Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Flagship Communities REIT Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will hold a brief question-and-answer session for analysts and institutional investors. I would like to remind everyone that this conference call is being recorded. Today's presenters are Kurtis Keeney, Flagship's President and Chief Executive Officer, Nathan Smith, Chief Investment Officer, and Eddie Carlisle, Chief Financial Officer. Please note that the comments made on today's call may contain forward-looking information, and this information, by its nature, is subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the views expressed today. For further information on these risks and uncertainties, please consult the company's relevant filings on SEDAR. These documents are also available on Flagship's website at flagshipcommunities.com.
Flagship has also prepared a corresponding PowerPoint presentation, which it encourages you to follow along with during this call. Now I'll pass the call over to Kurt Keeney. Kurt?
... Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. Our performance in 2024 to date has been strong, and we continue to demonstrate the merits of our business model through the improvement of our key metrics. Rental revenue this quarter increased by 22% over the same period last year. Same-community revenue was up nearly 11% over the same period last year, and our FFO and AFFO grew by 27% and 29%, respectively, over last year. In addition to our solid results, the second quarter of 2024 was especially noteworthy because we completed the REIT's largest acquisition in our history during the quarter. We acquired 7 MHCs, strengthening our existing footprint in Tennessee by entering Nashville, one of the fastest-growing markets in the U.S. We also formed a foothold in our new market, West Virginia, with 5 distinct locations within the state.
West Virginia is the eighth contiguous U.S. state where we will operate. The integration of these acquisitions has already begun and are within our expectations. Also, during the quarter, Flagship raised gross proceeds of approximately $60 million, which were used to partially fund this acquisition. We are well-positioned to continue executing our growth strategy by strengthening our balance sheet and maintaining a low-cost debt profile. Since going public in October 2020, the REIT has grown every year. We began with 45 MHCs, comprising of 8,255 lots across four states. Today, following the completion of our recent acquisition, the REIT owns 80 MHCs with over 14,000 lots across eight U.S. states, as well as two RV resort communities with 470 lots.
The ability to grow annually, complete transformational acquisitions, and generate strong financial results speaks to the strength of our business model and the fundamentals of the MHC industry, which continues to demonstrate a consistent track record of strong performance regardless of the economic cycle. Manufactured homes remain a very appealing and cost-effective option for many Americans. Our customers enjoy homes that are detached structures that do not share walls, utilities, air conditioning, or heating with any other homes. The homes include two, three, and four bedrooms, typically with two bathrooms. They have a deck, yard, driveway, and in-home laundry facilities, all for less than the cost of renting an apartment. Our mission is to provide affordable housing and exceptional residential living experiences in our family-oriented manufactured housing communities.
We work hard every day to provide our residents with a best-in-class living experience, both from an affordability and an environmentally responsible perspective. We are always pleased when these efforts are recognized by our industry. In June, we were awarded the Retailer of the Year and Retail Salesperson of the Year by the Kentucky Manufactured Housing Institute. We also were honored with the Community of the Year award for the third consecutive year in Kentucky. This year's award featured our White Pine Point community. A 345-lot community, it is an amazing turnaround story. In a short span of 15 months, we helped transform the community by installing a brand-new clubhouse, a municipal-grade playground, pickleball court, dozens of new homes, along with street paving and new solar lighting. These awards are outstanding achievements, and we are thrilled to welcome new and diverse homeowners into the community.
I will now turn it over to Nathan to provide more details on our recent acquisitions. Nathan?
Thanks, Kurt. Good morning, everyone. Acquisitions of new communities have always been a big part of Flagship's success, and this quarter was no exception. As one of the Midwest region's largest MHC operators, we can leverage our nearly 30 years of operating experience to source off-market opportunities through long-standing industry relationships. That was the case with our recent Tennessee and West Virginia acquisition. While this acquisition was the largest in our history, it is one of many that we have successfully completed in our short time as a public REIT. We continue to grow our top-line revenue, which reflects how we have successfully ramped up and integrated the acquisitions we have completed over the past number of years. We also continue to perform well on a same community basis, which shows our ability to optimize our existing portfolio. But despite our growth, our approach has remained the same.
