Dealer's license

mobile home university
1

Hi,

I’m new to the forum. I have recently read Deals on Wheels and am ready to start. I went to check out a home this past weekend where I live (Sacramento, CA) and found one in the “Lonnie deal” price range. It’s a single wide 10x57 I believe. It’s in fairly good condition. I checked it out, following the book’s guidelines and didn’t find much wrong with it besides cosmetic stuff.

The seller wanted $5500. I told him I’d get back to him. Without actually buying the home, I went ahead and put an add out on craigslist to see if there is any interest at all for a home for, let’s say 8K, 500 down, 250/month for 36months. I got a number of calls of people that seemed genuinely interested.

I called the seller back and told him that $5500 is a little steep, especially since 10 wides are harder to get rid of. He told me he would drop the price to $4500.

So, here I am. I think I can get him down to 4K, but not sure he’d go any lower. It sounds like I can make it work if I get it for $4K and sell it for 7-8K on terms.

This leads me to my questions:

  1. This sounds like a good deal to me, but is there something I’m overlooking? Any other pitfalls someone can think of that would make this a bad deal?

  2. There is some talk about getting a dealer’s license to avoid taking on title and paying taxes up front. In california, are there any rules and regulations on this? Do I need a dealer’s license, or can I do a few of these as a private party without having to get a dealer’s license? Anybody out there that knows? I have been trying to find this stuff out, but information about this seems fairly difficult to find.

Thanks in advance.

Post Edited (03-27-07 18:34)

2

for your first dea, I wouldn’t advise worrying about dealer issues. Just Git 'er Done!

Use the techniques and forms in Deals on Wheels, and it’ll go a lot smoother. There are other Lonnie Dealers in the Sac area; sniff around for local networking and referral trading.

Oh, wait - - - it doesn’t work in California

;-)3

3

I’m using techniques from the DoW book and I’m expecting to do the first deal later on today. I already have a potential buyer lined up, so I’m hoping it will work out.

I’ll dig more into the Dealer’s license issue after I’m done with this one. But if anyone does have some info on that, don’t hesitate to share :wink:

4

Be sure to get the park manager’s permission before you buy the home. You don’t want to end up in a situation where you have to move your newly acquired home.

Daphne

5

Thanks for the advice. I have already talked to the manager and she is fine with the home staying on the lot.

6

something to be VERY careful about is the Park’s requirements for your new buyer. Time and time again I hjave heard horror stories of the Park NOT qualifying new owners for all kinds of reasons.

Once you take over the lease on the lot, there is little incentive for them to change, and puts you in the risky situation of paying lot rent on a home which is very difficult to sell.

Try to work out an agreement with the manager where there is incentive ($$$) for them to help in your quest for a qualified buyer. They do not want the mobile to leave, so you are actually doing them a huge favor finding them a long term tenant. Maybe try to get reduced lot rent until unit sells and pay them a nice spiff for showing the home…

Greg Meade