The cost of mobile/manufactured homes is lower than single family, and returns can be proportionately higher—making them a great investment.

I’ve had a front row seat to nearly four decades in the manufactured home industry. I started in the industry in 1982 by answering a newspaper ad to sell mobile homes at a dealership. In July of this year, I will celebrate my 40th anniversary in the industry!

That first job was with the biggest mobile home dealership in Texas at the time. It was just like a car dealership. We had 30 or 40 mobile homes at a sales center, people picked one out, we would deliver it, and then we’d set it up on their land.

I was promoted to sales manager within the first year. By the end of my second year, the general manager and I decided to partner and start a business ourselves. We opened our first sales center in 1984 and grew it to 13 sales centers by 1987.

My partner was a great guy, but we had a difference of opinion about where we wanted to take the business, so I sold out to him in 1988. During that time, we also bought a mobile home park and developed a mobile home subdivision.

Later, I had a Clayton homes franchise for 15 years. Warren Buffet bought Clayton Homes in 2003. Did you get that? The supposed best investor in the world wanted to get into the mobile home/affordable housing industry. Clayton Homes was and still is a great company—the gold standard of the industry. I sold my franchise in 2006 and started my current business.

In our current business model, we buy doublewide manufactured homes already set up on land. The homes average 1,400 to 1,800 square feet, and they are typically on a half acre to an acre of land. We acquire the homes and fix them up like new. When I say “new,” I mean new carpet, paint, appliances, air conditioner, septic, hot water heater—even a new roof, if necessary.

Next, we put a tenant in the home. We have our own full-time property management company that manages the properties for us and our investors.

We buy an average of 10 properties a month. We keep some for ourselves and turnkey the others to our investors. Currently, we operate in four states: Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. We are pushing 600 properties under management and have around 150 investors.

Why do our investors like our model versus single-family homes? Because the land and home are real estate, they have a deed of trust or a mortgage on them, depending on the state. We get a title commitment on every property we buy.

When a manufactured home is built at the plant, it comes with a personal property title just like a car. The owner has the right to keep it this way and keep the home separate from the land. If the owner wants to make it real property (combining the land and the home), it’s a simple process that a title company or attorney handles. This makes it real estate with the same classification as a single-family home.

Investors like our model because the homes are a third to half the cost, and the rents and returns are proportionately much higher. In addition, maintenance costs are much lower. We don’t have the foundation and plumbing issues single-family homes have. Here in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area, I hear horror stories of foundation repair running $30,000 to $50,000. Manufactured homes are tied into concrete runners. If we must relevel the house, we just take the skirting off, and it costs $1,000 to $1,500.

Some people wonder about the difference between mobile and manufactured homes. They mean the exact same thing.

Back in the 1970s and 1980s, they were called mobile homes. In the early 1990s, the industry started calling them manufactured homes.

I guess that term sounds better, but there were also some great changes made to the homes at that time. Before 1990, a lot of the manufacturing plants used particle board floors, which were substandard. When the floors got wet, they would get soft. Over time, they had to be replaced. If they were not replaced, you would run the risk of falling through the floor. Around 1990, almost all manufactured home plants began using plywood and OSB flooring, the same flooring used in tract homes and luxury homes. Today, you can find virtually every amenity in a manufactured home that you would find in a tract or luxury home.

Private property manufactured homes can be a very good investment in a mobile home park or on land an investor controls.

As I said, I did own and operate a mobile home park years ago. This is where “affordable” starts. The typical tenant is usually living paycheck to paycheck and struggles to make ends meet. Its tougher to property manage these, and that’s why I chose not to remain in this area of mobile home investing. There are, however, six or seven big players in this space who really do have it dialed in, and they do a tremendous job. These are usually in a fund, or a syndication—and the returns can be very good! I prefer my manufactured home model because we get a better tenant, because we provide a bigger home and more land, and they are usually located in better school districts.

Do manufactured home appreciate or depreciate? The answer is both.

Personal property mobile homes usually depreciate just like a car. (In today’s crazy times, things seem to be a little different.)

Real property homes, because they have the land included, absolutely appreciate. Case in point: For the properties we bought between 2012 to 2014, our typical all-in cost (acquisition plus rehab) was around $60,000. Today, those properties sell for around $200,000. That’s a tremendous amount of appreciation that grows tax deferred—you don’t pay taxes until you sell. That’s why I believe buying and holding real estate is the best wealth-building strategy available. Also, the rents on these properties have increased from around $1,000 per month to $1,400—that’s favorable too!

What happens in a down market or a market crash?

I always say no matter how bad things get, there are two things people will always still need to do: Eat and have a roof over their head. Everything else is negotiable. That’s why I love our business model. It works great in good times, but even better in bad times because we have the most affordable roof with more land. During the 2008 downturn and the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for our properties was three times normal, because in bad times people downsize and need something more affordable. In addition, as a result of the pandemic, many people work out of their homes now and need an office in their home. Since we give them much more square footage for the dollar, this trend is working in our favor.

Mobile/manufactured homes are one of the best, safest investments out there, and they are a great addition to anyone’s investment portfolio.

Glenn Stromberg began his career in real estate in 1982, quickly rising to the top of the real estate game. He owned and managed a Clayton Home franchise and owned and operated 13 independently owned manufactured home dealerships. He also ran a successful fix-and-flip business.

During his 39 years in the mobile home industry, he developed mobile home subdivisions; owned a mobile home park; owned and operated mobile home sales centers; and bought, sold, and leased single-family homes.

In 2006, he formed Stromberg Investment Group with the mission to be one of the best real estate investment companies in the country. The 2008 crisis that took over the American economy led Stromberg to redefine his business model and create the current model SIG uses, allowing investors a safer option to investing and receiving higher returns without the high risk that Wall Street or the “flipping game” yields. With over 500 homes under management in more than four states, SIG deploys over $1 million dollars in investment capital each month and closes an average of 12 properties each month. Stromberg Investments offers investors lucrative passive turnkey options and long-term lending opportunities. To learn more about Stromberg Investment Group, visit www.stromberginvestmentgroup.com.

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