We are not interested in growth for growth's sake, which it comes to acquisitions, we stick to our plan, which is as follows. First, we're looking for opportunities that will be accretive to our AFFO per unit. Second, we are seeking opportunities that will enable us to leverage management synergies and generate economies of scale. Finally, we're seeking acquisition targets within our current markets or adjacent U.S. states, where we currently operate with similar regulatory framework and characteristics as existing markets within our portfolio. This framework helps us achieve slow and measured growth, which allows us to establish a platform to acquire adjacent properties within our existing market, just as we did with Nashville and West Virginia. We have a proven operating strategy, and we are well positioned within the MHC industry, which is primarily comprised of local owner-operators.
The top 50 MHC investors are estimated to control approximately 17% of the 4.3 million manufactured housing lots in the United States. There also continues to be a limited supply of new manufactured housing communities, given the various layers of regulatory restrictions, competing land uses, and lack of land zoning, which creates high barriers to entry. I'll now turn it over to Eddie, our CFO, to talk about our financial performance for the quarter. Eddie?
Thanks, Nathan. Good morning, everyone. We generated revenue of $21.2 million during the second quarter, which was up 22.2% over the same period last year, primarily due to lot rent increases and occupancy increases across the portfolio. Same-community revenues of $18.9 million for the second quarter grew by approximately $1.8 million over the comparable period last year. This increase was driven by higher monthly lot rents, as well as growth in same-community occupancy and increased utility revenues. Net operating income and NOI margin were $14.1 million and 66.2%, respectively, compared to $11.6 million and 66.7% during the second quarter of 2023. Same-community NOI margin for the second quarter was 65.7%, which was a decrease over the same period last year.
The decrease in NOI margins were driven by increased staffing levels in 2024, as well as increased costs related to property taxes and maintenance items. AFFO for the second quarter of 2024 was $7 million, an increase of 28.5% from the second quarter of 2023. AFFO per unit was $0.29, an increase of 12% from the same period last year. AFFO adjusted, which is defined as AFFO adjusted for transactions that are not considered recurring measures of economic earnings, was $6.6 million for the second quarter of 2024, a 21% increase compared to the same period last year. AFFO adjusted per unit was $0.28, a 6.2% increase compared to the same period in 2023.
FFO for the second quarter of 2024 was $7.9 million, an increase of 27.4% from the second quarter of 2023. FFO per unit was $0.33, an increase of 11% from the same period last year. FFO adjusted for the second quarter of 2024 was $7.5 million, an increase of approximately 21% from the second quarter of last year. FFO adjusted per unit was $0.31, a 5.7% increase compared to the same period in 2023. Same-Community occupancy of 85% increased over the same period last year, which continues to reflect our commitment to resident satisfaction and ensuring our communities are in desirable locations. As at June 30, our total lot occupancy was 83.9%, and our average monthly lot rent was $447.
Both of these metrics were within our expectations. We remain committed to preserving a conservative debt profile. Our weighted average mortgage term to maturity is 9.6 years, and our weighted average mortgage interest rate is 4.4% as at June 30. We had total liquidity, which is comprised of cash, cash equivalents, and available capacity on our lines of credit of approximately $24 million. The REIT currently has 24 unencumbered investment properties with a total fair value of $115 million as at June 30, 2024. With that, I'll now turn it back over to Kurt for some final remarks. Kurt?
Thanks, Eddie. The recent acquisitions and our strong financial position following our refinancing measures, sets us up well to have a great second half of the year. We expect to continue our growth trajectory as housing prices, high monthly rental rates, and mortgage rate increases have the potential to lead more people towards manufactured housing because our homes remain at an affordable price point. The majority of our residents have steady jobs, or they are retired and receiving Social Security, disability, or pensions. The interest rates of our customers have not changed substantially, and their credit underwriting remains available. We ended the quarter with rent collections of 98.7%, and we continue to grow our monthly lot rents and occupancy. All of these metrics speak to the strength and the quality of our residents and the predictability and consistency of the MHC sector.
