Trading Tesla for Mobile Home Trailers - Leo Young’s Mobile Home Park Investing Journey

Welcome back to The Passive Mobile Home Park Investing Podcast, hosted by Andrew Keel.
In this episode, Andrew Keel sits down with Leo Young, co-founder of Cornell Communities, to discuss his journey from working at Tesla to building a successful career in mobile home park investing.

Leo shares what drew him to the mobile home park investment thesis, how he built an efficient operations team to scale his trailer park portfolio, and the key lessons he has learned from both wins and mistakes. Listeners will hear real-world insights on raising capital, managing park-owned mobile homes, navigating rent control and regulatory changes, and what it really takes to create passive income through mobile home park investments.

With experience on a $4.5 billion private equity acquisition team and over $50 million in real estate transactions, Leo brings a unique perspective combining operational expertise, strategic investing, and hands-on management to the mobile home park investing asset class.

 

Topics covered in this episode:

• Leo Young’s journey from Tesla to mobile home park investing
  
• What first attracted him to the mobile home park investment thesis
  
• Building an efficient operations team to scale a mobile home park portfolio
  
• Raising capital for mobile home park investments
  
• Lessons learned from mobile home park deals that looked good on paper but failed in reality and in due diligence
  
• Managing park-owned mobile homes and ensuring reliable on-site managers
  
• The importance of having strong people on the ground and being on-site
  
• Navigating rent control and increasing regulatory pressures
  
• The mindset and work ethic required to succeed in the mobile home park industry
  
• Spicy lightning round: fun insights and quick takes on manufactured housing communities

About Leo Young

Leo Young is the co-founder of Cornell Communities and has been involved in over $50 million worth of real estate transactions. He previously served on the acquisition team of a $4.5 billion private equity fund. Before real estate, Leo was the #1 Regional Salesperson at Tesla, an experience that shaped his approach to operations, leadership, and scaling investments in mobile home parks.

About Andrew Keel
Andrew Keel is the owner of Keel Team, LLC, a Top 50 Owner of Manufactured Housing Communities with over 3,250 lots under management. His team currently manages more than 50 manufactured housing communities across 15+ states.

Andrew specializes in turning around under-managed manufactured housing communities by implementing proven systems to maximize occupancy while reducing operating costs. His expertise includes:

• Bringing in mobile homes to fill vacant lots.
  
• Implementing utility bill-back programs.
  
• Improving overall management and operating efficiencies in mobile home parks.
  

These strategies can significantly boost both asset value and net operating income. Learn more at keelteam.com

Check out Andrew’s FREE e-book: “The Top 20 Things You Need to Know Before You Start Investing in MHPs” — available on our website here: https://keelteam.com/top-20-things-learned-from-mobile-home-park-investing/

Andrew has been featured on some of the top podcasts in the manufactured housing space. Listen to his most recent interviews here: keelteam.com/podcast-links.

To successfully implement his management strategy, Andrew’s team often relocates on-site during the first several months of ownership. Find out more about Andrew’s story at andrewkeel.com

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Want to see mobile home park projects in progress? Follow us on Instagram: @passivemhpinvesting for photos and videos from our latest acquisitions.

 

Talking Points:

00:21 - Welcome to the Passive Mobile Home Park Investing Podcast
01:10 - Leo Young’s journey from Tesla to mobile home park investing
04:45 - What drew Leo Young to the mobile home park investment thesis
08:19 - Building Leo Young’s operations team and scaling the business
11:17 - Raising capital for mobile home park acquisitions
13:00 - Mobile home park deals that looked great on paper but failed in reality
15:50 - Managing park-owned mobile homes and reliable on-site managers
18:16 - The importance of good people on-site and hands-on mobile home park management
22:27 - Navigating rent control and regulatory changes
24:35 - Doing whatever it takes to succeed in the mobile home park industry
28:00 - Spicy lightning round questions
30:45 - How to reach out to Leo Young
31:04 - Conclusion

 

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube: Passive Mobile Home Park Investing Podcast

 

Links & Mentions from This Episode:

Cornell Communities: https://www.cornell-communities.com/

Leo Young: https://leoyoungrealestate.com/

Leo on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/leo-young

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:

“A good on-site manager is worth their weight in gold.” — Leo Young

“If people keep moving out and you don’t know why, it’s likely that your manager is doing something weird and causing problems.” — Andrew Keel

“Nothing can replace going on-site.” — Leo Young