A row of burned out RVs and piles of trash can look like one impossible problem. Andrew Cramer learned that the key was breaking that problem into smaller pieces and solving them one at a time.

Andrew is with Bridgeview Asset Management, a company focused on manufactured home communities in the Pacific Northwest. His team looks for properties that often sit outside the institutional market and need real physical work.

Andrew walks through a Northeast Portland community that became one of his favorite projects. His team removed vacant units, cleaned up debris, worked with residents, added new homes, improved streets, installed lighting, added security, and created a playground.

The work also produced a strong investment result. Andrew says the property was purchased for about $2.75 million, received around $1 million in improvements, and sold about two and a half years later for $7.1 million.

Andrew also explains why he believes the stigma around manufactured housing can hurt residents. He sees a connection between improving the community and improving the value residents see in their own homes.

Key topics and takeaways:

• Why Bridgeview looks for manufactured home communities other buyers avoid
• How Andrew breaks a difficult property problem into smaller, solvable pieces
• The Northeast Portland project that went from rough conditions to a stable community
• Why street lights, locking mailboxes, security cameras, cleanup, and playgrounds can matter to residents
• How older records can sometimes reveal spaces that once existed on a property
• Why Andrew sees community improvement and investor returns as closely connected
• How the stigma around manufactured housing can affect people considering home ownership

Guest information:

Andrew Cramer is with Bridgeview Asset Management. The company has been focused on manufactured home communities for about 15 years and currently manages around 1,200 units across approximately 23 properties.

Andrew mentioned Clayton and CAVCO as places people can look at examples of manufactured homes being built today.

To connect with Andrew, search LinkedIn for Andrew Cramer. He also suggested searching for Bridgeview Asset Management to help locate his profile. Andrew said he has written many LinkedIn articles about manufactured housing, tiny homes, and related topics.

Call to action:

If you want to learn more about manufactured housing, home builders, real estate investing, or the industry, Andrew invited listeners to connect with him through LinkedIn.

Safe is sexy.

That simple phrase sums up a big part of Merrick Lee’s approach to medical real estate.

Merrick is a partner on the funding side of Love Capital Partners, where the group has built a portfolio of 94 properties. Their main focus is medical real estate, especially buildings used by dentists and veterinarians.

Merrick explains why the group chose triple net leases instead of focusing on multifamily. He also shares how he approaches capital raising.

For Merrick, it is largely about real relationships.

He meets people while traveling, at business events, through finance circles, and through existing connections. Instead of leading with a pitch, he gets to know people, learns what they are investing in, and introduces the offering when it fits the conversation.

Key topics discussed:

• Why the portfolio focuses heavily on dental and veterinary properties
• How Love Capital Partners reached 94 buildings and Series 3
• Merrick’s role bringing investors into the deals
• Why personal networking works better for him than random LinkedIn outreach
• How investor referrals and repeat investors have helped the group grow
• Why Merrick and Dave describe the approach as “safe is sexy”
• The group’s interest in continued growth and a possible future REIT

Guest information:

Merrick Lee is an online marketer, real estate entrepreneur, and partner on the funding side of Love Capital Partners.

Connect with Merrick:

investwithmerick.com

Merrick also jokes that you can Google “the coolest guy on the internet” to find him.

Call to action:

If you want to learn more about Merrick and the investments he discussed, visit investwithmerick.com.

What happens when a property is already making money without a website, strong marketing, or a modern booking system?

That is part of the opportunity Rochelle Petersen and her partners saw in an RV park and mixed use property in Chester, California.

Expanded Description

Rochelle has invested in multifamily and development deals, but her current focus is RV parks.

She joins Dave to walk through a property her team was preparing to close on in Chester, California. The property includes nine motel rooms, a three bedroom house used for short stays, and fifteen RV pads.

The business was already operating, but Rochelle says there was no dedicated website, little marketing, no dynamic pricing, and many bookings were coming through phone calls, a Google listing, Airbnb, and camp spots.

That gave the team several areas where they believed better systems could improve the operation.

Rochelle also explains how the team divided responsibilities. Her work included capital raising, insurance, acquisition details, and systems. Other partners handled areas such as seller financing, legal work, the website, marketing, and AI assisted booking.

Key Topics and Takeaways

• Why Rochelle moved from multifamily and development toward RV parks
• What she looks for in a value add property
• How her partners divide responsibilities based on strengths and experience
• Why a property with little marketing can create an opportunity
• The role seller financing played in the Chester acquisition
• Plans for a website, better marketing, dynamic pricing, and improved booking systems
• The planned five year refinance for investors

Chris Wise is not looking for the largest apartment buildings in the market. He is focused on a smaller Class C multifamily range that he believes often sits between large institutions and smaller local owners.

Chris and his team focus mainly on 20 to 60 unit Class C properties in Louisville and other Midwest markets.

Part of the opportunity comes from problems other buyers may not want to handle. Chris talks about deferred maintenance, inaccurate property information, older building systems, and properties that may have been poorly managed.

Instead of building the plan around rent increases alone, Chris says his team puts major attention on expenses. That includes property management, maintenance, utilities, billing, and replacing problem components before they become larger failures.

He also walks through a Louisville property that was about 60 percent occupied when they bought it. After repairs, inspections, lease work, and renovations, the property reached about 95 percent occupancy in roughly three months.