We certainly thank you for your time today, and I will now open up the line for questions.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you have a question or comment at this time, please press star one one on your telephone keypad. If your question has been answered or you wish to remove yourself from the queue, simply press star one one again.... Once again, if you have a question or comment at this time, please press star one one on your telephone keypad. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question or comment comes from the line of Frank Liu from BMO Capital Markets. Mr. Liu, your line is open.
Thank you, operator, and good morning, guys. Thanks for taking my question.
Good morning.
Good morning, Frank. Morning, guys.
First of all, congrats on the strong quarter.
Thank you.
just want to touch on the expansion side. You know, you added additional 81 lots. Are you looking to adding rental homes and gradually get back to the ownership model? And do you see similar expansion opportunities across your portfolio?
Yeah, we were pretty pleased to add the 81 lots. You know, we've always said that we do. We call this Build-and-Fill . So this isn't a new strategy for us. You know, we probably over the next year will add about 200 lots total in what we would call Build-and-Fill . The first 81 went online, and we'll do this still through, primarily through homeownership. We may have a little bit of increase in the home rental fleet, but I wouldn't think that it's gonna be crazy substantial. We're going to continue to sell those rental homes off as well. So you may look at the...
I don't think the rental fleet will go down, but I don't look for it to go up, you know, by, you know, two times or anything like that.
Got it. So, stay with the ownership model?
Yes. Yep.
Got it.
A little slower, but the quality attendance is really good.
I hear. Just on the $400,000 insurance proceeds, I'm just curious, was the weather-related damage limited to one community? And, do you expect additional proceeds coming in the following quarters?
I'll answer part of that. It was limited to one community, primarily. But, Eddie, you want to answer the second part of that question?
Yeah, absolutely. So, so yes, we do expect some additional proceeds. So we had some damage to one of the resort communities, wind damage. You'll see more proceeds coming in Q3. And again, it's really just the cost of replacing some of the structures that were damaged. IFRS just requires that those proceeds are recorded as other income. So that's why you see it there and why we bounce it out.
Frank, it was Glacier Hill Lakes Resort, and it's fully back up and running, and people are having a great experience again. So we're just thankful-
Got it
... nobody got hurt.
Oh, that's good. I mean, is this just cover off the... Sorry, just following on the insurance proceeds, just cover off partial loss of income and some infrastructure?
So, this isn't the loss of income piece. The loss of income piece runs through just normal revenue. And because that's kind of a normal course of business, obviously, we would, wouldn't back that out. This is generally just the rebuilding of structures, right? And the proceeds that we receive from that through the insurance company.
I see. Thank you. And, lastly, on the, just a quick modeling question on the utility recapture. I see the recapture rate came down again, slightly to below 100% now. Do you expect, do you expect this figure to continue trending down to call it, like, low 90% range through 2025?
I don't. I expect it to stay closer to 100%. We had some of the results from some weather where we had worked with some utility companies and tried to get some recapture that didn't quite come through in Q2. So, you know, that was the biggest piece of the issue. But, I'll say, I'd say you will see that recover kind of through the second half of the year.
Great. Thanks, guys. I'll turn it back. Thank you very much. Have a good weekend.
Thanks. Nice talking, Frank.
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Mark Rothschild from Canaccord. Mr. Rothschild, your line is open.
Thanks, and good morning.
Morning, Mark.
Hey, following up on just a comment regarding the sites you're bringing online. Now, this is separate from the 15% or so vacancy that you have from the existing portfolio, which you've been chipping away at over the past couple of years. Can you maybe just talk about, besides from bringing sites online, how much can you move that over the next few years, and how do they relate to each other, maybe?
Yeah, I think, you know, our Build-and-Fill expansion is just where we have the opportunities, and as we get into the high 90% of the community that we're talking about, that's kind of the gating item. So if the community that we're talking about is 90% or greater, and we have the ability to expand, and, you know, we've got about 300 acres that we can do this on over the course of time. We just don't want to get over our skis and put too many lots on the ground. So again, I think that, you know, that'll be that that's kind of the gating item on it, and we don't want to change the business model.
