Frank Rolfe

Frank Rolfe is the co-owner of Mobile Home University and the 6th largest mobile home parks business in the United States.

Early career

Rolfe began working at a local advertising agency in Dallas, Texas during the summer while in high school. He attended Stanford University and graduated with a degree in economics. Planning to gain experience for applying to business school, he went into the billboard business in the Dallas area.[1] He became the largest private owner of billboards in the Dallas/Fort Worth area before selling to Clear Channel in 1996 for $5.8 million.[1][2]

Mobile Home Park Business

In 1996, four months after selling his billboard business, Rolfe bought Glenhaven Mobile Home Park in Dallas for $400,000. By 2007, he purchased and sold 24 mobile parks, which he stated earned him about as much as selling the billboard business.[1] In 2006, Rolfe met Dave Reynolds at an industry conference. They became business partners and began buying mobile parks during and after the recession at a rate of about two dozen per year.[1] As of 2015, the partners are ranked collectively as the 6th largest owner of mobile home parks in the United States.[3] Operating as privately held MHP Funds, they own about 11,000 lots in over 160 mobile parks.[4][5][6] In 2013, their mobile parks generated $30 million in revenue, and over half was profit.[1] They have sold more than $150 million in mobile parks.[7]

The Guardian reports that Rolfe and Reynolds raise rents an average of 10% a year in their mobile parks, and they are being sued by residents of an Austin, Texas mobile park for raising rent and issuing eviction notices.[4][8] The New York Times reports that they typical spend several hundred thousand dollars fixing up the parks that they purchase.[9]

Rolfe co-owns Mobile Home University, a three-day intensive course on the mobile home business that he teaches once a month in locations around the United States.[1]

Mobile Home University

Rolfe co-owns Mobile Home University, a three-day intensive course on the mobile home business taught once a month in locations around the United States.[1] Rolfe and Reynolds both consider as the course to be a hobby. [10] While Rolfe and Reynolds originally both taught Mobile Home University, Rolfe is now the primary instructor. The course costs approximately $2,000 and is a combination of classroom lecture and onsite tour visits to local mobile home communities.[1] During the course, attendees are taught how to make a profit by purchasing mobile home parks. One concept taught during the course is how to increase rent rates as much as 10% per year, even if it is more than market rate, a practice that has received criticism.[4] An estimated 25-30% of Mobile Home University participants purchase mobile home parks.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rivlin, Gary. “The Cold, Hard Lessons of Mobile Home U.” The New York Times. March 13, 2014
  2. ↑ Keating, Michael. “Billboards Come under Increased Government and Voter Scrutiny.” American City and County. Sept. 24, 2014
  3. ↑ Sathian, Sanjena. “The Trailer Parks of Silicon Valley.” Ozy. May 28, 2015
  4. 1 2 3 Neate, Rupert. “America’s trailer parks: the residents may be poor but the owners are getting richer.” The Guardian. May 3, 2015
  5. ↑ “How Frank Rolfe and Dave Reynolds Quietly Became the Kings of Affordable Housing.” Economics Week. July 25, 2014
  6. ↑ Wotapka, Dawn. “Carlyle Jumps into Niche Space.” The Wall Street Journal. Oct. 15, 2013
  7. ↑ Wiggins, Kimberly. “Mobile home parks booming in Central Florida.” My Fox Orlando. Sept. 4, 2014
  8. ↑ Guion, Payton. “Mobile home investor notorious for raising rents is being sued for raising rents.” The Independent. May 11, 2015
  9. ↑ Robinson, Dean. “Mobile Platforms.” The New York Times. March 19, 2014
  10. 1 2 Toohill, Kathleen. “Why You Should Care About Trailer Parks.” Attn:. May 14, 2015
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