for Ed, who addressed several additional topics of interest for mobile home park and RV community owners and investors. Max and Ed started the conversation with the challenges related to monitoring (and getting paid for the electricity used by RV community guests. (Max, 00:59) 
RV destination owners are starting to understand the importance of metering guests’ electricity consumption. But most don’t have the infrastructure in place to do it effectively. (Ed, 1:21) 


Those owners are starting to understand the importance of individually charging guests for their electricity use. Ed used as an example a guest to his own state-of-the-art Homestead RV Community. The guest arrived in a 32-foot RV decked out with an extensive solar panel array and about 800 pounds of batteries, so Ed didn’t expect this guest to use much, if any, community power. (Ed, 2:03) 
What Ed didn’t expect was for the guest to boondock under tree cover. As a result, he wasn’t able to recharge his solar batteries, and the guest ended up using $45 worth of community electricity in just a few days. (Ed, 3:35) 
As another example, Ed had several RVs arriving together over the Christmas holiday. Several had heated floors, and each consumed 125 to 150 kw of community electricity. In other cases, guests might have electric cars or golf carts being recharged through the park electrical, or have freezers, space heaters, air conditioners or other big appliances tapping in. The point is, park owners must charge individually for consumption or go broke. (Ed, 3:47) 
Besides encouraging RV park owners to monitor electrical use, Ed also consults on helping new owners of parks turn a profit on a previously unprofitable property. (Max, 5:09) 
Ed gets called by both sellers and buyers. He helps sellers appraise their property for sale value, and will walk a property with the prospective buyer to suggest actions to increase park value and satisfy lender concerns. When investors are building parks, he’ll consult during the layout design stage to find potential problems and opportunities. (Ed, 5:46) 


Ed’s review can be so comprehensive as to include interviewing city officials and local businesses to see about the regulatory and employment environment. For instance, he might call Walmart to see if rumors are true about the company building a new distribution center just miles from the park. He also researches local affordable housing demand and the market competition, and looks for other advantages or obstacles to profitability. (Ed, 7:01) 
With all that he learns, he creates a CAD site layout for new builds or existing structures, emphasizing strategies that might be used to maximize park value. With that, they arrive at a preliminary ten-year budget that goes into a spreadsheet to give a good idea of expected capital expenditures and when the company can expect to earn a return on initial investment. (Ed, 8:02) 
For  this consulting service, Ed charges a flat rate of $20,000 plus lodging and travel expenses. (Ed, 9:35) 
Through this service, Ed and his team design and maximize the profitability of an average of about three client properties a month. And through his own Homestead RV Community, they have over 240 guest reviews, for a Google review rating

In this episode of The MHP Broker’s Tips and Tricks podcast, Maxwell Baker, president of The Mobile Home Park Broker, interviewed Ed Bridgman, president of EOB Consulting and a go-to expert in the field of RV communities.  
This and every Tips and Tricks podcast episode is brought to you by The MHP Broker’s’  proprietary Community Price Maximizer. Use this four-step system to get the highest price possible for your mobile home park or RV community when you sell it through The MHP Broker. Guaranteed. Ask Max for details.   
Here Are the Show Highlights: 
Max’s podcast guest, Ed Bridgman, is an industry expert who Max and his wife, Kathryn, met at SECO 2022. Ed makes feasibility studies and works with client who want to build RV communities. (Max, 0:22)  Ed has a degree in electrical engineering and an MBA. In working at Motorola, he was one of five co-authors of Six Sigma, which developed processes for businesses to utilize to gain greater efficiency and generate less waste while pleasing customers and turning a profit. That won his and his team the first Malcolm Baldridge Award, which was granted by President Ronald Reagan. Ed spent the next thirty years as a consultant. (Ed, 1:52)  He owned a tiny home community in 2010 and learned more about Gulf Coast tourism when he read about BP Oil starting to invest $24 billion to support tourism, in part to pay for an oil spill. This is how he began to research the RV community industry and the opportunities to be found. He discovered, for instance, that 247,300 new RVs were sold in 2010, but by 2022, that annual figure had jumped to 614,100. (Ed, 3:28) However, the number of places for putting RVs during the season and off-season were not keeping up with the RV manufacturing numbers and customer demand. There were about six or seven more new RVs being manufactured than hosting and storage locations. (Ed, 5:00)  So many people with million-dollar RVs are restricted by zoning codes from keeping them in their driveway or on the street in front of their homes. So where do they store their beast? (Max, 5:59) For about the last decade, EOB Consulting has been in the business of designing and building RV and boat storage facilities. (Ed, 6:58)  There are five different kinds of RV destinations, each serving a very different need. First, there are the short-term parking places where RV owners can pull in to take a nap or break from driving while getting from one destination to another. The second destination type is a campground. (Ed, 7:49)  The campground has few, if any, amenities because it’s located in close proximity to a recreational destination such as Epcot Center, Disney World, Mt. Rushmore, etc. The entertainment comes from that venue. RVers will stay at such campground typically for several days or a couple of weeks at most. (Ed, 10:00)  The third type of RV destination is the resort. That’s where RVers might stay for a long weekend or take a vacation. The resort must provide entertainment options since this sort of destination isn’t in close proximity to larger entertainment districts, and the RVers don’t expect to go elsewhere. So resorts have pools, fitness centers, party rooms and other similar amenities for vacationers. (Ed, 11:21)  The fourth type of destination is for RVers who wish to live in their vehicles for extended periods, such as snowbirds who come from cold environments to stay in the Sun Belt all winter. These destinations are communities, where RVers get to know their neighbors and, if they’re still working, continue to work remotely from wifi-enabled RVs that can be used as offices. (Ed, 12:44)  The fifth type of RV destination is a hybrid, in which RVers might more permanently settle in to a campground or resort type of destination. (Ed, 15:00)  The challenge RV destination developers have is in fully understanding the different needs associated with the different types of destinations. RVers who wish to live