But if, you know, if we're 90%-95%, you know, and we can expand, you know, you know, we will start to do, you know, Build-and-Fill expansions, typically in 50-lot increments. This one, this one was 81 because that's what the site kind of, kind of dictated. You couldn't just bring 50 lots on. You had to bring all 81 on at one time, and we were glad to do it. You know, this is a nice way to build shareholder value over time, give us some additional juice.
Good. Understood. Fine. Good. So I guess, for some of the sites, you'll be bringing on new communities, you'll bring on new sites, and then for some of them, you will just continue to chip away at the vacancy, so it just gives you more room for growth.
Correct.
Um.
Right, right. No, we'll-
Yeah
... we'll chip away at the vacancy and push them up to the mid-nineties and...
Right
... be glad to do it.
Fine. And I assume you're still busy integrating and working on the recently acquired properties, but you did issue more equity than you needed and brought leverage down. How do you think about what your comfort level is with using the balance sheet now to grow with additional acquisitions? And we'll use that capacity over the next year, and maybe just connected with this, you had spoken about terming out the financing or fixing the financing on the recently acquired properties with the move-in rates. Is that something that you would maybe push on sooner, or is that still later this year?
I'll answer the first half, and then I'll turn it back over to Eddie. But you know, I think right now we've got plenty of dry powder. We don't have any reason to issue additional equity in the foreseeable future. We've got nice leverage profile. So I think, again, first order of business is exactly what you said, which is fix the small amount of debt that we have floating. So Eddie, you want to talk to that? And then we can finish the question.
Yes. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that was always kind of the thought process when we did the bridge note at time of acquisition, was that we'd come back and we'd seek some help in Q4 or maybe Q1 of next year on the rates. So, I've actually already started discussions about fixing the debt on that additional $40 million. Rates and spreads have certainly started to move our way. I'd look for probably that to get done sometime, maybe during Q4, and maybe early into Q1 of next year. But I think that, if rates do what we expect them to do, Q3 and into Q4, we'll probably get something locked in in Q4.
Certainly, you know, that's been our strategy and will always be our strategy, which is long-term fixed rate debt. Because of the timeline of the closing of the last acquisition, we weren't able to do that. But I think it's actually gonna play to our advantage because I think the rates are certainly moving in the way that we want to see them, and we'll be able to lock it in at a better rate.
So, maybe just lastly, clarifying that point. The transaction carried with it a decent amount of vacancy, which meant that it wouldn't be accretive right away. Does the move-in rates, how much of that would that impact your return that you expect, or maybe the timing of this transaction becoming more accretive? Do you have any numbers on that?
Yeah, so what I'd tell you is if, you know, obviously, depending on where we lock in. So right now, rates haven't moved enough to move that significantly from where we had modeled it. But it'll really just depend on if we see the rate cuts, if the Fed cuts start in Q, Q3 and Q4, and how deep those go. But you know, any... I'll tell you that any kind of rate that we're able to lock in, kind of below 6%, certainly will increase the how fast we can get those the deals accretive. So yes, I do think it will have an impact, and I think we'll certainly be able to get that deal more accretive sooner based on the rates moving in our direction.
Okay, great. Thanks so much.
Thanks, Mark.
Good talking to you.
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Brad Sturges from Raymond James. Mr. Sturges, your line is now open.
Hey, good morning.
Morning, Brad.
Morning, Brad.
Just following up on Mark's line of questioning there, just on integrating the new portfolios that you've acquired and, particularly focused on the lease-up potential. I guess you're a few months into the integration process now, but how are new home sales trending? And I think you had potentially set aside some CapEx to add some rental homes. I guess at this point, you know, where do you stand on using that, well, that budget for rental homes to maybe help push occupancy? Or are you feeling more confident, I guess, about new home sales, that maybe you don't need as much of a budget for the rental home fleet?
