Done Deal: 3/2 Singlewide Mobile Home In a Park

(Note: Since I’ve received a lot of requests for more case studies, I thought I’d make a post on another one. Enjoy!)

Like many of my deals nowadays, this one came through a park manager in one of my favorite parks. There was never a “For Sale” sign and no one knew it was for sale. Inside deals are the best! 🙂

Now, I had known about this home for quite some time. In our talks, the park manager had mentioned the seller (who was a landlord) had been wanting to sell this home. The seller had run into some personal issues and just did not want to be in the mobile home business anymore. (This is why I stress the importance of this post.) Though, the problem was they were wanting to sell with the current tenants in place which I have a rule never to do.

(Note: If a seller who is a landlord asks me if I’d buy a home with tenants in them, I usually tell them we have to wait until the current lease expires or they move out willingly. Otherwise, I just don’t deal with existing tenants and prefer to have homes I buy vacant. Honestly, I really don’t want to take on new problems and would rather find my own folks to work with than working with existing ones who may be used to the management style of the previous owner. Just my experience!)

In any case, months go by and I notice in my visits to the park that the home seemed to be vacant. Driving by during different times of the day, I did not see any cars in the driveway.

(Note: This is why it’s so important to know your market and the areas you work in. When working in my favorite parks, I make sure I know what’s going on at all times!)

One day as I was in the park office talking with the manager, somehow I almost forgot to bring up this particular home. When talking, sometimes I get carried away and absorbed in different areas of conversation. Though as I was walking out, I knew there was something I forgot to mention and suddenly it came to mind — this particular home.

As I was in the doorway ready to exit out, I turned to the park manager and said, “Oh by the way, do you know what’s going on with the home that landlord wants to sell with tenants still in them?” And, guess what?

Immediately, the park manager’s face lit up and told me the tenants had actually just moved out. Apparently, there was a job loss in the family and they were not able to keep up with the rent. So now, the home had been vacant and the seller just talked to the manager about wanting to get the home sold.

(Note: As many of you who have been reading the blog know, most of these leads have come from just talking to the park manager. Though, they sometimes come up at the end of our conversations. Many times, it always ends in “Oh by the way” or “I forgot to tell you about this home.” Again, this is just one of those things about networking — folks have to be able to know and like you in order to trust you!)

To make things even more interesting, I actually had met and talked with the seller before. This particular landlord had started doing business in the park after I had established myself in the early days. One day, I came into the office and they had been talking with the prior park manager. Apparently, they had bought a home I had seen earlier but passed on as the price was too high. So, they ended up buying it.

When I came into the office, the park manager had introduced me and I graciously accepted this landlord’s invitation to keep in touch. Over the years, we would talk mostly about the market and offering advice based on my experience. Basically, I kept the lines of communication open.

(Note: Despite what others think, knowing folks who do what you do or want to do in a particular area can be a good thing. Some see competition negatively while others do not. In my experience, it’s actually helped business wise. Not everyone is going to have the same criteria or do things the same way — use this to your advantage.)

So when it came time to sell, the park manager got on the phone and called the landlord. The park manager said they had someone in the office interested in the home and even better it was someone they knew who was already approved by the park. The seller asked who and the park manager said it was me. (I said “hi” as the park manager held the phone up!) And, the park manager set up the appointment for me to meet with the seller.

The rest is history. The seller met me at the home and told me they really just wanted a quick sale. We negotiated a price that worked for both of us. Since this was a rental, it was a bit rougher than most of the homes I buy from homeowners. So going in, the seller knew the price we agree on would have to reflect on the condition of the home.

Most of the issues were fairly cosmetic. The good thing was that all of the piping had been changed out from grey pipe to PVC which is always a plus.

(Note: For those interested, I may put another walk-thru video on this one down the road. Thanks for reading!)

Here are some pics of the inside:

Living Room

Kitchen

Hallway to Master Bedroom and Utility Room

Utility Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Interesting Toilet

(Note: Different flushes based on type used to save water!)

All in all, I spent 11k on the home including the stove, refrigerator and storage shed.
I found a nice family for it — I received $1600 upon move in and it cash flows in the $500/month range for 10 years. It made for a nice and relaxing cashflow payday for many years to come.

Happy investing!

p.s. Feel free to leave comments on any post either here and/or my Facebook Page. Comments are always welcome, thanks for reading!