Are Mobile Home Parks the Best Investment? with Paul Moore

Join our community of RE investors on Skool: https://www.skool.com/the-real-estate-investing-club-5101/about?ref=44459ba83f5540f19109c8a530db4023

0:00 Episode Introduction
0:58 From Engineering to Real Estate Empire Journey
3:34 Why Paul Abandoned Multifamily for Better Assets
5:56 Mobile Home Park Deal Finding Strategies
8:59 Park-Owned vs Tenant-Owned Home Conversions
12:07 Self-Storage Investment Thesis and Value-Adds
16:00 Small Town Success: Beeville Texas Case Study
18:14 U-Haul Partnership Revenue Reality Check
21:37 How to Lose Money Podcast Wisdom
25:11 Circle of Competence: Warren Buffett's Advice
27:17 Geographic Investment Strategy Revealed

FROM ENGINEERING TO ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS EMPIRE 🏗️➡️🏢
In this powerful episode of The Real Estate Investing Club podcast, host Gabe Petersen interviews Paul Moore, a seasoned commercial real estate investor who pivoted from multifamily syndication to focus exclusively on mobile home parks, self-storage, and RV parks. Paul's journey from engineering to building a diversified alternative investment portfolio offers invaluable insights for investors seeking higher returns outside traditional asset classes.

THE 347% IRR MOBILE HOME PARK GOLDMINE 📈💎
Paul shares an incredible success story from February 2020, when his team acquired a mobile home park for $7.1 million and received a $9.5 million offer just one week later. Despite COVID uncertainty, they held the asset and eventually sold for a staggering 347% IRR after implementing strategic improvements. This deal exemplifies the hidden value in mom-and-pop owned alternative assets that institutional investors often overlook.

WHY MULTIFAMILY BECAME OVERPRICED AND OVERSATURATED 🏢❌
Unlike most real estate investors who praise multifamily investing, Paul explains why he abandoned the sector around 2018. With hundreds of guru-trained investors chasing the same deals, multifamily properties became overpriced and over-leveraged. Paul recognized that believing in perpetual 11.2% annual rent growth was unrealistic, leading him to seek assets with genuine intrinsic value following Warren Buffett's investment principles.

MOBILE HOME PARK ACQUISITION STRATEGIES 📞🎯
Paul's operating partners employ a systematic approach using eight full-time team members who contact over 1,000 mom-and-pop mobile home park owners weekly. Their persistence pays off, as demonstrated by a seven-year relationship-building process with an 88-year-old owner who finally sold at age 95. This long-term nurturing approach often results in below-market acquisitions from motivated sellers who value relationships over maximum profits.

PARK-OWNED TO TENANT-OWNED HOME CONVERSIONS 🔄💰
One of Paul's current deals involves a $12-13 million equity raise with 50% park-owned homes and exceptional seller financing terms: 4.5% interest rate, interest-only payments for five years, and 42% loan-to-cost ratio. Converting park-owned to tenant-owned homes creates multiple value drivers including eliminating maintenance responsibilities, increasing tenant retention, enabling rent increases, and dramatically improving property valuation through reduced operational complexity.

SELF-STORAGE VALUE-ADD OPPORTUNITIES 🏗️💡
Paul discovered self-storage's appeal through compelling statistics like tenant retention advantages. While apartment tenants might relocate to avoid 15% rent increases, storage tenants typically accept similar increases due to moving inconvenience and lower absolute dollar impact. Storage facilities offer numerous value-add opportunities including U-Haul partnerships, billboard installations, cell towers, propane stations, and expanded boat/RV storage options.

SMALL TOWN SUCCESS STORIES 🏘️🌟
Paul's portfolio includes remarkable small-town victories like Beeville, Texas (population 12,000) where a 607-unit facility acquired for $2.4 million sold for $4.6 million within 18 months. Even more impressive, Ishpeming, Michigan (population 2,000) houses a profitable 160,000-square-foot facility. These examples demonstrate how tertiary markets often provide superior returns compared to oversaturated major metropolitan areas.

U-HAUL PARTNERSHIP REVENUE REALITY 🚚💵
While many investors view U-Haul partnerships as automatic profit centers, Paul provides realistic expectations. Most operators generate $3,000-$5,000 monthly, though exceptional locations can reach $15,000. Gabe shares his Indianapolis experience where despite optimal location conditions, U-Haul revenue remained disappointingly low, highlighting the importance of realistic projections for ancillary income streams.

Want to learn more about the REI Club Podcast, how to invest with Gabe at Kaizen, or our community of RE investors on Skool? Click here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen