How Chris Rood Built $40M in Real Estate Using Fast Money, Mobile Homes, and Land Deals

Chris Rood (00:00)
Fast money is your W-2, your active income, that’s your wholesaling, realtor, brokerage. You got a small business that transact on a daily, weekly or monthly basis that prints money. That’s your blood, like blood. That’s how you pay your bills. Then you want to do what I call midterm money, which is more of a gradient scale of risk, but it pays out more dividends and it’s a little bit more higher of a skill set that can be rehabbing.

⁓ contracting, small developments to get bigger profits, bigger rips, so you can invest into what I call slow money, which is buy and hold, right?

Dylan Silver (02:07)
Hey folks, welcome back to the show. Today’s guest, Chris Rood is a investor, land developer, mobile home park investor with over 40 million in real estate. He operates across multiple markets, building both active income and long-term assets through strategic acquisitions and development. He also mentors and coaches investors on how to scale their businesses, improve execution and grow their real estate portfolios. Chris, thanks for taking the time today.

Chris Rood (02:33)
Yeah man, appreciate you.

Dylan Silver (02:34)
Own over $40 million in real estate. What was the deal or moment that changed your trajectory?

Chris Rood (02:41)
I tell you it’s understanding the velocity of money and how it moves in real estate because not all real estate moves at the same speed. Meaning you have the transactional side, which is fast money, which I’ve coined in my book, Skill Up Fast, Medium and Slow Money. Fast money is money that transact on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. That could be you as a broker, realtor, wholesaler, you have a W-2 job or you own a small business.

of income right you need that that’s your light blood of your of your business to help you pay your bills then you need what I call mid-media money or midterm money where it’s more of a risk but it pays out bigger dividends

Dylan Silver (03:19)
Okay, so we were talking fast money and slow money.

Chris Rood (03:21)
Yep, fast, medium and slow money. Fast money is your W-2, your active income, that’s your wholesaling, realtor, brokerage. You got a small business that transact on a daily, weekly or monthly basis that prints money. That’s your blood, like blood. That’s how you pay your bills. Then you want to do what I call midterm money, which is more of a gradient scale of risk, but it pays out more dividends and it’s a little bit more higher of a skill set that can be rehabbing.

⁓ contracting, small developments to get bigger profits, bigger rips, so you can invest into what I call slow money, which is buy and hold, right?

Fast, medium, and slow money. And you do those sequentially in the right order, you have a higher likelihood of being successful with this business, one. And two, it’s the natural progression of where you should start and where you should finish as a real estate investor. And three, it helps you build wealth.

wealth the most efficient way possible versus, you know, just every Tom, Dick and Harry you hear on Instagram or Facebook’s got to, you know, do wholesale and no, do flipping. No, you should buy and hold. Wait, no, you should do land develop, but wait, no, you should be a realtor. Wait, no, you need to be a mergers and acquisitions guy. No, you need to learn how to do it all to be honest with you, but you got to do it in the right order. You can do everything right, but do it in the wrong order. Right. So you have to do things logically in the right order on a gradient scale that’s stacked.

layers of knowledge and skill sets on top of one another so that they compound over time and give you the highest likelihood of being successful and making it in this business.

Dylan Silver (04:52)
For you, what was your order? Which asset class or deal structure did you start with and then which did you scale into?

Chris Rood (05:01)
I did it backwards. That’s how I figured this out because I started off with buying hold. thought I was just going to listen to the Instagram and YouTube gurus telling you just got to buy a bunch of rental property and get what passive income

and you know, that’s just not the reality of things. It sounds good on the gram, but that’s not reality. So I started off with a bunch of buy and hold, bought 33 single family homes, think I was going to just live off my passive income until it wasn’t passive anymore and I wasn’t making the money I thought it was. I was like, either I’m being bullshitted. I don’t know something or a combination of both. So I went at it again, sold off all the properties.

and went at it again and realized that for one, I didn’t buy right. Two, it’s not passive income. And three, it’s not enough income to go to just quit your job and just go sell off into the sunset. So I had to reorganize my mental maps in my mind. And for me, it was learning about how to buy right. And I was through direct to sell marketing.

through learning how to wholesale, right? Wholesaling is just a marketing and sales game. I think you should learn that first because it teaches you how to what? Find deals, how to buy right, how to comp properties, how to know what things cost to fix. There’s skill sets and knowledge that need to be the grounding foundation as a professional real estate investor so you know what you’re doing. And I would tell you buying right is the most fundamental thing you can do in real estate. If you don’t understand how to buy right,

It just screws up everything else. And that’s why I say you need to start off with learning how to do wholesaling, because it teaches you how to market, how to sell, and how to buy right. And then from there, you can graduate to other skill sets.

Dylan Silver (06:32)
So you went from rentals to then getting into a wholesale and you mentioned going direct to seller. Walk me through those conversations and that transition, because there’s so many techniques, especially right now with the abundance of knowledge that people are using to acquire deals off market. What was your bread and butter for acquisitions?

Chris Rood (06:54)
When I first started doing this 12 years ago, I I built, I was making a boatload of money just putting out bandit signs. I mean, I don’t know if that’s going to work as much now. You know, times have changed, things have changed, marketing strategies change, but I killed it with direct mail. I killed it with bandit signs. I killed it with building a brand and using social media to brand myself and get organic deals. I mean, it, it changes though. mean, right, right now, direct to sell marketing has been kind of tough because

The market’s been so bad as far as interest rates and people not buying and selling as much. I would say direct mail hasn’t been the best lately. Building a brand has been really good and SEO, getting deals from my website has been really good and just having a local brand, a nationwide brand, bit of get deals and organically get deals from people that know, like and trust me and know that I can buy deals, know that I’m what I’m looking for. So I would tell you it’s going to change every

Every five to seven, eight years, things are gonna change. And you gotta change with the times and figure out what’s needed and wanted and what’s working.

Dylan Silver (07:53)
You mentioned changing with the times. I’ve seen a lot of flippers go from flipping to then getting into new construction and development, which I know you’re involved in as well. What was that transition like? I know that the new construction game ground up and, know, pulling permits for new homes is a totally different ball game, right, than flips.

Chris Rood (08:15)
That’s a totally different skill set. I don’t do any ground up construction. just, I’ve been in partnerships with a lot of ground, I’m sorry, horizontal development as far as the infrastructure, right? Roads, utilities, and then selling lots. So now I can tell you that I have been heavily involved in what’s called the land home package, which is buying.

lots that are zoned for mobile homes and dropping brand new mobile homes, double-wide, single-wides and flipping them. So that’s kind of been my, you know, I would say development and it’s not really construction because, you know, it’s a whole lot less headache than construction because the mobile homes are already built. You’re just dropping it and tying in utilities. So I find it to be a better model than just doing ground-up construction. I could tell you this, that’s the only skill set in my arsenal that me and my wife don’t have that we’re actually

getting into his new build ground up development construction. Cause I think you should learn all of it. I I tell people, tell my students, it’s like being the MMA fighter of real estate. If you go and you fight in a cage match and all you know how to do is box, but your opponent knows how to box. He knows Jiu-Jitsu, he knows Muay Thai, he knows how to wrestle. He knows all these different skill sets. He’s probably going to whip your ass.

In real estate, it’s the same thing. You shouldn’t get stuck in just one vertical. You shouldn’t just be a realtor. You shouldn’t just be a flipper, a rehabber. You shouldn’t just be a buying hole guy. You need to learn the different layers to it so that way you’re more diversified, you have a high level skill set, and when you come to an opportunity, you can look at it with a bunch of awarenesses that you know I can do option A, B, or C, to where if you just know one thing…

you’re limiting yourself on what you can do. If you’re just a realtor, you’re like, well, all I can do is list this property for a customer. If you knew how to raise capital, you knew construction, you could get the deal from being a realtor because you know how to get access to deals. And then you can raise the capital and go buy it yourself and go take it from ground up and make all the money and keep it all in house. Vertical integration, which is another key term that I preach a lot in my business and company.

