Interview with Cory Harelson of Freedom Investing Group

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 interviews Cory Harelson, a dedicated mobile home park operator and visionary founder of Freedom Investing Group (FIG).

Cory left behind an 18-year career as a structural engineer to leap into mobile home park investing. He now has a portfolio worth over $18M+ across 12 communities and he has already been through 5 mobile home park deal exits! The reach of his mobile home park portfolio extends from Idaho all the way down to Ohio with a focus now on the “bourbon triangle,” as he puts it, in the markets of Cincinnati, Lexington, and Louisville. He is also currently under contract on a new hopeful mobile home park acquisition in Kentucky.

In this episode, Andrew Keel and Cory Harelson delve into Cory's swift success in Mobile Home Park (MHP) investing, tracing his journey all the way back to his first Mobile Home Park deal in Garden City, Idaho. They discuss Cory’s current dedication to growing his Mobile Home Park and RV syndication business and platform through his Linkedin and other marketing channels. Cory candidly shares the mistakes he's made and his refined investment strategy, highlighting three key considerations for aspiring Mobile Home Park investors. He also recommends valuable resources for mastering the asset class and explains why Mobile Home Parks offer unparalleled opportunities for financial freedom.

Since July 2023, Cory Harelson has been fervently expanding his mobile home park syndication business, driven by his passion for empowering others in the realm of Passive Mobile Home Park investing. He offers listeners valuable insights (golden nuggets) from lessons he has learned along the way.

***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 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 five-star 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 five-star 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

01:00 - Cory Harelson’s mobile home park portfolio and background

06:00 - Cory Harelson’s first Mobile Home Park deal in Garden City, Idaho

08:00 - Mistakes Cory made on Mobile Home Park acquisitions and getting real replacement cost numbers for insurance policies instead of using the values on appraisals for Mobile Home Park insurance

15:00 - Finding good Mobile Home Park deals and operators

18:15 - Cory Harelson’s current Mobile Home Park portfolio

20:55 - Cory Harelson’s current Mobile Home Park investing strategy

26:25 - Lot rent increases and bringing in capital for improvements to your Mobile Home Park investment

28:37 - Three things to look at if you want to invest in Mobile Home Parks

31:39 - Finding a great Mobile Home Park location with value that needs to be added

33:00 - The magic sauce in Mobile Home Park investing

35:00 - Don’t ignore the Mobile Home Park infrastructure and capital required to add value

36:39 - Popularity in the world of Mobile Home Park investing

37:45 - Reaching out to Cory Harelson, contact Cory

38:20 - Passive investing into mobile home parks is a double-win

38:56 - Conclusion

Links & Mentions from This Episode:

Freedom Financial: https://freedominvestinggroup.com/

Email Cory at [email protected]

Cory Harelson’s LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-harelson-81141414/

MHP IDEAL Analysis Tool Link: https://freedominvestinggroup.com/mobile-home-park-deal-analyzer/

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:

“Everybody knows it's hard to find good deals. I mean, it certainly is. There's a lot of work there that goes into finding good deals. But I think the (mobile home park) operations is probably the biggest (toughest hurdle) one.” - Cory Harelson

“We are looking at bigger (Mobile Home Parks) parks, definitely. So for our current metric, we're targeting 50 lots and bigger, unless it's right next door to one that we already own, then we'll go down below that a little bit.” - Cory Harelson

“I like value add as long as it's priced so that we can afford to bring in the capital to do the value add.” - Cory Harelson

“I like that because it's affordable housing, and it's actually affordable, it doesn't need section eight subsidies for people to afford it. People can actually afford it on minimum wage salaries.” - Cory Harelson

“I don't feel like we're as impacted (mobile home park market) by the ups and the downs of the (residential) housing market.” - Cory Harelson