Overview

Mobile home parks have gone from overlooked to overpriced — and yet Ryan Groene is still finding deals, still buying, and still doubling his money. He’s been a full-time mobile home park investor since 2018, has owned over 20 parks across the Midwest and Southeast, and has operated through every market cycle since before most people even knew what a mobile home park was.

In this episode, Marcela Ruiz sits down with Ryan to break down what the business actually looks like in 2026. Not the version you heard on a podcast in 2019 — the real one. Cap rates have compressed to below multifamily. Bridge debt has taken out operators who were doing everything else right. And infilling vacant lots is a lot harder than the YouTube videos make it look.

If you’ve ever been curious about mobile home parks, or you’re already in the space and want to know how a 10-year veteran thinks about deals, due diligence, financing, and market selection, this is the conversation to watch.

Key Takeaways

[00:00] — Paul opens the event and introduces Ryan Groene; Ryan describes his background from finance to full-time park investing

[08:00] — How Ryan thinks about operating parks: the weekly KPI meeting, delinquency management, and the no-pay-no-stay rule

[15:00] — The real math on how you make a million dollars in mobile home parks — it’s all about the liquidity event

[22:00] — How to get started: start within two to three hours of home, buy something producing revenue, don’t start with an empty park

[30:00] — Why Ryan doesn’t develop mobile home parks: NIMBY zoning, city economics, and $75–150K per-unit development costs

[38:00] — Financing structures: seller financing, commercial debt, syndication, and when each makes sense — and why short-term bridge debt is the “number one pitfall”

[50:00] — Park-owned homes versus lot renters: how to transition, what lenders want, and the title problem nobody talks about

[62:00] — What Ryan looks for in a market: big delta between median housing price and lot rent, city utilities, landlord-friendly states, 50K+ population

[72:00] — Where cap rates are today (5.18% national average — lower than multifamily) and how Ryan still targets doubling his money

[80:00] — RV parks vs. mobile home parks: why Ryan is exiting RVs (higher expense ratios, more employees, operationally intensive)

[88:00] — Q&A: How to value park-owned homes when underwriting, on-site management thresholds, and clustering parks

About Ryan Groene

Ryan Groene left a finance career at 25 to go full-time in real estate, emptying his 401k to buy a 75-unit mobile home park in Fayetteville, North Carolina — his very first real estate purchase. Over the next decade he built a portfolio of 20+ parks and several RV parks across the Midwest and Southeast, learning to operate, syndicate, and scale through every market cycle. Today he focuses on 50+ unit parks with city utilities in landlord-friendly states, targeting a 2x return on every deal.

About This Episode

This episode was recorded live at GRID Charleston’s monthly investor meetup on February 17, 2026, and hosted by Marcela Ruiz. GRID Charleston is a monthly real estate investor meetup founded by Paul Kelton, part of a global network of 30,000 members across 30+ communities.

About GRID Charleston

Paul Kelton is a real estate investor and the founder of GRID Charleston, a monthly investor meetup that is part of a global network of 30,000 members across 30+ communities. He is also a partner at The Matt O’Neill Team, one of Charleston’s top real estate brokerages, and the founder of Tide Property Management. Paul focuses on multifamily acquisitions and has been investing in the Charleston market for over a decade.