The MHP Brokers Tips and Tricks Closing Cocktail Podcast, Eric Wanck Three Deals, Including 5-Park Tennessee Deal Interview

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

In this episode of The MHP Broker’s Tips and Tricks podcast, Maxwell Baker, president of The Mobile Home Park Broker, interviewed top broker Eric Wanck about his success with three recent transactions, including a five-park Tennessee deal.

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:

- Leading MHP broker Eric Wanck was interviewed by Max on Eric’s success in closing three recent across the country. Let’s begin with the five-park deal in TN. (Max, 1:16)

- This involved one owner of a total of 88 pads in five TN locations. The portfolio has mostly park-owned homes (POH) in place, which brings its own set of challenges. The seller’s motivation was a planned retirement. The eventual buyer was someone Eric had worked with in the past, though never been able to bring to contract. (Eric, 1:40)

- One week from the anticipated close date, the buyer contacted Eric to say that the bank had changed the financing terms, and they couldn’t close. (Eric, 2:16)

- Eric had seen that sort of thing happen in the past, but never so near a close date. He went over the options and suggested that the buyer drop the price slightly to make the bank happy and the deal work. It took an additional two or three weeks to close, but the seller was still happy with the closing price and transaction. (Eric, 2:48)

- To Max, this illustrated an ongoing challenge with banks, which he blames on swiftly rising interest rates. One successful strategy that’s worked for him is to attempt to steer deals to credit unions, which are more motivated to work with buyers and sellers. (Max, 4:05)

- The Byron Mobile Home Park was the second recent win for broker Eric Wanck. The challenge here was unrealistic price expectations on the part of the seller. It was the second time they tried to bring this park to market, but it had only about a 60%-65% occupancy rate. Eric suggested that they first work to add value by increasing the occupancy before listing Byron. The seller took the park off market for about a year and a half, and increased the occupancy level to a very impressive 85%, which made it much easier to get their desired price. (Eric, 4:40)

- The fairly large park had more than 70 pads, which increased its desirability. It was a rare case in which the seller brought the prospective buyer to the attention of Eric, rather than the other way around. They closed the deal smoothly at a strong price, and everyone was happy. (Eric, 5:18)

- The third recent deal, the Fitzgerald park in South Georgia, is an example of Eric building such great relationships with buyers that they later turn to him as sellers. This “second-time deal” came in a part of the country where lot rents are still incredibly cheap and park deals are particularly valuable. This park had good books and records and the price was reasonable. (Eric, 6:47)

- Lot rents even in these lower-cost regions are rising, due to inflation, and that makes the parks more attractive to investors than ever. (Max, 7:21)

- Eric’s advice to investors is to pay a fair price and don’t worry about the underwriting or financing. He can help buyers obtain financing if problems arise. (Eric, 9:06)

Looking to buy or sell an RV park or mobile home community? Max’s team can help you through the process. Just drop Max Baker a line at [e-mail] or give him a call at [phone]. Or email Eric at [e-mail].

Power Quotes in This Episode:

(Regarding the five-park TN deal.) “We were one week away from closing. And the buyer called me, saying, ‘Look, the bank's changed their finance terms. It's completely thrown off our numbers, and we can't close.’” (Eric, 2:16)

“...we've had it happen where banks are changing terms midstream, and it's very frustrating. But to be so close to the finish line, and then almost have a little bait and switch, you know, had us kind of going back to the drawing board.” (Eric, 2:48)

“One thing we’ve been able to source here is debt through credit unions.” (Max, 4:05)

(Regarding the Byron deal) “…at the end of the day, it's about getting it done, and everybody's happy, and we put money in their pocket.” (Eric, 5:18)

(Regarding the Fitzgerald deal) “I love deals that come around to me multiple times…it’s about building relationships.” (Eric, 6:05)

“Demand for affordable housing continues to increase.” (Max, 7:21)

“I would encourage (investors) not to try to price in a price hike on your rate in your offers. You know, because I've seen some buyers doing this whether adding a buffer so, hey, if it goes up 50 bps on me, I still have room.” (Eric, 8:18)

“If financing ends up being a snag, then we can always revisit that and I can have a conversation with the seller. But I see a lot of deals not getting done because buyers are being so cautious with their financing and their underwriting.” (Eric, 9:06)

“(Interest) rates are the highest they’ve ever been. So, like I said, give us a call.” (Max, 9:48)