Dylan Silver (10:56)
I want to get a little granular, Chris, on the mobile home side. You mentioned dropping these mobile homes in these vacant mobile home lots. What’s interesting is, you know, they’re not making any new mobile home parks, right? So you have to take advantage of the existing zoned opportunities. And I hear a lot of people talking about buying the lot and then having someone else come in and put their mobile home on it. If I’m hearing it correctly, you’re doing a little bit differently, right? You’re buying the mobile home.

and then renting it out.

Chris Rood (11:26)
Right. That’s exactly right. But no, no, let me back out.

No, what I’m doing is buying land and dropping a brand new double wide and then selling it.

Dylan Silver (11:34)
Okay, okay, effectively flipping the mobile home.

Chris Rood (11:37)
Right, flipping the mobile home. Now I do own 19 mobile home parks where we buy pre-existing mobile homes, either rehab them or haul in used trailers or brand new trailers. I’ve done a ton of that.

Dylan Silver (11:47)
You know, what’s interesting specifically about mobile homes is it seems to be an expanding market, both for investors and consumers to meet the affordable housing demands, right? Because people maybe are shut out of the home market. They don’t want to unless they live in an apartment, right? And they’re thinking, well, how can I get

into the on-ramp, the pathway into home ownership. to the surprise of maybe many people, mobile home parks really seem to be taking off in younger and younger demographics.

Chris Rood (12:19)
I wouldn’t say mobile home parks. would say the land home package where investors are buying land and dropping brand new double wides and single wides and selling them to the younger crowd who don’t want to rent. Most of you don’t want to rent inside of a mobile home. That’s more for the lower tier consumer in the economy. But the younger generation coming out of college, they can’t afford a $450,000 brand new brick on Slabhouse, but they can probably afford a $225,000 to $250,000.

brand new double wide on an acre of land.

Dylan Silver (12:51)
Yeah, let’s actually make this distinction here because this is new to me and maybe many members of our audience. The difference between a land home package and a mobile home park.

Chris Rood (13:01)
Well, mobile home park is where a community of people live and an investor owns it and he’s renting out either the dirt where they bring in their own trailer or he owns the trailer and he rents out the trailer to the tenant or it could be a sublease where an investor, you know, hauls a trailer in there and pays a lot rent to the owner of the land and then subleases it out to a tenant. There’s a lot of different ways to it.

That’s the mobile home part game. And then your land home package is where an investor is going to buy a piece of land, drop a brand new double wide or single wide, and then put it on the market with a realtor and sell it to a retail buyer, to a first time home buyer, couple who wants to live there.

Dylan Silver (13:43)
Now for that process with the land home package, how difficult is the zoning and permitting? Can that be a challenge at times?

Chris Rood (13:51)
Sometimes, yeah, I’ve got some deals that went sideways because the permitting office drugged their feet and it took forever to get everything done and kill this on interest because of holding time with our private moneylenders. So yeah, mean, there’s a risk in everything. It doesn’t go according to plan. There’s not a whole lot of stuff that goes according to plan. That’s why entrepreneurship and real estate investing is not for the faint of heart. It’s not for everybody. It’s a whole lot of risk.

Can’t be no dummy and do this.

Dylan Silver (14:18)
No question. I do want to ask about, you mentioned fast money and slow money. Where would a land home package, this type of deal be placed on that spectrum?

Chris Rood (14:29)
What’s fast medium and slow money is the terms I’ve coined. It’s going to be what I call a medium midterm play. It’s a three to six month, less than a year play, right? Typically these deals take about four to six, six to eight months to sell.

Dylan Silver (14:44)
Now,

if someone had little experience but they wanted to get into the mobile home park or mobile home land package space, either one, right? Would you recommend that they partner with someone or do you think that they can come in with their own capital and get their sea legs underneath them and make this happen?

