Interview with Ben Braband from Saddleback Valley Communities

Welcome back to the Passive Mobile Home Park Investing Podcast, hosted by Andrew Keel. On this episode, Andrew talks with mobile home park owner and operator Ben Braband from Saddleback Valley Communities. Ben share’s the motivating reasons for his career shift from Los Angeles, California police officer to manufactured housing community investor. Ben shares his mobile home park investing journey to 5,000+ lots and he also talks about the changes he has seen in the manufactured housing space during the course of his 17 years in the business. Ben candidly shares invaluable lessons on deal hunting, mobile home park management during recessions, his park-owned mobile home strategy, and early mobile home park due diligence blunders.

Ben’s current portfolio consists of 46 Parks in 9 states. approximately 5,200 lots and 1,150 POH’s. Ben is a past president & current Board Member of the Rocky Mountain Manufactured Housing Association. Prior to entering the Real Estate space, Ben was a Los Angeles Police Officer & a Naval Intelligence Specialist. Ben enjoys traveling, spending time with his family, boating, off-roading, attending rodeos & cheering on the Denver Broncos.

***Andrew Keel and Keel Team Real Estate Investments (Keel Team, LLC) do not endorse any interviewee. This interview is for informational purposes only and should not be depended upon for investment purposes. ***

Andrew Keel is the owner of Keel Team, LLC, a Top 100 Owner of Manufactured Housing Communities with over 2,500 lots under management. His team currently manages 40 manufactured housing communities across more than 10 states. His expertise is in turning around under-managed manufactured housing communities by utilizing proven systems to maximize the occupancy while reducing operating costs. He specializes in bringing in homes to fill vacant lots, implementing utility bill back programs, and improving overall management and operating efficiencies, all of which significantly boost the asset value and net operating income of the communities

Andrew has been featured on some of the Top Podcasts in the manufactured housing space, click here to listen to his most recent interviews: https://www.keelteam.com/podcast-links. In order to successfully implement his management strategy, Andrew's team usually moves on location during the first several months of ownership. Find out more about Andrew's story at AndrewKeel.com

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Would you like to see mobile home park projects in progress? If so, follow us on Instagram: @passivemhpinvesting for photos and awesome videos from our recent mobile home park acquisitions.

Talking Points:

00:21 - Welcome to the Passive Mobile Home Park Investing Podcast

01:25 - Ben’s real estate origin story and his first mobile home park purchase

05:44 - Understanding the nuances of the manufactured housing industry

07:23 - Mobile home park education in 2006

09:50 - Mobile home parks during the 2008-2010 recession

12:00 - Ben’s current portfolio of mobile home parks

13:29 - Ben’s perfect mobile home park looks like this!

18:45 - Recycling equity $

21:00 - The shift in capital dynamics: Then vs. now

23:15 - Uncovering opportunities through word-of-mouth networks

28:00 - Ben’s strategy with park-owned homes (POH’s vs. TOH’s)

32:00 - Evolution of Ben's mobile home park investing strategy over the years

37:29 - Secondary and tertiary markets versus primary markets

40:20 - Weak due diligence and making bad assumptions!

47:14 - What does the future in mobile home park investing look like?

48:56 - Getting in contact with Ben Braband

49:18 - Conclusion

Links & Mentions from This Episode:

Ben’s email: [email protected]

Saddleback Valley Communities website: https://saddlebackpro.com/

Connect with Ben Braband on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-braband-5661519

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

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

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

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

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

Twitter: @MHPinvestors

Quotes:

“The big strategy for me is getting a foothold somewhere and planting a flag that's large enough to support the way that we operate and then bolting on around it.” - Ben Braband

“I really like clustering and concentration. I don't like the shotgun approach.” - Ben Braband

“Winning hearts and minds takes a lot more time than people realize.” - Ben Braband

“Avoid the urge to assume that you can do so much better than some sort of industry standard. I think it is a pretty valuable lesson to learn as early as you can in your career.” - Ben Braband