Posted by Marty (MO) on May 17, 2007 at 08:53:55:
I’m not sure it’s a big mess. This is one guy and he’s using poor
ettiquette. Maybe when he re-reads what he posted and the responses
made by the community, he’ll see the light. Hopefully, other noobs will
pick up on his mistakes and take a better road.
We’ve all been noobs, that’s not the crime.
Good post, I especially agree with your comments about Lonnie and
Joanne. I consider him to be a great mentor to me and my daughter.
Best,
Marty
Which book should I buy? - Posted by AD
Posted by AD on May 13, 2007 at 01:41:54:
Hi,
I am thinking of buying a mobile home park as an investment for monthly cash flow. Which of Lonnie’s books, “Deals on wheels”, or “Making money with mobile homes” should I buy?
THanks
Re: Which book should I buy? - Posted by Tony Colella
Posted by Tony Colella on May 17, 2007 at 09:08:15:
Maybe I am missing something but this whole thing looks like a hoax just to drum up attention.
The original “AD” asks a simple question of which book of Lonnie’s he should buy. Although these books teach a great deal about the mobile home business, they are not designed to teach someone how to buy a mobile home park, although they would certainly provide a great deal of info on how to improve one.
The second “AD” has a different email address and tone. This AD writes that he has now read one of Lonnie’s books and found it unworthy of his $30 spent.
I suspect he has never tried such an idea himself as Lonnie teaches but appears to believe that reading about and doing are one in the same, a very dangerous conclusion in my opinion.
The original “AD” then asks for a simple, cheap due diligence checklist. Lonnie’s books do not provide a due diligence check list because a mobile home park purchases are not there subject.
There are due diligence checklist available online and some are as only as good as they are cheap. Others are very thorough, providing detailed line items that without the context behind them one could easily err. Thus the reason to read the book and not the cliff notes.
Preparing oneself as cheaply as possible to enter a venture they have never before attempted is suicide and in many cases a terrible new investor?s mistake. We would not learn to drive from a manual. We would not want a cheap instruction manual for our heart surgeon. Why would we risk our life money on cheap instructions?
I learned long ago that I want to learn from the experiences of those who have been successful in what I wish to do. I want to know the trials and errors they made along the way so that I do not have to learn them through my own errors, or at least I can try and avoid many of them (I still do learn the hard way in many cases unfortunately).
I have never, ever liked learning from some self proclaimed expert who feels confident in their opinions based solely on their readings of others true work and experiences. Reminds me of the scene in a movie where a character hires the author of the book to write a paper about the book. The character gets hammered by the ?professor? for not knowing a thing about the author or what the author was trying to say when he wrote the book.
I have also had enough people experiences in my life to know that what one tells me they would do in the line of fire and what they actually do when faced with challenge are quite and distinctively different.
I don’t know who the real “AD” is here or what his motivations are but attention does seem to be the motivating factor otherwise such comments about Lonnie’s material that so many of us credit for our financial independence, would have gone un-written.
Did he truly seek advice or a fight? Did his posts change from an honest question about a book he never read to suddenly claiming to have read it and found it wanting?
If AD you are genuine somewhere in this string of multi-personality, let me just say that I learned long ago that we cannot help anyone who either won’t listen, doesn’t want our help or worst of all, thinks they know everything already and have made up their mind before ever beginning. Honestly, it?s like talking to a 15 year old.
Tony
Re: Which book should I buy? - Posted by AD
Posted by AD on May 13, 2007 at 13:54:23:
Thanks guys. Those other books are much too expensive though. I’ll definitely get both of Lonnie’s books now.
Re: Which book should I buy? - Posted by Anne_ND
Posted by Anne_ND on May 13, 2007 at 11:34:03:
AD-
I have all of Lonnie’s books, Tony & Scott’s L/H book and also Ray Alcorn’s book on MHPs. I recommend all of them highly. Ray’s book (available on this site) has a due diligence checklist that will be very helpful when buying.
I’ve been to Tony & Scott’s bootcamp, and recommend you go.
Anne
Re: Which book should I buy? - Posted by Mr. H (IN)
Posted by Mr. H (IN) on May 13, 2007 at 07:10:17:
If you want to buy some homes for the park, then don’t even call ads for homes until you have read both books at least twice. Lonnie’s books are must haves. While you’re at it, may as well buy his third book also.
If you’re interested in investing in a mobile home park, then sign up for Tony and Scott’s bootcamp. You will learn plenty from them and the people you will meet.
Re: Which book should I buy? - Posted by jb (IN)
Posted by jb (IN) on May 13, 2007 at 17:58:41:
If you don’t mind me relating a personal MHP story I’ll try to potentially save you some money. We (spouse and I) wanted to buy a MHP but thought the expense of buying courses and books on the subject was too much. We didn’t all of our due diligence plan in place when we found one near where we wanted to relocate. Turns out we missed a couple of things with the infrastructure and 200k later we know know a lot more…stuff that was covered in Ray’s book.
