Interview with Mobile Home Park Owner/ Operator Mario Dattilo of The REA Group

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 Mario Dattilo of The REA Group. Mario owns and operates mobile home parks throughout the southeastern United States. Andrew taps into Mario’s expertise and asks him about his take on important questions Limited Partner (LP’s) investors should ask an operator prior to investing with them. They also discuss what LP’s should look out for when investing into mobile home parks and the future of the economy and how mobile home parks could be affected. Mario has unique experience operating and managing manufactured housing communities in the state of Florida, which is known for it’s hurricanes as much as it is known for it’s sunshine. Mario explains how he hedges the risks of investing in such a natural disaster heavy state.

Mario Dattilo, originally born in Minnesota, currently resides in the Sunshine State of Florida. With over 13 years of real estate investment experience under his belt, he is an expert in the industry. That experience ranges from being a managing partner of a real estate brokerage to co-managing REA USA’s residential, multifamily, and commercial portfolios since it was first established. At REA USA, he oversees acquisitions, management of general operations, and investor relations.

***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 1,500 lots under management. His team currently manages over 20 manufactured housing communities across ten states - AR, GA, IA, IL, IN, MN, NE, OH, PA and TN. 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:

00:20 - Welcome to the Passive Mobile Home Park Investing Podcast

01:33 - Mario’s story and background in real estate

04:04 - The real estate market from 2009 - 2010

05:43 - Mario’s first park

08:05 - Mario’s current parks

09:22 - How Mario hedges risk in Florida with hurricanes

12:40 - Questions LP’s should ask before jumping into a project

16:15 - The future of the economy

21:03 - How Mario manages his assets

28:36 - Funding acquisitions

30:24 - Mario’s future plans

31:50 - The most important thing to know before investing into mobile home parks

33:46 - Getting a hold of Mario

34:34 - Conclusion

Links & Mentions from This Episode:

Real Estate Acquisitions USA: https://www.realestateacq.com/

Mario’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariodattilo/

Mario’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariodattilox/

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/PassiveMHPin...

Andrew Keel Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/passivemhpi...

Twitter: @MHPinvestors

Quotes:

“Got down here, looked around, and said wow, this is crazy. We stumbled on it and it’s just a good opportunity that opened the door.” - Mario Dattilo

“Anybody who says that any park that goes exactly where they planned probably isn’t telling the full story.” - Mario Dattilo

“I don’t think you can escape catastrophic events. You just need to do your best.” - Mario Dattilo

“Make sure you study up. You should find someone that you trust. Trust is a difficult thing to build and it takes some time.” - Mario Dattilo