Above the Fold

Next Stop for Wall Street: Trailer (Mobile Home) Parks

As we all know, investors have injected billions across America’s housing landscape. From shopping centers, strip malls and high-rises to apartment buildings and even tract home development in the suburbs. But the latest target in the sights of investors and manufactured housing operators are the plots of land that mobile and even trailer homes are placed on. Mobile homes are essentially prefabricated dwellings that are delivered to a specific plot, then set on a foundation for a more permanent fixture that is unlikely to be moved. Trailer parks, on the other hand, also have plots of land that are rented, but typically the homes placed there are less permanent and can more easily be moved. The names have been used interchangeably, but there is a distinction; investors are keen on snapping up both. 

Mobile homes and the plots they are positioned on are arguably the last bastion of affordable housing that can often be located in picturesque or convenient areas near mountains, lakes or just outside pricey cities. According to the New York Times, investor groups such as Harmony Companies see extremely lucrative opportunities in the purchase of these communities, many of which can still be acquired cheaply. These operators come in, raise rents substantially, and evoke strict rules and regulations to control and optimize income from occupants. Unlike regular homeowners associations that can fine tenants, mobile home communities can simply replace an undesirable renter. Other investor consortiums are looking to purchase wide swaths of land where they can develop mobile home parks and generate recurring revenue without having to construct expensive buildings. The trend is growing, as nearly a quarter of manufactured housing parks were owned by institutional investors in June 2021, up from 13% just two years prior.   

Three Things 

1. Wanna Buy Tesla Shares on Sale? – Following in the steps of Google and Amazon, who will both be splitting their shares 20-for-1 in the coming months, automaker Tesla said it will request shareholder approval to issue additional shares to enable a stock split. Unfortunately, the company has not declared how it will split its shares or when the split will occur. Stock splits are generally a market-positive for higher-dollar stocks as it enables a broader swath of investors to purchase shares. 
2. Walmart Deals Blow to Tobacco Companies (Sort of) – In certain locations, Walmart stores will stop selling tobacco products. And though the massive, 4,700-store retailer (and one of the biggest pharmacy chains in the nation) is expanding its health care offerings, the limiting of tobacco sales was more a decision around efficiency and profit than improving the health of its shoppers (according to a company spokesperson). Walmart is shifting to a mostly self-checkout model in many stores, covered by a few associates. This makes it difficult to retrieve tobacco products from a secure area. Cigarette sales in the U.S. alone totaled $95 billion in 2021. 
3. Holes in the Moon? – Chinese scientists have been researching rock and soil samples from its unmanned voyages to the moon. The country is already developing heavy-lift rockets and lunar mining equipment to potentially extract resources. America is also exploring the potential for lunar materials to provide energy and expand technological capabilities here on Earth. The question is obviously the impact a major lunar-mining operation would have on our very close and important rocky satellite. 

Did You Know? 

Moon Facts!

It’s been nearly 50 years since anyone has set foot on the moon, and China is the only country to have landed a craft on the far side of the moon. Of the 150 moons in our solar system, Earth’s moon is the fifth largest, with Jupiter’s Ganymede reigning as the biggest. And even though both spheres are spinning, the same lunar hemisphere always faces the Earth! Scientists believe that our moon was created 4.5 billion years ago when a Mars-sized object slammed into our planet creating a debris field that eventually formed what we see in our sky today.