Realty411 Magazine The Future of Real Estate is Here | Page 34

The New Main $treet Millionaires
In this book, Mike Conlon will show you an unconventional path
to prosperity in this very difficult economy by providing quality,
ethical, and affordable services to America’s largest and fastest
growing consumer group. In order to prosper on this path, you
don’t need a college degree, only the willingness to work hard
and learn.
UNCONVENTIONAL WEALTH:
bad shape (a goal in any purchase is to
save as many homes as possible).
The first move we made was to “zone-
down” the properties to create immediate
higher occupancy. We zoned the larger
park down to 132 spaces by creating one
lot from two spaces. We did the same
with the smaller park going form 84
spaces to 60. Existing residents loved the
larger lots, but our goal was to get it pre-
pared for financing, which means we need
a minimum of 65% physical occupancy
(actual homes on lots) at both parks. The
“zoning-down” process took us approx-
imately 4 months to accomplish with a
total cost less than $20,000. Less density
is almost always well received by local
municipalities.
Many investors ask me why I would
“zone-down” a park instead of simply
filling it up with a repo home. Although
we added 5 repo homes to each park, this
process is time consuming and expensive.
A typical repo home will cost you $15,000
— $20,000 to purchase, move, set-up, and
rehab. “Zoning-down” parks is a much
cheaper way to get occupancy up imme-
diately.
Once we zoned the park down, we exe-
cuted our “rehab playbook” to perfection
with the following steps:
Mike’s basic investing premise has brought
him success over the last decade and he
foresees even more opportunities over the
next 10 years. Unconventional Wealth gives
readers insight into the skillz they need to
become Main $treet Millionaires.
Realty411Guide.com
M
He has bought, rehabbed, and sold over $50
million worth of commercial multi-family
(affordable apartment complexes and
mobile home parks) involving 15 projects
over the last ten years. He was a leader in
the financial planning business in the 1990’s
and early 2000’s as he grew a financial
planning broker-dealer from $1.2 million in
gross revenues to $40 million in six years and
then sold it to a large national insurance
company; he also managed over $100
million of client money in his own financial
planning practice before becoming
completely disillusioned with Wall Street
money machine. He is a 1990 graduate of
the University of Minnesota Law School.
2012. Both parks
were REO (bank
owned) parks that
we bought via a
broker. This was
y company,
an off-market deal
Affordable
that was not listed
The New Main
Communities
on any public
$treet Millionaires
Group, LLC (ACG),
websites. In my
based in Cary, NC,
business, knowing
specializes in purchasing
the brokers and
MIKE CONLON
distressed mobile home
establishing a track
communities at distressed
record with them
sales prices, rehabbing
is very important.
the properties over 9-15 months and
We like the greater Cincinnati – Dayton
then either obtaining a refinance from
market because of its large population
a financial institution or flipping the
(over 3 million combined) and strong
property for significant gain. We have
base of employment. The multi-family
done 16 full cycle deals (buy, sell, re-
business, whether apartments or mobile
hab) for sales proceeds exceeding $65
home parks, is all about having strong
million over the last 9 years. We also
employment near the property. Lot rents
currently own over 3,000 mobile home
are solid in this market as well , ranging
spaces amongst 12 parks throughout
from $325 - $375.
the Southeast and Midwestern U.S. for
We purchased the two parks for
cash flow purposes.
$1,150,00 all cash. One park had 306
We have just recently finished a
spaces with 55 resident-occupied homes
12-month rehab project amongst two
and 120 empty homes. The other park
parks in the northern Cincinnati market had 84 spaces with 34 resident-occupied
that we run as one combined park,
homes and 3 empty homes. Both parks
(they are 10 minutes apart). We use
had been in steady decline for 5 years. In
one manager to cover both parks. We
fact, we had to tear down 101 homes at the
purchased the deal on October 26th of
large property because they were in such
Mike has the unique ability to provide
Americans with a realistic, no B.S. view of the
financial world today – one that comes from
his years of street-wise investment success
in three different businesses – financial
planning, mid-sized apartment complexes,
and mobile home communities that have
made him a true Main $treet Millionaire.

PAGE 34 • 2014

1. Repaved the roads – cost $79,000
2. Trimmed many trees – cost $21,000
3. Rehabbed 22 existing homes and sold
them to residents – net cost $88,500
4. Added 5 repo homes at each park –
cost $180,500
The additional cost in this project was
the tear-down of 101 homes, which cost
$111,625. A little bonus at the larger park
is that 8 owners of nice RVs are leasing
lots form us in the back of the park.
Total rehab costs for this deal were
right under $500,000. I was fortunate to
use a bank line of credit for half of the
rehab. Our total cost into the two parks is
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Invest in Mobile Homes
Investor & author mike conlon teaches how to