Interview with Sydney Barker of Open Door Capital LLC

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 Sydney Barker of Open Door Capital LLC. Sydney’s hard work and background in finance has helped her become the Vice President of Finance at Washington Street Properties. Sydney also is in the asset management division at Open Door Capital LLC, a mobile home park investment fund co-founded by it’s CEO Brandon Turner, who is also the host of the BiggerPockets real estate investing podcast. Sydney is also an active real estate investor and owner of SOHO Properties LLC.

Today, Sydney and Andrew talk about everything mobile home park investing. Including what her perfect mobile home park looks like, her toughest hurdles in the business and her thoughts on a $15 per hour minimum wage affecting the MH space. She talks about her experience with her first mobile home park acquisition, and gives some advice to new investors getting into the trailer park business. Sydney talks about impulse versus experience, and goes over the changes she’s seen in her first community since she started working on it two years ago. Sydney shares her vast knowledge on the manufactured housing space during this VALUE PACKED episode you won’t want to miss.

***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. Are you getting value out of this show? If so, please head over to iTunes and leave the show a quick five-star review. It would mean the absolute world to me if you could help contribute to our reviews. Thanks ahead of time for making my day with your five-star review of the show!

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:

Links & Mentions from This Episode: 

Quotes: 

“It’s a dying breed. You’ve got a lot of municipalities that don’t want them, even though the community really needs them.” - Sydney Barker

“Ask for the paper and see what you get.” - Sydney Barker

“I think the hardest part is that a lot of infrastructure in parks can be terrible and a lot of repairs need to be done.” - Sydney Barker

“That’s the biggest mistake is people getting too excited and trying to make the numbers work when they don’t.” - Sydney Barker