You know, we just got there. We're about two months in. And so the good news is the homes have arrived, which is a feat within itself to be that far in front of it. So we've actually got homes, you know, on site. So I would look for the... And Nathan has secured the licenses that are needed, which we were very proud of that timeline, too. So I think right now it's kind of as planned. And again, we'll do a balance. You know, we'd always love to sell the home first.
A couple of the locations we needed to put some rental homes in to change some curb appeal, because we needed to move the curb appeal up a little faster and kind of turn the asset a little bit. So, you know, again, I think all that's underway right now. I'm optimistic that we won't need as much in the CapEx on the rental homes right now, given what we're seeing over time, but it's really, it's really pretty early. You know, we're in the first inning. But right now, what I'd say is the game's going really well. We're really pleased.
... Okay, and, maybe just to circle back to the expansion discussion there, you know, how, obviously, it's at a park that had a pretty high occupancy. I'm just—I'm curious if, you know, what would be the assumed kind of occupancy lease-up potential or timeline? And how do you think about when you are executing on an expansion, is there a return profile that you're expecting to achieve by making that incremental investment?
Yeah, you know, this particular one, Brad, was a pretty low barrier to entry. We had most of the infrastructure work done here, and we had had it done for a while. So this one has very low, it has very low expenditure to turn these lots on. So I think the truth is we turned 81 lots on, and, you know, we think that we'd probably do on average, you know, 1.5-2 units a month until they're leased up. We normally wouldn't have put 81 on a build-and-fill all online at one time. But again, it's this particular site kind of dictated that. But we've got really low incremental development costs to turn these lots on.
It's really gonna be pretty, pretty accretive from just a fill perspective, even though if it takes 2 or 3 years to kind of fully fill it up.
Is there any, challenges? I guess, because of the infrastructure in place, you would have already had the zoning in place as well. I'm just... I'm curious-
Yeah.
if there's any nuances around, you know, getting incremental density in terms of, from a zoning perspective on, on the build-and-fill strategy?
Yeah, no, that, that's kind of the gift of the build-and-fill strategy, is the zoning entitlements are normally already there. We do have a couple of sites within the portfolio that we're working on some entitlement issues, and we look to have some nice news to result from that. But again, it's not gonna be anything different than what I've already talked about, you know, over the next year, you know, I think there's probably a couple hundred lots we can put on the ground. And, you know, we could put a lot on the ground for about $20,000. And it was much lower than that in the case of the 81 lots.
But when you can put a lot on the ground, when you're hitting 90%-95%, you can put a lot on the ground for $20,000, that's an accretive moment for the shareholders.
Yeah. Okay, great. I'll turn it back. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Alexander Leone from Desjardins Capital Markets. Mr. Leone, your line is open.
Good morning, gents, and congrats on a solid quarter.
Thank you.
My first question is on that this 81 lots. So just curious if you could maybe identify the community in Kentucky that this is relating to.
It was, it was in southern Indiana. It was Amberley Point.
Okay, great. Thanks for that. Just curious on the, the same, the 15% same property OpEx growth this quarter, was there anything non-recurring included in that? And, maybe also the, the repairs associated with the, insurance, $400,000 insurance proceeds that you guys received this quarter. I'm just wondering if that impacted, the same, the NOI margin included in that figure.
Eddie, you want to jump in?
Yeah, absolutely. So Alex, the biggest part of that OpEx growth, again, was kind of two components, first being property taxes. So when we do acquisitions, depending on what state the acquisitions are in, really depends on the rate at which it gets reassessed and revalued, and then hence, the increase in property taxes. In the case of a few of the acquisitions that were completed in 2022, they did—they were on a cycle to get reassessed in 2024. So we saw some, you know, pretty good property tax increases in a few of those communities. Now, those were—they were all within our expectations.
