I’m facing a challenge in attracting qualified buyers to purchase homes in our park, despite having plenty of interest. We receive more than 10 inquiries per day and 5-10 financing applications each week. Unfortunately, all our applicants seem to fall into one of three categories: their credit doesn’t meet the lender’s minimum requirements, they can’t afford the 5-10% downpayment, or they disappear without a trace.
We currently work with Zippy for financing, and I believe they have some of the lowest credit requirements among MH lenders. However, we’re still struggling to find qualified applicants.
I manage two communities, one in upper Alabama and the other in South Georgia. Both communities are situated in semi-rural areas. Over the past four months, I’ve been actively marketing brand new Tru homes in our community, selling them at invoice and setup cost (around $50,000). Additionally, I have a dedicated team member who follows up with warm and hot leads every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
We list our homes on various platforms including Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, MH Village, and Zillow FSBO.
I’m feeling quite frustrated and exhausted while trying to find solutions for attracting qualified buyers. I would greatly appreciate any tips or guidance you could offer.
That does sound very frustrating! I’ve experienced similar issues before.
I’m curious about a couple of things:
What is the median sale price for houses in both of these areas? I’m wondering if houses are cheap, then maybe a new mobile home for $50k on leased land isn’t all that attractive?
Have you tried listing any of your homes on the MLS so you reach the broadest number of buyers? I use a flat fee listing service for this and it can be as cheap as $100/listing. You still have to pay 3% or so to the buyers agent, but they do all the work.
I always like to ask people once they’ve viewed a home if they plan to apply/purchase it, and if not, then why? Feedback like this from potential buyers can be incredibly valuable.
Good point, there are a few single families in the area of the Alabam park under 100k but this is still the most affordable on the market
I just listed on the MLS using flat fee like you recommended, hopefully that gets it in front of people looking to purchase, not rent
I’ve been directing people towards getting preapproved before viewing, should we be showing the home first and then getting them preapproved? Based on our statistics they are 50/50 on if they can get approved, so I figured getting them preapproved first would save time for everyone.
If I were in your position I would try raising the price on the homes. At 50K you are attracting the wrong clientel as you have discovered. See if you can find a real estate agent that will list it at 75K.
I have also thought about this…in my Alabam park there are single families at the 75k mark so I dont know if raising prices makes sense but in the Georgia park there is very little housing stock in general so raising the price might be a counterintuitive, but effective route
A little better, we just started using Triad for lending, which has a lower credit minimum. Their application process is a little tedious so I’ve been working on the best way to streamline that. Still no qualifiers yet for our GA homes but we had an influx of interest in our AL homes and the last of those are set to close those this week.
It sounds like it may be a symptom of being in a depressed market. I would look closely at the demographics to determine if it is easy to sell homes or not. If you are continuously turning people down, then it may be a market that is better suited to used homes than new ones.
We have been in markets that have a lot of low income, people with declining populations, and it is always challenging to sell homes in those markets.But
If the homes have sat for a long time, and you still can’t find a buyer, you may want to consider renting them, or renting to own them.
ya that’s what I’m finding. I didn’t follow my primary rule of proximity to a walmart (closest one to this park is 45 minutes) and I’m living the reason why. I ended up selling my new home at a loss just to get the lot full and have turned focus to used homes, which I’m able to get the monthly financed payment + lot rent to something more in line with the market. Another learning lesson, luckily it was on a small scale.
If possible could a RV be placed on the MH site? Need no special mover or highway permits, or local permits? nice homes under $20,000 on Craigslist—very, very, easy eviction process IF needed—at least give it a try with the local zoning board. When you locate a nice MH send the RV packing and continue your upgrading of your property. Very difficult to fill an older MH park when near New or Newer APARTMERNTS are within 4 miles plus need to be within 10 miles of a Walmart, etc. Lots of former successful parks going on their second or third owner and trying to change a dying entity—good luck. When the parks where first built most had a WAITING LIST wanting a site—and the LOCAL proprietor expended as needed. 30 years ago POH’s parks were very, very few in number and were mostly in the south. where wages were very low (Alabama, Georgia for example). Lots of people are MOVING around and do their jobs from their RV’s. Mobile Homes are getting difficult to move.