We received a request from News Nation to appear on a segment about mobile homes. We get those frequently from a number of outlets and we're willing to talk to nearly any journalist in hopes that we can help educate them about affordable housing and the simple truth that the folks who bring old mobile homes and mobile home parks back to life are the heroes of the affordable housing industry, not villains. Of course, the current American media hates capitalists so the stories always end up skewed with the reporter harping on the usual untruth that the mobile home industry is built upon evil capitalists exploiting the poor. And any good argument you make to the contrary always gets edited out.
Back in 2014 we appeared in a story in the New York Times in which they declared that park owners are the "greatest thing going at a time when the nation's need for low-cost places to live has never been greater". Of course, that's before the crazy period of the Biden presidency when "wokeness" became the darling of American media. And that ushered in nothing but negative news articles by the bushel basket. Suddenly, every landlord was "evil" and every tenant a "saint". And any business that customers loved was believed to be hiding an abhorrent secret plan for exploitation.
So, after a decade, we'd kind of given up hope that the media would ever again report fairly about all the great things that mobile homes and mobile home parks do for the millions of Americans that need an affordable place to live. And then we did this interview with News Nation. There was no negativity. No "landlords are evil" crap. Just a factual representation and adult discussion of how mobile homes and mobile home parks are offering an affordable take on the American Dream. Very refreshing.
Is this the start of a new take on our industry by the media? We'll see. But it's a good beginning.
After 10 Years: A Positive News Story on the Mobile Home Industry! - Transcript
0:00:01.0 Keleigh Beeson: Well, as housing continues to become more expensive and out of reach for millions of Americans, some are turning to mobile homes as a way to achieve the American dream. Existing home sales in March crawled to the slowest pace in 16 years, dropping 6% from February and around 2.5% from the same time last year. Combine that with a record median home sale price of more than $407,000, and it's easy to see why manufactured homes have become the new way for Americans to get into the real estate business. Joining us now is Frank Rolfe, the co-founder of Mobile Home University. Frank, it is great to have you. Such an interesting topic.
0:00:39.4 Frank Rolfe: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
0:00:40.9 Keleigh Beeson: Well, great to have you. Let's start with the investment aspect of all of this. Why do you believe mobile home flipping is allegedly recession-proof?
0:00:50.5 Frank Rolfe: Well, again, as you just saw, the average American single-family home is top 400,000 and the average apartment is top 2,000. So this is an opportunity for people to have the American dream of a yard, no neighbors knocking on walls and ceilings, parking by their front door, a sense of community at a fraction of the price of the alternatives. Many people don't realize, but mobile homes are predominantly lower in cost than the new homes cost. You can buy used mobile homes often for anywhere from one to $10,000. So the average person has the ability to really get something that's hugely affordable.
0:01:35.0 Keleigh Beeson: Well, so that leads me perfectly to my next question. What are the profits investors are making on flipping these homes? And how does that compare to a conventional house?
0:01:44.2 Frank Rolfe: Sure. The flipping of mobile homes, you have to be a really good shopper and you also have to be a really good marketeer to get it sold. And if you excel at both, the next question is your market, because some markets are hotter than others. But in general, when someone is buying a used mobile home for let's say $4,000, they're not going to do that unless they have the intention to probably at least double their money. So there's a sweet spot of home sales that runs typically under about $20,000 where a lot of the transactions are done in cash. So if you can get in there and find a home in good repair in a good location, you can do quite well with it.
0:02:20.9 Keleigh Beeson: Yeah, you outlined some of the benefits in just a few moments ago. But why do you believe manufactured homes have become increasingly popular in the past decade?
0:02:32.3 Frank Rolfe: Sure. I think you saw the biggest uptick during COVID, to be honest with you, because people, when they were stuck at home, realized they did not like their apartments, attached living. They long for detached living. And when it comes to having a yard and a detached dwelling, the only options you really have are mobile homes or stick-built dwellings. And you're talking an enormous differential price point. It's almost a 10 for one difference between mobile home pricing and stick-built pricing. So it's really that price equation that drives the demand.
0:03:03.3 Keleigh Beeson: And what advice would you have for anyone trying to break in to the flipping or the investment side of this?
0:03:10.4 Frank Rolfe: Sure. On the flipping side, you have to be a very good shopper. Stay away from one bedroom. Stick with two and three bedrooms, three bedroom being the best. Try and stay with homes at least 14 feet wide because those give you the kind of room sizes and floor plans that people desire. Stay away from homes that have signs of water intrusion, because water is a kryptonite to mobile homes. So watch out for sagging ceilings and soft spots and floors. On the marketing side of our number one site or place to get things sold these days is Facebook Marketplace. But there's other alternatives that are absolutely free. Putting what are called tear sheets in laundry room and grocery store bulletin boards have been very successful. You can even do direct mail pieces to local apartment complexes letting people know that they have this option of owning their own home and having a yard, all the things Americans want.
0:04:04.4 Keleigh Beeson: Yeah. Is there a demographic specifically that's going after these homes?
0:04:09.4 Frank Rolfe: Well, really it's the two biggest demographics in America. You have the baby boomers, such as myself, those born between 1964 and, I'm sorry, 1946 and 1964. They're often downsizing and moving into a mobile home and then taking the money from their single-family home sale and using that to live on the interest. But you also have an increasingly high demand for millennials who like the concept of living small, but most importantly, like the concept of being able to afford to pay. And here they have the option of having their own yard. And a detached dwelling is something they truly can afford without putting a lot of stress on themselves.
0:04:44.1 Keleigh Beeson: Yeah. Maybe saving up for the future as well. All right, Frank Rolfe, really interesting conversation. Thanks so much for being here.
0:04:50.6 Frank Rolfe: Thank you.