Chris Rood (15:43)
No, if they don’t have any experience doing anything like this, they need to one, either hire a mentor or two, partner up with somebody that’s already done it before and get their sea legs underneath them. They don’t need to just jump into this. And that goes for anything. mean, that goes real estate’s a sport, entrepreneurship’s a sport. You need a coach, you need a train, you need to learn the rules, you need to learn the boundary lines, what you do, what you don’t do. mean, it’s no different than a game.

Dylan Silver (16:07)
Where do you see investors, especially as they’re scaling and maybe going into some newer asset classes, let’s say land home package specifically, where do see people making the most mistakes?

Chris Rood (16:20)
with the land home package? Yeah. I would say overpaying for lots, putting too nice of a home, not dropping the price low enough to get it moved before everybody else. You don’t want to be the most expensive. You want to be the least expensive and go below everybody else.

making sure they drop the price fast enough if it doesn’t sell. know, holding costs will kill you. So I would say those four things. mean, you know, buying the land right, buying the right mobile home. I’d add one more thing, you know, getting the best prices from all the subs, know, for their, you know, all their hookups and utilities and trying to do everything as vertically integrated as they possibly can to save on cost and to get as profitable as possible through vertical integration or, you know, keeping some services in house.

where they can save a few bucks.

Dylan Silver (17:06)
Once you’ve got the home on the land, what’s the best way to go and find your end buyer, right? Because it’s considered a mobile home, right? So it’s not real property in the same way a home would be. How do you find end buyers in these situations?

Chris Rood (17:21)
No, it is considered real property. have to do what’s called a de-immobilization of the property to make it real property. And then it’s FHA approved. just, once they take the wheels off and they strap it down, you get it immobilized and it becomes real property. So it’s no different. It’s a home at that point. It’s no different than a house, a brick on slab house. And you can get your financial financing just like you would a house.

Dylan Silver (17:42)
How are you advertising or marketing these to the end buyers once you do the demobilization?

Chris Rood (17:48)
We just listen, listen to the realtor.

Dylan Silver (17:50)
Okay, okay. Now pivoting here, Chris, for the folks who are looking at this from the traditional side, right? So they’re looking at,

I may be going to buy a single family home, I may be going to buy a demobilized home on a land package, right? And they’re weighing their options here. Where do you think it maybe makes sense to go more for the single family home versus demobilization if someone is budget sensitive?

Chris Rood (18:18)
Well, the average single family home in America is $417,000. You can buy a piece of land for an acre for 20 to 30 grand in certain areas or less if you’re a good negotiator. And you can buy a mobile home for me at my dealership, Allies Wholesale Depot. have dealerships set up all over the country, set up specifically to sell mobile homes at wholesale prices to investors. I can get you a mobile home for 70 to 75 grand, as high as 90 to 95 for a mid-tier win.

that you can be all in for $150,000 in retail, these things for 200, 225 and make a few bucks. mean, that’s the barrier to entry is a lot lower. Your price point is more attractive to first time home buyers that are 24 to 30 years old. can’t afford a $417,000 house.

Dylan Silver (19:07)
That’s true. That’s true. We are coming up on time here, Chris. Any new projects that you’re working on and then as well, what’s the best way for folks to get in contact with you or your team?

Chris Rood (19:18)
New projects, I’ve got tons of new projects, I’m always working on projects.

As far as where they can reach out to me, would tell them follow me on social media, chrisroodentrepreneur on my Facebook and chrisrood on my personal profile. realestaterood on Instagram, chrisroodentrepreneur on YouTube. I give away a ton of free information there. If they’re interested in getting some coaching, they can go to Chrisrood.com Or if they want to come out to one of my masterminds, alliesmastermind.com Or hell, if they just want to get into the land home package model and start investing in mobile homes and flipping them, I can…

I can sell them a mobile home for my dealership at allieswholesaledepot.com I even have a lending company allieslending.com If they pay for the lot, can get them the money for the setup and the mobile home and they can get the deal done. So, but if they’re interested in learning, I would say just follow me on social media and inbox me.

Dylan Silver (20:06)
Chris, thank you so much for your time today. Thanks for joining us.

Chris Rood (20:10)
Thank you.