Interview with Christopher Nelson of Thrive Communities

Passive Mobile Home Park Investing

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 Christopher Nelson of Thrive Communities. Andrew and Christopher discuss Thrive Communities and how Thrive uses certain strategies for growth in the manufactured housing community space. Christopher also shares his journey into real estate and why mobile home parks are a good investment opportunity.

Christopher Nelson is the Co-Founder and Principal of Wealthward Capital, a real estate private equity investment firm. Wealthward Capital invests in cash flowing, institutional grade assets - such as mobile home parks, apartment buildings and ATM's. His focus is meeting with operators and finding the next investment opportunity. When not looking for cash flowing investment opportunities, Christopher is spending time with investors educating them on building thriving passive income portfolios.

***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

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:

00:21 - Welcome to the Passive Mobile Home Park Investing Podcast

01:30 - Christopher's story and journey into real estate and mobile home parks

04:08 - Christopher's background in technology

06:28 - Thrive Community Fund and Christopher's current portfolio

10:48 - Park-owned homes versus tenant-owned homes

12:47 - Christopher's first park and where they are now

13:30 - Christopher's process for growth

15:36 - The toughest hurdle in the MHP space

17:24 - Getting educated in the mobile home park industry

20:00 - What should passive investors look out for when investing in the MHP space

23:13 - Christopher's perfect mobile home park

24:30 - The future of mobile home parks

27:50 - The long term plan for the Thrive Community Fund

31:00 - Getting a hold of Christopher Nelson

31:46 - Conclusion

Links & Mentions from This Episode:

Thrive Communy Fund: https://www.thrivecommunity.fund/

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:

"I love being somebody who is an executive over my portfolio, overseeing it and partnering with the operators and helping them be better, versus being the person who is actually in the park or in the facility doing the work myself." - Christopher Nelson

"At the end of the day we really do want to have long term relationships with our tenants. We want to help them thrive in our parks and in their lives in general." - Christopher Nelson

"Education, education, education. You have to see it and you have to understand the nuts and the bolts." - Christopher Nelson

"What I invest in and what I bring to my team is always different because I'll make investments where I'll try to vet operators and do other things." - Christopher Nelson