Frank Rolfe

Frank Rolfe is the co-owner of Mobile Home University and the 6th largest mobile home parks business in the United States. He also owns the historic Ste. Genevieve Academy.

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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