Street Smart Success

As the economy contracts, the need for affordable housing will be greater than ever. That’s why consumer demand for Mobile Home Parks will continue to expand. Max Dowd is Director of Acquisitions & Investor Relations at Cook Properties, the largest owner of Mobile Home Parks in the state of New York that recently acquired a $124 Million portfolio of 2300 pads across over 100 communities.

In order to be successful in Real Estate, you need to understand markets and trends. When certain asset classes get too frothy, you need to look for other opportunities to get the best returns. Ken Naim, a successful Real Estate investor, doesn’t try to fit a square peg into a round hole in late cycle markets. Instead, Ken looks for opportunistic deals across asset classes as long as the prices ar...

Whether it’s flipping, buying-and-holding, holding notes, or investing in syndications, there are countless ways to get great returns on capital. Today’s guest, Matthew Owens, is doing pretty much all of these things. Matt has bought, renovated & sold or held over 1000 properties in the last 15+ years and has raised over $75 million in private capital to accomplish this feat.

In any economy, there are some homeowners in various stages of distress and not current on their mortgages. Even though this can feel overwhelming to the homeowner, there are constructive ways to minimize the fallout of this situation, including short sales. For investors, short sale properties can be a great way to find a property at an attractive discount. Matt Merenoff, Owner / Operator at Real...

Getting started is the hardest part of anything you’ll do in life. Once you get over the fear and take the first step, things tend to fall in place. Bennett Schwartz, Performance + Executive Coach, Real Estate Investor, and Speaker, has started out by converting a large single family home into four units and also converting a duplex into an AirBnb. He’s now pursuing larger deals where he lives in...

When it comes to multifamily investing in particular, property manager is where the rubber meets the road. Especially with bigger properties, there are too many things at an apartment complex that can go wrong on a daily basis. Alex Rogers, Principal at Gray Duck companies in Duluth, has a sizable property management company that makes him qualified to operate multifamily properties on a larger sc...

Even with inflation and rising interest rates, there are still major tailwinds for Multifamily properties in the right markets. There is still a large undersupply of housing, especially in growth markets, and many first time homeowners can’t afford to buy new homes, all of which is creating a supply/demand imbalance. Today’s guest, Eric Sussman, is a Founding Partner at Clear Capital. Clear Capita...

In this market, finding an asset class not priced through the roof is incredibly difficult. RV resorts, however, are being priced attractively. These aren’t RV Parks, but actual RV Resorts with classic comforts and amenities where families can enjoy activities like swimming, fishing, or eating at an onsite café or restaurant. Sam Wilson, Founder of Bricken Investment Group, is lately focusing on R...

When you’re starting out, you don’t always have money to work with. If you’re willing to be resourceful, you can find partners to find deals for and participate in the upside. Additionally, you can find sellers willing to carry paper so you can do your own deals.  Bailey Kramer , Real Estate Investor, Airbnb Host & Co-Host, and Entrepreneur, got off to a great start finding deals for anot...

A lot of smart people believe we’re headed into a severe economic downturn, maybe as bad as 2008. In Multifamily Real Estate in particular, a lot of operators paid extraordinary amounts for properties in the last couple years with short-term bridge debt. With interest rates and expenses skyrocketing and tenants potentially unable to pay the increased forecasted rents, operators may not be able to...

Focusing on a tertiary market that you know incredibly well can pay great dividends. You eliminate a lot of risks when you’re that familiar with a market and the buildings in it. Tertiary markets historically have also had less competition in acquiring commercial Real Estate.  Bob Couture , Managing Partner Broker at CP Group , lives in Hermosa Beach, CA but syndicates in Springfield, Massach...

Many growing markets in the U.S. still have more rental demand than supply. Tucson in particular has more population growth than housing which has resulted in market-wide vacancy of less than 2%. This is a recipe for increasing rents and successful multifamily investment.  Gary Lipsky , President and CEO of Break of Day Capital , has done several lucrative deals in Tucson and is continuing to...

