I currently own 2 MHP’s and am in the process of buying another in upstate New York.I will have a total of 10 vacant lots with approval for 10 more lots in the park I am about to buy. I currently have a brand new single wide home that I am selling for $39,000 and haven’t had any interest. In the past, I have bought used homes, moved them into my parks and have been able to sell them pretty quickly at $20,000. I only buy homes that are on private land and have to be moved. I am able to move 1-3 homes in per year depending on what I find on Craigslist and on dealer lots in the area. Anyone know of a more efficient way to go about this? In a perfect world I would buy 5 homes today and move them in but they are very hard to find. There has to be a better way to fill my vacant lots and possibly develop the 10 other potential lots.
First, let’s examine why the $39,000 home is not selling. Our formula is that we need about 5 calls per day to get 1 to 2 showings of the home. Out of those showings, we need about 3 to 4 lookers to get one that is credit-worthy and wants that exact house. So the initial process is that you need calls, and a lot of them. How many calls are your currently getting per day? Do you have an ad running in the largest metro newspaper, Craigslist, a banner at your entry and a referral letter to your current tenants? Next is how many showings you get a day. If that’s lagging, you need to mystery shop your manager (*67 your phone, pose as a customer, and see what happens). You may find that the manager is not even answering the phone or returning calls. If the showings are there, then the next issue is the product. Is the home clean, attractive, smelling good and with a clean yard? Or is it filled with trash, missing a stair, and a refrigerator in the yard? If all three of these issues are fine, then it comes down to monthly rent and deposit. You may have to reduce one – or both – to make it compelling. I’ll bet that if you get all of these hitting right, the home will go out the door, assuming there is demand for affordable housing in that market.
As far as where to get homes, there is no question that the repo market is much harder today than it used to be, That’s why we are buying more new homes these days. If you want to fill lots fast, you may need to buy new homes. In that event, you’ll have to make sure your marketing is perfect, as they are more expensive and require a better sales program.
Are there any the US wide companies who sells used mobile homes?
How do you find used mobile homes to file up your lots? What is the easiest way?
Which mobile homes you do not recommend to move?
@Andriy_Boychuk , as per your post:
- “How do you find used mobile home to fill up your lots?”
Last year in our one MHP we purchased 3 used Mobile Homes:
- From Craigslist: On Owner Land - Owner Lived In MH While Building Stick Built House
- From Craigslist: On Owner Land - Owner Lived In MH While Building Stick Built House
- From Another MHP: Owner Of MHP Gave Us A “Head’s Up” On A Foreclosure - Owner Of MHP Can Get People To Move New MHs Into His MHP - So It Was A Win/Win For the Owner Of The MHP & Us
We try to specifically buy only:
- Singlewides
- 3 Bedroom / 2 Bath
- 2000 Or Newer
However, the Foreclosure was a great deal for a 1999 / 2 Bedroom / 1 Bath.
We actually might like the 2 Bedroom / 1 Bath MHs better than the 3 Bedroom / 2 Bathrooms MHs. We are still debating that issue.
Have you considered the CASH Program?
If yes, why do you not go this route?
We wish you the very best!
Incentives for home owners to move their homes into your park can be much easier than buying homes, setting them up, skirting etc… The cost in time and money is much less than
@Kristin thank you for the information and advice
Have you ever finance a mobile home from the seller?
@carl it is 100% true but in some area it is hard to fill up a park with people move in their mobile homes.
@Andriy_Boychuk , as per your question:
- “Have you ever financed a mobile home from the seller?”
Sorry for the delayed response.
We were literally in a cabin in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone reception, no internet reception and no tv. Our three boys did not understand how that was possible…especially the no tv part 
Personally, we have not financed a mobile home from a seller. We just offer the sellers a fair cash price.
However, I am sure that there are some sellers out there who would not mind financing their mobile home, especially those that have built their own stick built home or have a little more cash reserves.
We wish you the very best!
@Andriy_Boychuk , as per your question:
- “Have you ever financed a mobile home from the seller?”
My Husband just reminded me about “Private Financing”.
Personally, we have not done this before.
However, there are individuals who have gotten “Private Financing” from friends and family to purchase used mobile homes from individuals.
Here is how it works:
- You purchase the first mobile home with your cash; move it to your MHP; set it up in your MHP; rent it out in your MHP.
- Once you have a stable Tenant offer the MH Title (and show Lease with Monthly Amount) to a Prospective “Private Money Lender” and let them take first lien position on MH title in exchange for some “X” Cash Value.
- You now pay the “Private Money Lender” an amortized monthly amount (over “X” amount of time @ “X” % interest rate…making sure you are cash flow positive).
- Now take that cash and repeat the process.
Even my 80 year old, very conservative Mom wanted to do this for us. You want her number ?
Seriously, many people who are scrambling for 1% on a CD might consider this offer.
We wish you the very best!
The homes can make invest sense as well. You can do a deal where someone funds the purchase of a home and we pay them x% interest for a X year pay back on a home so we can get a lot filled in. . We have a buffer for taxes and insurance on the home, we also don’t include lot rent to pay back the person but factor it as the buffer if needed. There is some risk if the home is vacant, needs repair on a move out .I like this model especially if you are in a market that fetches high rental/ rents credit amounts. Essentially, as I understand it, its trying to do the cash program but instead of being at the mercy of an outside vendor, you control the mechanics by having the private investor. You want to check to make sure that you are compliant on both sides of the deal but a good concept I believe in the correct application.
@Kristin I have never thought about their private financing for this kind of transaction. Thank you for the advice
@Marvel_Equity Jack, thank for your input.