When we modeled it, when we were doing the accretion modeling and trying to make sure that, you know, we wanted to do the acquisition, we pretty much know what that increase is going to be at time of purchase. So it wasn't a surprise, but certainly, you know, it did affect when you look at year-over-year, because they hadn't been reassessed when you could look at the comparable periods in the prior year. The other piece was really in staffing. As everyone knows, it has been a challenge, certainly through 2023, just getting staffing levels back where, kind of where we need them to go. And so we've kind of got staffing back at a good level.
Hiring is, I think, kind of back to somewhat normal in our markets. So we've been able to do that. So those are two kind of the bigger components. But yes, there were some repairs and maintenance expenses at the Glacier Hill Points location, where we had to use additional labor as part of the cleanup from the storm. Certainly, the $400,000 is non-recurring. I say non-recurring. We'll see that, we'll see some additional incurring in Q3 and maybe even into Q4, but wouldn't expect that, obviously, to continue beyond that.
I appreciate that commentary. That was great. Maybe the last one, a little bit of a nitpicky question, but it was just on the rent collections. Those were down 20 basis points year-over-year. I realize that's not a big movement, but just curious, given the economic backdrop is softening, if there's anything to maybe read into there or, maybe said differently, if, you have any-
... thoughts on the expectations for any near-term changes to, maybe your bad debt expense or bad debt reserve?
Sure. Yeah, I mean, it's something we monitor very closely. And what I'll tell you is, I don't think the economic backdrop really had anything to do with it. So bringing-- anytime you bring, especially a large acquisition like we had, New Community online, just getting the payment process set up, right? So getting the online payments, getting people used to using that takes a bit. If you actually look at total bad debt for the quarter and the amount we wrote off, it was no higher than normal. We just had a little bit higher balance of accounts receivable at quarter end because people were getting still struggling with getting onto our payment system at the new acquisitions was the biggest place we saw the increase.
So no, it's something we monitor very closely. We look at delinquency every month and go through it on a park-by-park basis. Certainly no trends that concern us at this point.
Awesome. That was it for me. Thanks, guys.
Thanks, Alex.
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of David Chrystal from Ventum Capital Markets. Mr. Chrystal, your line is open.
Thanks. Good morning, guys.
Good morning, David.
Maybe just, just building on the OpEx and maybe looking at your forecast, either for the back half of the year or the year ahead, do you expect to see any relief? Or if we look out a year, do you expect that 15% year-over-year comp, at least, will come down meaningfully?
Yeah, I certainly expect it'll come down somewhat. Again, summertime is our kind of place where we spend the most time doing repairs and maintenance, doing cleanups, doing cutting grass and those things. So the wage piece of it, I certainly expect it kind of to come back in line. From a property tax standpoint, that's probably ongoing. Now, what I'll tell you is as we start looking at our next year and look at rate increases and how we kind of recapture some of that property taxes, I do think we'll be able to see some recapture there. And it may show up in the top line in revenue, just recapturing the property taxes, but I think there's an opportunity to do some of that.
And in that vein, have you started to look at your 2025 rent increases, whether in the context of, you know, kind of inflation, broad inflation, social security cost allowance, or just your kind of unique inflation pressures?
Yeah. So, David, we really do that budgeting in the fourth quarter, but I'm not worried about the affordability gap between us and the multifamily rents. It's still there. I think from a modeling perspective, you know, 5% is still what we would advise on the modeling side. I don't think. I don't see many barriers there. But on the... I will make one more comment on the OpEx, that, you know, we are, in our climates, we really do our seasonal work from about April 1st or the end of March until about the end of October. And so in the fourth quarter, you do see relief from that because you just, the weather turns against you, and you can't do certain things anymore.
There is a little seasonality to the repairs and maintenance and things.
Okay, fair. And as far as the revenue side, again, you still expect somewhere in the kind of 150 basis point year-over-year occupancy gains?
Yeah, we do.
Okay, perfect. That's it for me. I'll turn it back. Thanks.
Thanks, David. Good talking to you.
Thank you. Again, ladies and gentlemen, if you have a question or comment at this time, please press star one one on your telephone keypad. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Himanshu Gupta from Scotiabank. Mr. Gupta, your line is open.
Thank you, and, good morning.
Good morning, Himanshu.
