Interview with Luke DeGrossi of Pioneer Communities

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 to the co-founder and managing principal of Pioneer Communities, Luke DeGrossi. Luke offers his knowledge about the mobile home park industry for potential, new, and seasoned investors. Andrew and Luke chat about "The Broken Window Theory," value-add infill projects, cap-ex projects, and the business model of Pioneer Communities. Luke also shares some stories about his ideal mobile home park, his worst experience within a trailer park, and his advice for passive investors who want to invest in mobile home parks. Andrew also asks Luke about his endgame goals and his opinions on the hardest parts about the industry.

Luke DeGrossi is Co-Founder Chief Acquisitions Officer at Pioneer Communities where he is responsible for monitoring, maintaining, and reviewing Pioneer's pipeline, as well as underwriting and modeling cash flows for potential acquisitions. Prior to co-founding Pioneer Communities, Luke worked at HKS Capital Partners, New York City's premiere commercial finance brokerage with over $16 billion in transactions. As an associate in their capital markets group, Luke was responsible for structuring debt and equity capital across nationwide commercial transactions spanning permanent financing, ground-up construction, bridge, mezzanine, and acquisition finance. Prior to HKS, Luke worked as an Analyst at RPM Development Group, New Jersey's leading affordable housing developer, where he managed the daily operations, finance, and accounting for a portfolio of properties in excess of $950,000,00 in value.

***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 1,400 lots under management. His team currently manages over 20 manufactured housing communities across ten states - AR, GA, IA, IL, IN, MN, NE, OH, PA and TN. 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

01:00 - Luke's background and how he got into the industry

03:28 - Luke's first property

04:50 - The hardest part about the business

09:35 - Cap-ex projects

12:07 - Luke's business model and their ideal mobile home parks

14:17 - The most important things passive investors should look for

15:51 - Value-add advice for new investors interested in mobile home parks

18:40 - The Broken Window Theory

20:55 - Pioneer Communities offices

21:51 - Park-owned homes

23:47 - On-site managers

24:15 - Value-add infill projects

26:28 - Does Pioneer guys invest money into the deals that they put together?

27:19 - Endgame goals

28:43 - Finding and reaching out to Pioneer Communities and Luke

29:24 - Conclusion

Links & Mentions from This Episode:

Pioneer Communities website: https://www.pioneercommunities.com/

Pioneer Communities, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pioneercommunities/

Pioneer Communities, Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pioneercommunities/

Pioneer Communities, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PioneerCommunities/

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:

"The value-add component is usually acquiring a park that has some level of mismanagement, capitalizing on those inefficiencies, and deploying the knowledge, experience, and capital that it takes to bring that park up to its full potential.." - Luke DeGrossi

"I would say that 90% of our business is generated from LTOs and converting existing park-owned homes over tenant-owned homes, selling homes, bringing in new homes." - Luke DeGrossi

"We moved on-site for three months which is something similar to what you do and to what other operators do, like Ryan and Ian. We wanted to really just immerse ourselves in the asset class given that it was our first acquisition." - Luke DeGrossi

"Savannah is an interesting market because most operators do look for the 100% tenant-owned home model. We found out pretty quickly that if we were exclusively focused on those types of opportunities, we probably weren't going to be transacting too frequently, so we got very comfortable." - Luke DeGrossi