From Tesla to Mobile Home Parks | Leo Young on Affordable Housing, Cash Flow, and Smarter Real Estate Investing

For many investors, real estate feels out of reach. Prices are high, competition is fierce, and institutional players dominate the market—leaving everyday investors unsure where to find stable cash flow and long-term opportunity.

At the same time, affordable housing is disappearing. Starter homes are no longer being built, rents continue to rise, and entire communities are priced out of traditional real estate ownership. Investors chase trendy assets while overlooking one of the most resilient and misunderstood sectors in real estate.

In this episode, Jeff Kikel sits down with Leo Young, former Tesla employee and co-founder of Cornell Communities, to unpack why mobile home parks and manufactured housing are becoming one of the most compelling real estate investments today. Leo shares how burnout and uncertainty at Tesla pushed him to seek passive income, how his first distribution check changed everything, and why professionally run mobile home communities can deliver strong cash flow while doing real social good. This conversation breaks down the stigma, the numbers, and the future of affordable housing investing.

Key Takeaways:

• How Leo went from studying finance and working at Tesla to real estate investing

• Why a single passive income check completely changed his mindset about wealth

• The truth about mobile home parks—and why the stigma is fading

• Why manufactured housing is the cheapest form of non-government subsidized housing

• How owning the land (not the homes) creates stability and lower default risk

• Why municipalities rarely approve new parks—and how that limits supply

• How professional operators improve communities through deferred maintenance upgrades

• Typical cap rates and why institutional money is flooding into the space

• The difference between active and passive investing in mobile home parks

• Why relationship-based deal sourcing beats competing with Wall Street funds

• How bundling small parks can create institutional-grade exit opportunities

About the Guest:

Leo Young is the Founder of Cornell Communities, a real estate firm revitalizing manufactured housing communities across eight states. He leads more than 500 affordable housing units and over $30M in assets while delivering strong, consistent returns for his investors. Before launching Cornell Communities, Leo worked in private equity and was the top regional salesperson at Tesla. Today he helps audiences understand the real story behind affordable housing, entrepreneurship under pressure, and building systems that scale.

Links:

https://leoyoungrealestate.com/

https://www.facebook.com/leoyoungre/

https://www.youtube.com/@LeoYoungRealEstate

https://www.instagram.com/leoyoungrealestate

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leo-young/

Fast Five Questions:

1. If you woke up and your business was gone, you have $500, a laptop, a place to live, and food, what would you do first? “I’d reach out to my contacts and see how I can help them. The first step is re-establishing a financial base, because when you’re in survival mode you don’t make good decisions. I’d find a way to transact and build from there.”

2. What is the biggest mistake that you have made in business? “Thinking I could do everything myself. Even if you can, you shouldn’t. Doing that for too long slowed our growth and didn’t serve the team well.”

3. What is a book that you would recommend? “The One Thing by Gary Keller. As a philosopher and entrepreneur, I have endless ideas—but you can only execute so much. You have to focus on your one thing.”

4. What is a tool that you use every day that you would recommend? “Notion. I use it for journaling, tracking goals, CRMs, and documentation. It’s frustrating at first—I quit twice—but once it clicks, it’s incredibly powerful.”

5. What is your definition of freedom? “The option to do what you want, when you want, and where you want. Financial freedom is the base, but location freedom takes it to another level. Seeing the world and different perspectives is real freedom.”

About Jeff:

Jeff spent the early part of his career working for others. Jeff had started 5 businesses that failed before he had his first success. Since that time he has learned the principles of a successful business and has been able to build and grow multiple seven-figure businesses. Jeff lives in the Austin area and is actively working in his community and supporting the growth of small businesses. He is a board member of the Incubator.Edu program at Vista Ridge High School and is on the board of directors of the Leander Educational Excellence Foundation

Connect with the Freedom Nation podcast at https://freedom-nation-podcast.captivate.fm/

Connect with Jeff:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomnationpodcast/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffKikel

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkikel/

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