Interview with John Squartino of Keel Team Real Estate Investments

Welcome back to the Passive Mobile Home Park Investing Podcast, hosted by Andrew Keel. On this episode of the Passive Mobile Home Park Investing Podcast, Andrew talks with his business partner, John Squartino of Keel Team Real Estate Investments. Andrew and John discuss a few things including: park owned home sales within mobile home parks, rent collections protocols and the management of capital expenditure projects within mobile home parks. Andrew and John also talk about some of refinancing difficulties they have experienced this year during the FED's interest rate hikes, how value-add manufactured housing communities are their chosen investment strategy and what a perfect mobile home park looks like from a Chief Operating Officer's view point.

Born and raised in Orlando, Florida John Attended the University of Central Florida graduating in 2013 with a Major in Marketing and a Minor in Sports Business Management. Upon graduation, John landed a job with a start-up sports technology company where he assisted in product development, marketing, and customer support. After four years of employment there a life-changing event occurred when he ran into a childhood friend; Andrew Keel. After a couple conversations revolving around mobile home parks, John decided to put a bow on the sports tech career and take this journey with Andrew in the mobile home park space. Fast forward 5 years, they have been able to acquire 34 mobile home communities and employ over 40 people across the world in their mobile home park property management company.

***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 2,000 lots under management. His team currently manages over 30 manufactured housing communities across more than ten 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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Talking Points:

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

02:11- How John got into mobile home parks

04:36 - Frank and Dave MHU Bootcamp

05:31- Preconceptions about mobile home parks and the STIGMA

07:20 - Their first mobile home park

09:30 - The toughest hurdle for most operators in mobile home park ownership

10:37 - Comparisons of other asset classes: Apartments vs self storage vs mobile home parks

12:33 - Hardest value add component in mobile home park investing and the story of Norfolk MHC

18:12 - Best opportunity or strategy in the marketplace right now for mobile home park investing

21:18- Mistakes he has made in mobile home park investing

23:50 - Most important things that passive investors need to look out for when investing into mobile home parks

25:07 - John's perfect mobile home park

27:28 - The future of mobile home park investing according to John Squartino

29:11 - Getting a hold of John

00:00 - Conclusion

Links & Mentions from This Episode:

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:

“I saw that you were selling mobile homes on your Facebook. I wasn’t sure if you were crazy or if you were crazy.” - John Squartino

“I think one of the biggest hurdles has got to be just the managing of the property, property management as a whole.” - John Squartino

 “Infill has got to be one of the hardest things, mainly because of there being so much red tape. Just because you do something in one community doesn't mean that you can do it that way in the next.” - John Squartino

“You've got to be tenacious with it. The sense of urgency has got to be high.” - John Squartino