EP087: Interview: Ralf Gomm, Mobile Home Park Owner (1 of 2)

Welcome to Episode 87 of the Mobile Home Park Investors podcast, hosted by Jefferson Lilly and Brad Johnson, with the Park Street Partners. Jefferson interviews Ralf Gomm, who has been a mobile home park owner for the last 4 years. Ralf currently has 100 pads right now. Ralf really likes mobile homes because he’s able to passively invest in property while he is working a full-time job. However, Ralf does see himself leaving his job when he eventually obtains more pads! Find out about Ralf’s journey and how he got started buying his first park on this week’s episode, and also don’t forget to tune in next week to hear the second part of Ralf’s interview.

Key Takeaways:

[3:05] What did Ralf do prior to getting into mobile home parks?

[4:00] Ralf wanted to start his own business, but the ‘traditional’ methods didn’t make sense to him.

[4:25] Ralf even looked at real estate investing in Europe, but the numbers for it just weren’t good.

[5:00] When Ralf discovered mobile home parks, things finally made sense for him. He could get into this business part-time while he works at his full-time job.

[5:35] Ralf has four parks right now and he’s still not quite ready yet to quit his job and work on this business full time, which is what he eventually wants to do. Maybe a park or two extra will finally tip him over to the dark side.

[6:00] How did Ralf get educated in this market?

[7:30] When Ralf was first getting started in this business, he had no idea what a ‘good’ park looked like, so he just started making calls and shopping around.

[11:10] Buying the first mobile home park was easy. The second one was a bit harder to obtain. 50-100 pad parks are much more competitive.

[15:00] With one of Ralf’s pads, he’s been able to obtain 100% occupancy over the last four years.

[18:05] How did Ralf financially structure himself to buy these mobile homes?

[24:05] Of the 100 pads Ralf has, how many of those are park-owned homes vs. resident-owned homes?

[27:10] It is so, so, so critical to do business with the right people. Ralf has even passed on deals because he didn’t get a good vibe from the seller. Be cautious about whom you work with, especially as a small investor. Bad mistakes are way more costly than for a big-timer!

[28:30] Ralf currently has 20 vacant pads. How does he plan to fill them?

[30:00] Tune in next week for part 2!

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Park Street Partners

Investment Opportunities

Park Street Partners Business Resources

LinkedIn: Mobile Home Park Investors Group

Send deals to Deals@parkstreetpartners.com

Trailer Cash by Jamie Smith