• Why Chris focuses on Class C properties with about 20 to 60 units
• The gray area between larger institutions and smaller operators
• Why deferred maintenance can create both problems and opportunity
• Why property records and billing information need to be verified
• Using expense control as a major part of the value add plan
• Working with HUD, veterans programs, and other housing organizations
• A Louisville property that moved from about 60 percent to 95 percent occupancy
• Why Chris thinks about the exit before buying
• How structure and calendar control help him manage six companies and family life

Chris Wise is a real estate investor and lawyer based in Louisville, Kentucky.

His real estate focus is Class C value add multifamily, mainly in the 20 to 60 unit range. His team looks in Louisville and across parts of the Midwest, including Kansas City.

Chris said he is interested in connecting with:

• Institutions
• Retail investors
• Registered investment advisors
• Family offices

Paul Lizell took a hurricane damaged shell, turned it into an 8 room co-living home, and doubled the rent.

Paul has invested in real estate for over 25 years and has done deals in 44 states. For the last year and a bit, he has focused on co-living and PadSplit.

He explains what co-living is, how PadSplit works, and why he is so bullish on it. His son pays almost $1,900 a month for a one bedroom. A PadSplit room can rent for about $800 a month with internet and utilities included.

Dave plays devil's advocate on the people side. Paul shares why it has been easier than his single family rentals, and the travel baseball lesson he uses to set the rules.

Key topics:

• What co-living and PadSplit are
• Why affordability makes Paul bullish on co-living
• Turning a 4 bed, 3 bath house into an 8 bed, 4 bath
• Why losing a tenant hurts less with 8 rooms
• Who rents the rooms and how Paul keeps the peace
• Fridge shelves, dishes and the PadSplit group chat

About the guest:

Paul Lizell is a real estate investor based in Naples, Florida. He has done wholesales, flips and virtual real estate investing, and now owns and converts co-living properties on PadSplit.

Connect with Paul Lizell: https://paullizell.com

Prefer to watch on YouTube? https://www.youtube.com/@propertyprofitsrealestate

Want to be a guest on the show? https://www.daveinterviewsyou.com

Jason Williams built his underwriting system so a user could import a rent roll and T12, push a button, and have about 90 percent of the work completed. Then the Excel model became so complex that sharing it with other people created a new problem.

Jason explains how that frustration led him to create a web based underwriting app that uses AI to read an OM, rent roll, and T12 and fill in much of the information automatically.

The conversation also goes inside Jason’s own real estate portfolio. He talks openly about being the lead sponsor on two multifamily properties, including one that is doing very well and another that is taking most of his attention.

Dave and Jason also dig into a new manufactured home community Jason is developing near Waco, Texas. The 18 acre project is planned for about 100 homes, but a zoning issue and a pre annexation agreement delayed construction and forced Jason and his partners into negotiations with the city.

Key topics and takeaways:

• Why Jason is currently focused on improving an existing multifamily property instead of buying more
• The zoning issue affecting his planned 100 home manufactured home community
• How his chemical engineering background shaped the way he builds underwriting systems
• How he learned multifamily underwriting after entering apartment syndication in 2017
• Why his Excel model eventually became difficult for clients to use
• How his new web app uses AI to process an OM, rent roll, and T12
• Why Ironclad Underwriting Mastery grew from people asking Jason for help

Guest information:

Jason L. Williams, Ph.D. has been involved in real estate for more than 20 years. He entered multifamily investing in 2017 after meeting his mentor, Joe Fairless.

Jason is involved in multifamily properties, single family homes, smaller residential multifamily properties, and the development of a manufactured home community in Central Texas.

He also hosts the Ironclad Underwriting Podcast with his business partner Frank Patalano.

Website:

ironcladunderwriting.com

Resources mentioned:

• Ironclad Underwriting Podcast
• Ironclad Underwriting newsletter
• Free underwriting resources
• Ironclad underwriting web app

Call to action:

Visit ironcladunderwriting.com to find Jason’s resources, podcast, and newsletter.

Jason said his newsletter is sent twice a month, on the first and the fifteenth.

You can also sign up through the site to become a beta tester for his underwriting web app. At the time of the conversation, the app was in open beta and free to use.

Capital raising has become louder, faster, and easier to market. Gregg Gruehl says his team has responded by going back to something much older: trusted relationships.

Gregg brings a background in institutional industrial real estate and now works with Egan Gardner Development. His team recently broke ground on a 70,000 square foot industrial project in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and is working on a 150,000 square foot project in Madison.

Gregg explains how the team decides whether to build, stabilize, and sell a project or work with capital partners that may hold an asset for seven to ten years.

He also shares what he has seen in the capital raising world. AI and social media have made it easier to create strong marketing, but good marketing does not always mean someone understands the deal. Gregg talks about situations from his consulting work where his team would not put its name behind an underwriting simply because a client could sell the opportunity well.

Key topics and takeaways:

• Why Gregg moved from institutional real estate into industrial development
• How his brother uses old school land sourcing, including knocking on property owners’ doors
• Why their Cedarburg project can serve smaller local businesses and data center suppliers
• Why trust matters more to their capital strategy than being the loudest person online
• How triple net leases can shift many property expenses to industrial tenants
• Why industrial vacancy can create a very different risk than multifamily vacancy

Guest information:

Gregg Gruehl is a partner involved with Egan Gardner Development. His background includes REITs, private equity, institutional industrial real estate, and consulting with industrial developers across the United States.

To connect with Gregg, search for Gregg Gruehl on LinkedIn. Gregg said his name is unique enough that he is easy to find, and he welcomes messages there.

Call to action:

Search Gregg Gruehl on LinkedIn and send him a message if you would like to connect.