Interview with Patrick McDonald & Nick Cebula of CMG Parks

Welcome back to The Passive Mobile Home Park Investing Podcast, hosted by Andrew Keel! In today’s episode, Andrew sits down with Patrick McDonald and Nick Cebula, co-founders of CMG Parks to discuss their journey in building a 30 property mobile home park and RV park portfolio across six states, providing affordable housing for nearly 2,000 residents.

Patrick McDonald and Nick Cebula, both alumni of Washington State University come from backgrounds in medical sales management and financial planning. Together, they leveraged their expertise to launch a specialized real estate investment firm focused on value-add mobile home park opportunities in the Pacific Northwest.

In this episode, you'll learn:
- How Patrick McDonald and Nick Cebula transitioned from traditional careers into Mobile Home Park investing
- The unique challenges and opportunities in the Pacific Northwest Mobile Home Park market
- Why legislation, rent control, and park-owned homes can make or break a mobile home park investment
- The one big factor that allowed all three—Patrick McDonald, Nick Cebula, and Andrew Keel—to break into the mobile home park investing industry (and how you might have it too!)

If you’re looking for insider strategies to scale your mobile home park portfolio, this episode is a must-listen!

Andrew Keel is the owner of Keel Team, LLC, a Top 50 Owner of Manufactured Housing Communities with over 3,000 lots under management. His team currently manages over 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. Check out KeelTeam.com to learn more.

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.

Are you getting value out of this show? If so, please head over to iTunes and leave the show a quick review. I have a goal of hitting over 500 total 5-star reviews, and it would mean the absolute world to me if you could help contribute to that. Thanks ahead of time for making my day with your review of the show.

Would you like to see value-add 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 with Andrew Keel

03:04 – Why success in mobile home park investing takes time—and how having a supportive spouse can make a difference

07:20 – The importance of real estate education before diving into mobile home park investing

08:22 – Challenges with sub-metering utilities and dealing with below-market rents in Mobile Home Park investments

10:00 – Why park-owned mobile homes require skilled contractors and strong market fundamentals for success

15:17 – Finding and acquiring mobile home parks in the Pacific Northwest—opportunities and challenges

24:30 – Understanding timing and realistic investment timelines for scaling your Mobile Home Park portfolio via infill

32:00 – The key qualities of successful Mobile Home Park operators: business acumen, experience, and sufficient capital

38:19 – Navigating rent control laws and legislation affecting mobile home parks in certain blue states

40:36 – How to connect with Patrick McDonald and Nick Cebula for insights and investment opportunities

41:22 – The best advice for aspiring investors: "Just jump in!"

41:45 – Closing thoughts and final takeaways

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Links & Mentions from This Episode:

CMG Parks: https://cmgparks.com/

Nick Cebula: [email protected]

Patrick McDonald: [email protected]

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:

“Do it sooner and have faith in the process and just take the lead.” - Patrick McDonald

“The biggest thing in having a large (mobile home park) portfolio of park-owned homes is having a good contractor. Somebody that can actually flip these homes and get them ready.” - Patrick McDonald

“Always create two offers when you’re making an offer on a (mobile home park) property; one cash out with a loan, and the other doing a seller financing.” - Patrick McDonald

“You won’t know until you get that first one (mobile home park), but you can only listen to so many podcasts and read so much in this scene. Once you get that first one yourself, then you’ll figure things out. It’s not too difficult.” - Nick Cebula