Would we have bought the park if we had known prior? Maybe but we would have been able to use it to our advantage at the table and we could have used the money to buy some nicer homes to fill the empty pads.
Just my 2cents…
John
Re: Which book should I buy? - Posted by RoyD(Al)
Posted by RoyD(Al) on May 13, 2007 at 14:36:01:
AD, I’m about as thrifty (cheap) as they come, but I have Lonnie’s three books, all of Tony and Scott’s materials, and Ray Alcorn’s also; plus have been to Tony and Scott’s boot camp twice. If you are planning on buying a park, these are small investments/expenses compared to cost of the mistakes they may help you avoid. Speaking from my own experience, I don’t see how a person could afford a park and not afford the education (books, courses,seminars, ect); unless they have obtained it already from some other source.
Re: Which book should I buy? - Posted by AD
Posted by AD on May 13, 2007 at 21:39:28:
Well I read one of Lonnie’s books and it was terribly basic. Even the “Lonnie deal” which I’ve read so much about is just buying a MH at a discount and selling it with owner financing. The whole book had very little useful information. If not for the large font, string of testamonial-like stories, and RIDICULOUS margins he probably could have fit all the points into 10 pages. I will not be buying his other books.
You make a good point though John, the real difference between MHPs and other investments is in the due diligence process. Does anyone know where I can find a decent checklist for due diligence on a mobile home park?
Re: Which book should I buy? - Posted by jb (IN)
Posted by jb (IN) on May 13, 2007 at 22:19:20:
AD,
Post buying our MHP, I bought Ray Acorn’s Dealmaker’s Guide to Mobile Home Parks: How to Buy and Profit from Mobile Home Parks, they have it on this site for $129.00. From my perspective, it’s well worth the money and has a due diligence section. His other book, Dealmaker’s Guide to Commercial Real Estate is also very good, a tad more expensive but was very handy when we bought some apartments in another venture.
Ernest Tew and Steve Case have a program out called Huge Profits in Mobile Homes & Mobile Home Parks which also has a lot of information on buying a park. It’s not for sale on this site but it is on another site. I don’t know what the rules are about posting other sites info but you can email me for it if you would like.
I won’t debate the merits or demerits (if that’s the term) of Lonnie’s books. I found them useful and still refer to them often when I’m doing single homes and they were a wealth of information on the common issues I’ve run into as we moved from a stock market investment strategy to real estate and more importantly from SFH to MHs. I think we all agree that it’s not rocket science but there are quirks to doing LD’s and the books are easy to read, easy to understand, and a great place to start for folks just getting into the business as well as for where I consider myself, somewhere between doing LD’s and MHP stuff part time and being able to quit my ‘day’ job. For the price, I think Lonnie has a pretty good starter manual(s) for doing LD’s…so good in fact, they call them ‘Lonnie Deals’…
again, just my couple of cents.
John
Re: Which book should I buy? - Posted by AD
Posted by AD on May 13, 2007 at 21:43:23:
I forgot to mention that I’m not looking for an expensive book. Any simple, cheap (or free), halfway decent due diligence checklist will work for me.
Re: Which book should I buy? - Posted by Marty (MO)
Posted by Marty (MO) on May 15, 2007 at 10:24:07:
“Any simple, cheap (or free), halfway decent due diligence checklist will
work for me.”
Use the archive search button. Come on, Potzer, you wanna be spoon
fed, but Lonnie’s books are way too basic for you? You must be
working up a mighty appetite expending all this effort! You want a
‘simple’ checklist, but not too simple? I don’t understand what you’re
after… Have you contacted Lonnie for help furthering your education?
He’d probably point you to Roger Dawson for negotiating, Jimmy
Napier for tweaking notes, etc.
Don’t be a condescending noob.
Marty
Re: Which book should I buy? - Posted by AD
Posted by AD on May 15, 2007 at 20:27:24:
You make that post and call ME condescending? lol
condescending noob… - Posted by Marty (MO)
Posted by Marty (MO) on May 16, 2007 at 03:25:11:
I?m calling you a condescending noob because you ask for advice,
choose to ignore the advice given, insult the guy who?s book is the
basis for the whole community, then you ask for more ?free? advice.
The ?search archive? button is front and center on the forum page.
?Which book should I buy?? yields 1261 matches. You may have been
able to find every answer you needed without looking like a trainwreck.
How long have you been ?thinking of buying a mobile home park as an
investment??? Did it just enter your mind when you saw the site? Have
you done any research at all? Did you even glance at any of the free
articles?
I?ve downed a lot of beer with many of the regulars on this site.
Owning a park is a thought that almost everyone entertains. Almost
without exception, the great deals in mh parks are turnaround parks.
