Field notes from an operator-led investment firm.
Market analysis, underwriting frameworks, and travel dispatches from the people who acquire and operate Trailstead's manufactured housing communities, RV parks, and luxury short-term rentals.
What a $25.5M MHC Sale Can—and Cannot—Tell Us About Value
A reported 300-pad sale implies roughly $85,000 per pad — not a cap rate. What comparable sales do and do not tell you about a community's value.
Read the essayThe 2026 Refinancing Wall: A Borrower's Risk-Balanced Guide
Maturing loans, private credit re-entry, and the coverage, leverage, reserve, covenant and downside tests a borrower should run before signing new debt.
ReadMobile Home Park vs RV Park Investing: An Operator's Comparison
A side-by-side operator comparison of revenue model, seasonality, management intensity, capex, financing and regulation.
ReadThe Complete Guide to Buying an RV Park (2026)
Operator's playbook for buying an RV park in 2026 — sourcing, underwriting, financing, due diligence, and closing. Written for first-time and institutional buyers.
ReadHow Much Is an RV Park Worth? A 2026 Valuation Framework
An operator's step-by-step framework for valuing an RV park in 2026 — cap rates, stabilized NOI, price-per-site benchmarks, and the adjustments that matter.
ReadIncome-Driven Returns in a Higher-for-Longer Market
Why 2026 underwriting leads with cash yield over cap-rate compression, where private real estate dry powder is actually flowing (value-add and debt), and what credible income-first deal packages look like for LPs.
ReadHow Long Do Manufactured Homes Last? An Operator's Answer
Modern HUD-code manufactured homes routinely last 55–75 years with sound maintenance. An institutional operator's breakdown of pre- vs post-1976 durability, the maintenance levers that extend useful life, and what lifespan means for community valuation.
ReadHow Value-Add Operators Find MHC Returns When Institutional Capital Can't
Why the fragmented manufactured housing market rewards operators who can execute where institutional capital falls short — and the specific value-add levers that drive returns.
ReadMobile Homes for Rent in 2026: Why the Demand Keeps Outrunning Supply
Renters are searching for mobile homes in record numbers, but professionally managed inventory is scarcer than ever. An operator's look at the affordability gap, where the rental supply actually sits, and what residents and investors should both understand.
ReadMobile Home Rental Eligibility: What Land-Lease Communities Actually Check
Part 1 of 4. A plain-English breakdown of the credit, income, rental-history, and background screens a professionally managed manufactured housing community runs — and exactly what to bring to your application.
ReadMobile Home Rent Costs in 2026: A Line-by-Line Breakdown
Part 2 of 4. The all-in monthly cost of renting a mobile home or homesite in 2026 — lot rent, home rent, submetered utilities, deposits, pet fees, and a worked example against a comparable apartment.
ReadMobile Home Rental Application Timeline: What to Expect, Step by Step
Part 3 of 4. The realistic 7–21 day timeline from first contact to keys in hand at a professionally managed land-lease community, plus the steps that cause the most delays.
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