War story: Lovejoy turnaround and mayor skepticism

Welcome back to The Passive Mobile Home Park Investing Podcast, hosted by Andrew Keel!
In today’s episode, Andrew sits down with industry leader Kevin Bupp, Founder & CEO of Sunrise Capital Investors.

If you’ve been tuning in for a while, you might remember Kevin’s appearance back in Episode 18 (2021). Now, he’s back to share fresh lessons and new perspectives gained from four more years of growing a nationwide mobile home park portfolio.

With more than 16 years in mobile home park investing, Kevin Bupp has become a recognized voice in the industry. His firm, Sunrise Capital Investors, manages communities across the U.S. while also expanding into parking facility investments. Beyond operations, Kevin is the bestselling author of The Cashflow Investor and the host of the top-rated Real Estate Investing for Cash Flow Podcast.

In this episode, Andrew Keel and Kevin Bupp dive into Kevin’s mobile home park investing journey and the lessons learned in the field, including:

• The mobile home park deal that got away — and what it taught Kevin Bupp about risk, discipline, and timing.
  
• How Kevin's mobile home park underwriting and approach to private utilities has evolved over time.
  
• The story Andrew Keel uncovers about Kevin Bupp's very first mobile home park acquisition in Lovejoy, GA, and the challenges that came with it.
  
• Kevin’s mission, discussed with Andrew Keel, to break the stigma around mobile home parks while providing affordable housing solutions.
  
• Why Kevin Bupp is diversifying into parking garages and parking lots as part of his long-term investment strategy.
  
• A fun, rapid-fire Q&A round where Andrew Keel puts Kevin Bupp on the spot with questions generated by AI ChatGPT.
  

Whether you’re exploring passive investing in mobile home parks, looking for insider insights into mobile home park syndication, or simply curious about what it takes to scale in this niche asset class, this candid conversation between Andrew Keel and Kevin Bupp is a must-listen.

About Andrew Keel
Andrew Keel is the owner of Keel Team, LLC, a Top 50 Owner of Manufactured Housing Communities with over 3,250 lots under management. His team currently manages more than 50 manufactured housing communities across 15+ states.

Andrew specializes in turning around under-managed manufactured housing communities by implementing proven systems to maximize occupancy while reducing operating costs. His expertise includes:

• Bringing in mobile homes to fill vacant lots.
  
• Implementing utility bill-back programs.
  
• Improving overall management and operating efficiencies in mobile home parks.
  

These strategies significantly boost both asset value and net operating income. Learn more at keelteam.com

Check out Andrew’s FREE e-book: “The Top 20 Things You Need to Know Before You Start Investing in MHPs” — available on our website: https://keelteam.com/top-20-things-learned-from-mobile-home-park-investing/

Andrew has been featured on some of the top podcasts in the manufactured housing space. Listen to his most recent interviews here: keelteam.com/podcast-links.

To successfully implement his management strategy, Andrew’s team often relocates on-site during the first several months of ownership. Find out more about Andrew’s story at andrewkeel.com

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Want to see mobile home park projects in progress?                                                                Follow us on Instagram: @passivemhpinvesting for photos and videos from our latest acquisitions.

Talking Points:
00:21 - Welcome to The Passive Mobile Home Park Investing Podcast
02:25 - Kevin Bupp’s mobile home park deal that got away
07:25 - 16 years of mobile home park investing — expensive lessons Kevin has learned
10:00 - Private utilities and how Kevin got comfortable working with them
12:21 - How “back-of-the-napkin” math has changed over the years
15:10 - Gut versus spreadsheet
17:35 - Kevin’s first park in Lovejoy, GA
23:58 - Making a dent in the housing crisis and changing the stigma around mobile home parks
30:55 - Investing in parking garages and parking lots
31:45 - Florida vs. New York, busting mobile home park myths, clean mobile home communities, and mobile home park investing underwriting
33:46 - SCI Growth and Income Fund 4
35:35 - Conclusion

SUBSCRIBE TO PASSIVE MOBILE HOME PARK INVESTING PODCAST YOUTUBE CHANNEL https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy9uI3KGQmFgABsr9lUtRTQ

Links & Mentions from This Episode:

Kevin Bupp’s Official Website: https://www.kevinbupp.com/

Kevin Bupp on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbupp/

Sunrise Capital Investors: https://sunrisecapitalinvestors.com/

Keel Team’s official website: https://www.keelteam.com/ 

Andrew Keel’s official website: https://www.andrewkeel.com/  

Andrew Keel LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewkeel 

Andrew Keel Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PassiveMHPinvestingPodcast

Andrew Keel Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/passivemhpinvesting/

Twitter: @MHPinvestors

Quotes:

“But I don't think I've ever seen anything in our (mobile home park) portfolio that's operated less than the 35 % expense ratio. If you're doing everything right and you're putting money back in, you're setting aside necessary operational reserves and repairing things when they break.” - Kevin Bupp

“With a new market (if it’s new to you) just dive deeper into the analysis and don’t make offers on the back of napkins.” - Kevin Bupp

“One of our big audacious goals internally is to make a dent in the affordable housing crisis and basically do that by serving 15,000 families with homeownership.” - Kevin Bupp