I'm sorry, sorry, I joined the call a bit late, so I don't know if it's been already covered. So my question is more around the NOI margins. Obviously, we saw some pressure in, you know, Q2, and how should we think about it, next year? And especially, you know, in the context of as you grow your occupancy, let's say 100 basis point-200 basis point, do you see that, you know, that translating into, opportunity for margin expansion?
Yeah. So, the punch line for the margin decline and some of the OpEx pressures really was around property taxes and just reassessment of some of the properties that we had bought during 2022. That was where the biggest piece of the pressure comes. And again, they were within our model, and we knew that we were going to get those increases when we did the acquisition. So it's certainly within expectations. Just when you compare it to prior year, 2023, that wasn't there. I don't expect to then see a commensurate increase again next year, right? So they should flatten, and we won't see reassessments for those in the following year because of the cycle that they're on.
From an occupancy standpoint, I mean, Kurt, you know, you feel free to jump in, but yes, because here's the beautiful thing. As we fill up our communities and through the way we do it, through our homeownership model, that absolutely helps our margins because we're now not cutting grass there. As we sell more rental homes, we're not having to do the repairs and maintenance on those homes. It's being done by the owner. And that's why, you know, one of the reasons that the home ownership model is important to us because it does drive incremental margins. So yeah, we'll see some help there.
... I would say as we continue to grow the occupancy.
Thank you. Thank you, Eddie, there. And then, just on the balance sheet, I mean, on the bridge financing, like, what rate are you expecting or what are you looking in the market right now?
Yeah, so, I mean, at the time of acquisition, you know, the expectation was we were gonna be kind of around that 6%, 6% level. I think we've already fallen below that, just based on where the Treasury has gone over the past couple weeks. And I've been in very close contact with our lenders on what the spreads are doing, and the spreads are coming in as well. So, you know, if we locked it in today, we'd be probably closer to 5.5%. But I do feel good that, you know, we'll be at least there or maybe even a little better when we start seeing rate cuts, hopefully by the Fed in Q3 and Q4, if those happen.
So, you know, my expectation is, we're going to certainly be better than the original acquisition model, which is going to be a very positive thing and help us get to appreciating those assets sooner.
Got it. And this mid-5%, you know, 5.5%, are we talking like 10-year fixed? And is it like insurance money or Fannie, Freddie?
Yeah, that, that'll be the discussion. As of now, yes, insurance money has kind of come back online, and they are very hungry to do the deal. Five and a half, right now, I can go get 5.5% on 20-year fixed rate deals with Life Co. You know, we're looking at some CMBS potentially as well. So, we again, we're still in the early stages of the refinance conversation. But the rates that, you know, 5.5%, whatever we end up, it could be done in a number of different ways.
Got it. Okay, thank you. Last question on this expansion of 81 lots. What was the cost associated with this expansion?
It was low, Himanshu. It was only about $80,000. It was low.
Like, in total, you mean, $80,000?
In total, yes.
$1,000 a lot.
Uh, uh-
Okay.
Under $100,000 to turn them on and, just had some incremental work to do, as we had to get them ready. Again, most of the infrastructure was all done here. So, we-
Okay.
We were very pleased with the accretive moment there.
How long do you take to lease up, these lots?
Yeah, again, this one's a little. Yeah, the you had to turn on all 81 lots at one time. We normally would only do 50 at a time, but that's not, not the what. This site dictated do all 81. And, so I, yeah, I think this will take us two, two years, three years to fill up under the homeownership model.
Got it.
Primarily.
Okay. Got it. Thank you, guys, and I'll turn back.
Thanks, Himanshu. Good talking to you.
Thank you. I'm showing no additional questions in the queue at this time. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Kurt Keeney for any closing remarks.
We certainly thank everybody for joining us today and thank our team and our residents, as well. If you have any information that you'd additionally like, please contact us at ir@flagshipcommunities.com. Thanks. Have a great day.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating in today's conference. This concludes the program. You may now disconnect. Everyone, have a wonderful day. Speakers, standby.