Is this normal in the MHP industry?
I worked with my attorney to draft a Letter of Intent to purchase my first MHP. I email it off to the seller (who happens to be a realtor). He says he
Letter of Intent (LOI) is quite routine in commercial and MHP purchases. You were dealing with 2 factors that made this deal a no go. Number one is the seller was a realtor which limits creativity, increases desire for only full retail cash price etc.
Factor 2 is you were dealing with a realtor seller (starting to sense a trend). Most realtors are not familiar with nor do they like LOI. They have had the contract hammered into their brains from day one. They have also been scared senseless in many cases to only, ever use the standard, board of realtor approved contracts. This contract is not necessarily intended to protect the buyer or seller but rather the real estate broker. This is with good reason as one broker gets sued, the contracts get altered over time. If this realtor/seller did alter the contract then you can be certain it was not weighted in your favor.
Factor 2 1/2 is your not dealing with a motivated seller. You are dealing with a seller who is trying to control the entire deal (the realtor finally gets to be a principle and wants to show their stuff).
The clauses in the contract weren’t necessarily your problem, it was the non-motivated seller/realtor. Unless you can come to the negotiation table from a position of strength you may as well not show up.
Remind yourself and your seller that you don’t need to buy but they need to sell. If they are motivated to sell then you will move forward. If they can sell to anyone and everyone then you are not in a position of strength and not working with a motivated seller so move on.
Chalk this one up to experience and move on to the next deal.
Tony Colella