There’s no substitute for experience and focus. A lot of risk is mitigated by becoming an expert in one thing and doing it over and over. As an investor, you want to invest with people that have mastered one thing.  Ivan Barratt , Founder of BAM , a fully vertically integrated multifamily syndicator out of Indianapolis, has dominated his local market and has generated exceptional returns for...

Real Estate investing can generate great cash flow, and personal freedom. With enough cash flow you can choose where you want to live and when you want to work.  Derek Clifford , Founder and CEO of Elevate Equity , bought several single-family homes in Indianapolis before graduating to multifamily properties with better cash flow. He’s now enjoying a several month stay in European destination...

Prices on quality Multifamily assets are holding firm. Although there are significant price reductions in older properties, Class B+ and A- in growth markets are holding firm because of the huge amount of capital still flowing into this stable asset class. These days you can expect a 4% annual return on your money and an IRR of 10-12% on these deals.  Mark Hamilton , Founder of Hamilton Zanze...

Ma and Pa operators all over the country are selling their Mobile Home parks to investors as they reach retirement age, and there’s lots of great Value-Add deals to be had. When you have limited supply, an increase in demand, and the most affordable housing option available, you have an incredibly attractive asset class.  Todd Sulzinger, Founder of Blue Elm Investments , is acquiring Mobile H...

In major markets, the competition in self-storage is fierce with REITS and other institutional players competing for customers. In smaller markets, however, there are ma-and-pa owners who have not maximized their operations and therefore represent great opportunities for professional operators to invest.  Mark McGuire , Chief Investment Officer of Hearthfire Holdings is finding these opportun...

The biggest inhibitor to growing wealth is taxes. That’s why the best investing opportunity over the past few years is Opportunity Zones where you can defer capital gains and avoid depreciation recapture, plus other great benefits.  Ashley Tison , Founder and President of OZPros.com , is an expert in structuring Opportunity Zone opportunities for entrepreneurs to make great Opportunity Zone i...

Multifamily values have accelerated over the past few years. A huge increase in household formation, Baby Boomers choosing to rent, 70 million millennials of whom choose to rent…all bodes well for multifamily. Investing in multifamily, however, still has its’ risks.  Today’s guest, Lee Harris , President and CEO of Cohen Esrey , an apartment acquisition, development, and management company, h...

The economy has been in bull territory for over a decade, but this will not last forever. One Real Estate asset class, however, will not only sustain, but will thrive in recessionary times. This is Mobile Home Parks.  Today’s guest, Jeff Cook , Managing General Partner at Cook Properties , is the largest owner of Mobile Home Parks in the state of New York and recently acquired a $124 Million...

No matter what the economic trends, there’s always an opportunity to make money. You just need to see where the market’s heading. It’s not always in synch with the media and where everyone else is investing.  Bob Fraser , Founder and Principal at Aspen Funds , has a very successful debt fund which has provided investors predictable, monthly cash flow for several years. Bob is also offering gr...

Finding a niche within a niche can provide extraordinary returns by reducing risk and insuring repeated success.  Sean Katona , Landlord and Commercial Real Estate Investor at Simplified Properties , specializes in value-add strip centers in Phoenix and focuses on B- to A- class assets in specific neighborhoods. This strategy helps him get better deals on the acquisition side and great connec...

As interest rates have climbed, the multifamily market has started to slow down for the first time in years. Cap rates for C class multifamily properties are on the rise so there may be buying opportunities ahead. Institutional buyers are sticking to Class A properties in high growth markets.  Ben Leybovich , Principal of White Haven Capital in Phoenix, started with 80’s vintage properties bu...

When you have extra things that don’t fit in your home, self-storage is a perfect solution. When you have a car to store, or an RV or Boat, what do you do then?  Carmelo Mannino , CEO of STOW IT , has the solution. STOW IT is becoming the Airbnb for things on wheels. STOW IT finds hosts who have extra space available and matches them with customers looking for a space to store their vehicle....

Value add B and C class industrial is a great way to generate high double digit returns. When you can buy a building with lower-than-market lease rates and vacancies, you can increase revenue and create great value.  Jeremy Mercer , CEO of Matador Capital , has been acquiring commercial properties with friends and family for the past 13 years and since 2020, has started raising outside money...