In Chicago, my father and I specialized in buying homes in lower middle class neighborhoods, rehabbing them, and renting them to participants in the Section 8 program. Our guiding philosophy was decent housing for decent folks. The quality of our homes and responsive management style allowed us to have stringent tenant selection standards. The income from this portfolio of properties allowed us to be gainfully unemployed on Fantasy Island.
As the months passed, I became increasingly restless. What was I going to do for the next 30 years that I would have normally spent working? The landlord approach was not going to work in this location. Taxes were high and the rent levels wouldn't support the property valuations. The search for a new niche eventually led to exploring mobile home communities. The Atlanta conference would prove to be a pivotal turning point. I convinced my dad to leave paradise and temporarily relocate to Georgia, to assist me in this new venture. I was looking for a challenge......I found it, come join me along the way.
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We are Jim and Ellen Brenn.
We started our investing career, like most people, as a part-time endeavor, buying, fixing and selling single-family houses. Jim was working as an automotive service manager, and Ellen as a Comptroller for a new car dealership. During the next few years, we decided that Jim needed to get out of the automotive profession due to health concerns. It was about this time that he discovered the lucrative niche of mobile homes.
We quickly found out that cash flow was far superior from the mobile homes we sold on lease and options, and the quest for a park began in earnest! After a couple of years of looking for the perfect park, we finally found one that met our criteria. Although smaller than some we had looked at, we believe the upside potential is there!
We bought, with our partner Steve Case, and a Clayton Bank and Trust mortgage, a 75 pad park in Troy, Alabama. It is platted for another 21 spaces, should we decide to expand in the future, and has other vacant land as well. It also has another great aspect – our property borders the Troy airport, which makes it very easy for Steve and bank representatives to come to the park.
Join us as we tell you the good, the bad, the pretty and the ugly as we fill this park and decide if and when we will develop the rest!
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My name is Fred Balke. 