The general consensus is that Lonnie deals are the best mechanism for
turning these parks around. If you?d invest in your education, you?d
find that there are investors out there who will help fund your park
deal if you?ve demonstrated competence at doing Lonnie deals.
JB, Anne, and Roy all pointed you to Ray Alcorn?s book as a place to
find what you specifically requested. JB gave you his background. I
know Roy has been doing Lonnie deals and working in his park long
enough that you can take his advice to the bank. Anne has dealt with
weather and market adversities that blow my mind. You rejected their
advice, because $129 is too costly.
I re-read your post ?Well I read one of Lonnie’s books and it was
terribly basic. Even the “Lonnie deal” which I’ve read so much about is
just buying a MH at a discount and selling it with owner financing. The
whole book had very little useful information. If not for the large font,
string of testamonial-like stories, and RIDICULOUS margins he
probably could have fit all the points into 10 pages. I will not be buying
his other books.? I stand by my calling you a condescending noob.
In case you really don?t get it, I?ll spell out what the ?Lonnie deal? really
is- it?s not ?buying a mh at a discount and selling it with owner
financing.? The ?Lonnie deal? is creating a note. It?s tweaking yields by
understanding your financial calculator. It?s making your money work
for you. Where else can you spend $30 and learn how to find
motivated buyers and sellers, build a note portfolio, negotiate
discounts on existing notes, buy with other people?s money, build your
business using partials, and not have to spend a month studying it?
Lonnie?s genius is spelling this stuff out in a way that we understand it.
There?s been plenty of people come through and kick tires. Read
through enough of the ?which book should I buy?? posts and you?ll find
yourself shaking your head. Most of the people I know who are dealing
have stories about people who want to be mentored or taught for free.
Without fail, information is gladly shared or given away. Also without
fail, the people who won?t make an investment in their education never
do a deal. Nobody regrets helping people who?re gonna put forth the
effort to make it work. It?s people who won?t do the basic leg work and
who reject advice after asking for it that grind you down.
At every seminar or real estate investing social event I?ve ever
attended, it seems the conversation comes back around to just this
topic. Noobs want to learn fast and cheap. Because they have nothing
invested, they don?t really value the advice. There are countless
frustrating stories of noobs burning up all this time and never doing a
deal.
Every once in a while, though? Somebody asks for help and actually
applies what they learn to getting a deal done. That?s exciting stuff-
helping someone chase their dreams! People on this board will help
you chase your dreams and will celebrate with you as you reach your
milestones. Just do some of your own leg work (bring something to the
table) and don?t be a condescending noob.
Re: condescending noob… - Posted by RoyD(Al)
Posted by RoyD(Al) on May 16, 2007 at 21:54:57:
Well said Marty! Anyone that says anything negative about Lonnie round here “them’s fightin’ words” and Marty’s a big ole boy.
OMG you’re wrong and you suck! - Posted by AD
Posted by AD on May 16, 2007 at 21:43:56:
You made those posts in agreement with you didn’t you marty 
Okay here is my last reply to you because I see we won’t be drinking beers together anytime soon.
You say a lonnie deal is not selling a cheaply bought MH on a note, but instead “The ?Lonnie deal? is creating a note. It?s tweaking yields by understanding your financial calculator. It?s making your money work for you.”
So in other words you’re selling a (presumably cheaply bought) mobile home with creative financing (that turns a profit) Yes thank you for that correction Einstein.
I do appreciate that the others pointed me to some good resources, but my budget is my budget and I won’t throw it out the window unless I really have to. I have sourced most of my RE knowledge from books in the library and cheap used books off of ebay and amazon. I’ve found that the more expensive books don’t necessarily have better content than the cheap ones. And so if I know specifically what I’m looking for, why would I pay for an expensive source when there may be other options elsewhere? That would be foolish for my purposes. And I slammed Lonnie’s book because IMO it was not worth the $30 it cost. My reasons for that opinion still stand.
And you make a big deal of me asking for a due diligence checklist? My reply is too bad. I ask questions and I don’t apologize for it either. If this is offensive to you then don’t reply to me with your “helpful” advice. I don’t need some jackal like you trying to “lay down the law” on a newbie who’s tone he doesn’t appreciate.
That was being condescending
Great post, Marty. I wholeheartedly agree. (nt) - Posted by Michael(KCMO)
Posted by Michael(KCMO) on May 16, 2007 at 11:11:15:
Really, no text!
Re: OMG you’re wrong and you suck! - Posted by Michael(KCMO)
Posted by Michael(KCMO) on May 17, 2007 at 08:40:01:
“if I know specifically what I’m looking for, why would I pay for an expensive source when there may be other options elsewhere”
Because you’re not aware of what you don’t know. And if a book, course, bootcamp or whatever comes recommended by someone who’s “been there, done that” then it’s obviously worth looking into - especially from a group like this one where people TRULY DO WANT OTHERS TO SUCCEED!