There’s a park I had bought a house in years ago in Marysville, Ohio. I called and called the park to get permission to keep it there. Alas, they never responded to me, obviously not wanting money. So I made to move the home to another, friendly park in the vicinity. Now, lo and behold, when the mover shows up, a very rude district manager shows up screaming at the mover, threatening to ban the mover (illegal in Ohio under those circumstances), block the move (also illegal), etc. Real nice guy. We talk and I ask - where were you when I wanted to give you money before? I would love to work your park. I’ll pay you 1/2 the lot rent (I did not have to pay any) if you let me work your park. We agree. We moved the home and sold it for cash (rare, I know) and I went to talk to the manager at the original park about leads…and she told me that the district manager, her boss, blackballed me! Liar, liar!
My wife and a partner just found a 2BR home in that park, 1984 14x70, needs carpet, paint & skirting, otherwise solid, for $500, that we will move to our own park in Indiana (hah, hah, hah, no Ohio surtaxes, I mean “inspection fees”) and sell as a well-priced Lonnie to fill an empty spot.
Guess which lawyer will call the park representing the buyers? We will pay rent by the day, they will of course object. But I have no contract agreeing to pay the whole month, and the best they could recover in court is “for value given”, which is to say, rent by the day. I cannot wait to have that conversation of “how things are” and “you really have no choice” and explain that interfering with the move would cost them dearly under Ohio law. Doesn’t hurt that the mover is from Indiana and doesn’t give a fig about the park’s feelings. I cannot wait to poach more homes from these people. Karma can take time, but it comes around - and helping it along is often fun.
BTW, the Lonnie Deal came from my wife & our partner scrawling their numbers and “We Buy Mobile Homes” on a piece of notebook paper and leaving it on a bulletin board. The couple that owns the home started at $1,500 and called back a few hours later saying “we’ll take $500”. Classic Lonnie, except for the move to fill our dirt. Carolina (my wife, who has more time to do deals than I do) and our two partners have picked up another 4 deals of similar caliber in the last 2 weeks, all which will be moved to fill our lots. Not too shabby…though I haven’t figured out how to get away with calling her a squirrel dog and live to tell about it.
John Hyre