Posted by Steve-WA on March 08, 2005 at 13:45:47:
;-)3
Determining value of mobile home - Posted by Anne
Posted by Anne on March 04, 2005 at 15:02:58:
I know someone that is selling a 1996 mobile home for $30K not with the land. What is a good way to determine the value of a mobile home?
Re: Determining value of mobile home - Posted by Lyal
Posted by Lyal on March 05, 2005 at 17:41:14:
Anne,
Search the archives here. Been discussed in detail before.
All the best, Lyal
Re: Determining value of mobile home - Posted by c_lo
Posted by c_lo on March 04, 2005 at 23:52:17:
divide by 10
Re: Determining value of mobile home - Posted by Anne
Posted by Anne on March 05, 2005 at 09:10:29:
Your saying take 30K and divide by 10, which is 3K. This is what that mobile home is worth?
Re: Determining value of mobile home - Posted by Abel B Ramirez II
Posted by Abel B Ramirez II on March 05, 2005 at 10:50:38:
Anne,
I think that was more of a joke answer, but it very well could be true. Depends on your market. Open up the classifieds and see if you can’t find another MH at about the same year and size and see what they are selling for.
This sounds like an owner trying to get out from under his existing mortgage and probably not a good deal at all fro investment purposes and may not even be a good deal for another owner occupant.
Abel B Ramirez II
REI Noob
214-529-5626
Re: Determining value of mobile home - Posted by Ann
Posted by Ann on March 05, 2005 at 13:04:56:
Abel I think you are right. Thanks
Re: Determining value of mobile home - Posted by Tony Ferrullo
Posted by Tony Ferrullo on March 08, 2005 at 09:21:23:
Another way to determine value is to look in the N.A.D.A. manufactured housing appraisal guide. It comes out 3 times a year and will give you (by area of the country)the RETAIL value of a MH.
It you’re using Lonnie’s guide of at least doubling your costs of a MH in order to make your profit, then you could divide the retail value by two or two and 0ne-half to get what you should be paying for a mobile home and still make a profit.
Until you get a lot of experience buying a selling MH’s, the N.A.D.A. would be a reasonable substitute for experience. I paid 100.00 for a year’s subscription.
Recipe for disaster - Posted by Karl (Oh)
Posted by Karl (Oh) on March 11, 2005 at 24:12:02:
Tony,
I don’t know what your market is like in New Jersey, but in Ohio the NADA values are a joke. They’re just so wacked that they’re meaningless. If I would have started out buying homes for half of the NADA values, as you suggest, I would have been creamed long ago.
Steve and Lyal have a lot of experience putting together Lonnie Deals. They’re both right on the money about the NADA guide. Its a nice selling tool, that’s all. Don’t use it as a guide to buy. That was very poor advice, in my opinion. (Right up there with Doc telling us all to self insure.)
Here’s a great idea for determining local market values. Another investor in my town recently told me that he paid $25 to get the county auditor’s coveyance file of every mobile home that has been bought and sold in the past five years. With that info, he could see what every home has sold for by year, make, size, etc. Very nice market research. I wish I would have thought of that when I started.
Karl Kleiner
yikes! - Posted by Steve-WA
Posted by Steve-WA on March 08, 2005 at 10:21:53:
While the NADA may work sometimes (usually to show a buyer how great a deal they are getting below book value), it is too weird to use as a blanket source for value - - - especially when considering purchase price. Even half of NADA will often (not always, but usually) be way high for a wholesale purchase price.
I beg to differ with the NADA values being a substitute for experience. I think this is bad advice for most people looking to get in the game. . . unless, of course, the idea is to eliminate competition . . . hhmmmmm
;-)3
Re: yikes! - Posted by Tony Ferrullo
Posted by Tony Ferrullo on March 08, 2005 at 10:56:14:
Scott,
I didn’t say that the NADA guides were a substitute for experience.
I said “Until you get a lot of experience buying and selling MH’s, the N.A.D.A. would be a reasonable substitute for experience.”
I still think this is much better than a wildass guess, which is what you’re left with when you have absolutely no experience.
Yes, I agree that the NADA guides can sometimes be a little high on the Retail price. That’s why I said to divide by 2 or by 2 1/2 to zero in on a wholesale price.
I would be interested in hearing some other positive ideas on how a newbie should get this information.
Multiple approaches to help inexperienced investors become more knowledgable about this matter are always helpful.
NOVICES… PLEASE READ… - Posted by Lyal
Posted by Lyal on March 08, 2005 at 13:42:15:
Tony,
“Yes, I agree that the NADA guides can sometimes be a little high on the Retail price”
SOMETIMES… are you kidding me?!? They’re so far off the mark it’s not funny!
“I still think this is much better than a wildass guess, which is what you’re left with when you have absolutely no experience.”
Nope, what you’re left with is what’s in Lonnie’s book(s) and the archives here. Lots of good advice on how to determine values for your geography.
Sending a novice to the NADA as a reference for mobile home values will get them crushed before they even start. As Scott said, it’s great to use with sellers and I even use it with bankers (they love that stuff) but absolutely -positively do NOT use it to determine values to buy.
All the best, Lyal