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

Stories and adventures about my experience investing in mobile homes.

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, this lead came through during the winter. According to the park manager, the seller was planning on building a new home wanting a quick sale with this one. The seller wanted to be sure they could sell this home in time to move into their new home. Though, the tricky part was coordinating the whole process!

(Note: This reminds me of my first deal — I had to do the same thing!)

Being that the seller did not have a place to live other than their own home, we had to wait until their new home was built and they could move in before buying and closing on this one. So the process did take some time.

I met with the seller in the winter to check out the home. After viewing the home, I knew it was something I’d be interested in. It was my favorite type of home — late 1990s, 16×80, 3 bedroom, 2 bath.

The seller told me the park manager had highly recommended working with me and their desire for a quick sale. I told the seller when they’re ready to sell, I could close fast and they would not have to worry about finding a buyer to qualify for the park. They could settle into their new home immediately and move on with their life — just what the seller wanted to hear!

(Note: I do not start negotiations until the seller is at a point where they need to sell. It just does not make any sense to me. I’ve had cases where I was too quick to negotiate a deal when the seller was not ready — deals fell apart as circumstances changed and sellers changed their mind. Just my experience!)

In any case, we agreed to keep in touch and meet again when things were more concrete. The winter passed and every month I’d talk with the seller to check up on things. Each time, the seller assured me the new home was still being built and they were still waiting for completion.

(Note: Sometimes things do not always go as planned especially in this business! My pal Sharon wrote a great article on this subject. Thanks for reading!)

As winter passed, spring came and again I touched base with the seller. Things were moving and the home was almost complete. At that point, we decided to meet and start negotiations.

Regarding the home itself, there were a few minor issues but for the most part it was cosmetics. To help with the repairs, I had my handyman write-up an estimate and showed it to the seller. I gave the seller the choice of either doing the repairs themselves before we closed or I could deal with them deducting the repair amount from the price.

The seller mulled it over eventually deciding to just deduct the repair amount from the price. To say the least, the seller did not want to have to deal with doing repairs before they could move into their new home!

So, we agreed on a price and I had the home under contract. It took a few more weeks until the seller’s new home was complete. Once it was done, we scheduled a date to close.

Now, this closing was a bit different as the title was in the seller’s father’s name. Though, the seller told me this upfront (which the park manager confirmed). The seller had said they had the authority to sell the home but their father would have to come from out of town for the closing to sign the papers. (Yet another coordination effort!)

(Note: I’ve run across this issue on multiple deals. It definitely can be done! You just need to make sure you trust the person you are dealing with. If not, then it can really be a time waster. For those interested, I write more about the types of folks I work with in my book. Thanks for reading!)

Once the home was complete, we scheduled a time to close. The seller moved all of their items out of this home (and even cleaned it!) to their new home. I met the seller’s father who arrived from out of town and we closed on the deal.

Here are some pics of the inside:

Living Room

Kitchen

Utility Room

Hallway to Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Storage Shed

All in all, I spent 15k on the home including the stove, refrigerator and storage shed. I found a nice family for it — I received $2000 upon move in and it cash flows in the $450/month range for 15 years. It made for a nice and relaxing cashflow payday for many years to come.

Happy investing!

(Note: As a side note, I’d like to personally thank everyone who took the time to read my new book and write a review here as well as on my Amazon book page(s) — your support means the world to me!

For those who have read the book and enjoyed it, I hope you share your thoughts on it [via Amazon review, website, blog, etc]. I really appreciate your support!)

p.s. Feel free to leave comments on my Facebook Page. Comments are always welcome, thanks for reading!

(Disclosure: Some posts may contain affiliate links.)

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