Posted by Matt B on December 08, 1998 at 06:13:29:
It’s been my experience that awesome deals are all over the place. All you have to do is look. I have bought my mobiles for under $1,000. I also see PLENTY more of these. I have then sold for $5,000. There does not seem to be any shortage of these. Of course there are also plenty of overpriced, small profit margin mobiles out there as well, but you just sift through them. It may vary from state to state or area to area, but I can tell you from experience that they are out there.
Hey I finally did it! My very first deal:-) Just thought I’d pass along the following for those who are still out there lurking and haven’t tried any of the techniques that can be found at this web site. I have been a lurker for a few weeks and finally decided that Lonnie deals would be the best way to get my feet wet. I bought one of Lonnie’s books and started cruising parks. After coming close to taking the plunge on a couple of MHs I got a good feel for what the market would bear (prices are about twice here what Lonnie can get them for). I eventually found a MH that looked worth going for. This couple wanted $7500 for an old 14 X 70 2 bed 1 bath. I made a low offer which they wouldn’t go for. I asked a few questions and found out that they still owed $5800 on the MH and $2000 in back lot rent. They basically just wanted out of the debt. After negotiating with the lender and park owner I was able to pay a total of $4000 to clear everything. I sold the MH the same day I closed. I got $800 down
I think the last part of my message got cut off. I sold the MH for $8000 the same day I bought it. I got $800 down and $200/month for 46 months at 13.12%. My yield calculates to 69%. That is not too bad really. I’m happy, my buyers are happy, the park owner is happy and my seller’s lender is happy. I hope this motivates someone out there to just do it!
Re: First Lonnie Deal (cont’d) - Posted by John Katitus
Posted by John Katitus on December 08, 1998 at 01:14:14:
I continue to look for my first mobile home deal. I could have made similar deals to the one you describe, but have been waiting for one as good as Lonnie’s.
My question: Should I keep waiting, or are deals as good as in Lonnie’s book only occasionally encountered? I’m wondering if he chose his best deals for his book to illustrate how lucrative it can be, and if he would still recommend deals not quite as good. Not that the one above isn’t great.
Re: First Lonnie Deal (cont’d) - Posted by John (KS)
Posted by John (KS) on December 08, 1998 at 08:30:27:
I agree with MattB, the deals are there. It may vary from state to state, but I think no matter where you are you can find MH’s for around or under $1000, someone will always need out badly. I have 5 MH deals done in only 2 months. I got three of them for less than $700, $1700 for one, and $2600 for another. I more than tripled my money on three of them and doubled it on the other two. the only reaseon I only doubled it on two was because, one was my first deal and I was happy to get it done, the other had title problems and I was happy to get it out of my hands.
When I started cruising parks, I started with the nicer ones I was familiar with. Soon I realized there were older more run down parks all over town I had never noticed before. The homes in these parks can be bought for next to nothing. The people in these parks are happy to end up with $500 in their pocket. They usually just want out because they are moving up to a house or nicer MH and want out of the crappy trailer, or they have fallen on hard times and cannot afford the $140 lot rent and are moving in with family. Remember you make alot of money on the buy. Always make lower offers even if you think the price they are asking is fair. Let them say no and think about it for a few weeks, then your phone will be ringing with a seller begging you to buy it. You didn’t mention if you had Lonnie’s books or not, if not get them, he teaches you how to run the price down when looking at a possible buy. Good Luck