A potato farmer who quietly bought an entire town, a septic system that failed almost the moment after closing, and a self-storage facility where thieves cut through every door just days before the sale—this episode goes deep into the real, unfiltered side of mobile home parks, RV parks, and self storage. Eugene talks with investor and podcast host Gabriel Petersen about how he transitioned from a corporate role at Microsoft into niche commercial real estate, why he loves sticky pad-rent income over single-family rentals, and how he structures creative seller-financed deals (including a 20-year interest-only note). They walk through underwriting mobile home and RV parks, differentiating business models, dealing with crime risk in self storage, navigating municipalities that don’t want new mobile home parks, and deciding when it’s finally time to sell and roll capital into the next opportunity. 

Guest Bio

Gabriel Petersen is a real estate investor focused on mobile home parks, RV parks, and self storage facilities. After starting his career in the corporate world at Microsoft, he flipped houses and wholesaled single-family properties before realizing it would take too long to reach his goals with small rentals. That pushed him into commercial assets, beginning with a mobile home/RV park acquisition in Washington State that he bought with seller financing and then expanded from there. Gabriel now owns multiple parks and storage facilities across markets including Washington and Arkansas, and he is the host of The Real Estate Investing Club podcast, where he interviews active investors across a wide range of strategies and asset classes.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Mobile Home Investments

01:47 Gabe's Journey into Real Estate

03:32 First Deal: Underwriting and Financing Insights

08:06 Understanding Mobile Home and RV Parks

10:09 Business Models: Tenant-Owned vs. Park-Owned Homes

10:48 Lessons Learned from Early Acquisitions

13:18 Property Crime and Self Storage Facilities

18:54 Cold Calling vs. Brokerage: Finding Deals

19:11 The Benefits of Off-Market Deals

20:07 Negotiating Directly with Sellers

22:22 Understanding Cap Rates in Real Estate

23:19 Challenges in Developing Mobile Home Parks

25:01 The State of Self Storage Development

26:35 Utilizing Seller Financing

29:14 Finding New Properties in the Market

30:48 Deciding When to Sell Properties

33:26 The Role of Podcasting in Real Estate Networking

 

Contact Information

To connect with today’s guest, Gabriel Petersen, visit The Real Estate Investing Club at therealestateinvestingclub.com or email him at [email protected]. 

To learn more about host Eugene Gershman, his projects, and the Real Estate Development: Land To Legacy podcast, visit https://giscompanies.co/podcast/.

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