Posted by GerryH on November 28, 2001 at 16:34:22:
lyal…Wanted to thank you for the excellent advice. It will take a little reconditioning of my thought process on this!
It can’t Happen here! - Posted by GerryH
Posted by GerryH on November 25, 2001 at 20:53:42:
I know you all have heard this a million times but maybe Lonnie deals are not a dime a dozen in my area.
I have been out to many MHPs were I can buy homes for $2,000 to $4,000 and have not found hardly any for sale. After talking around I have realized that many of the mobile homes are owned by the MHP owner and rented out. In fact, one park had over 90% owned by the MHP owner. Many of the nicer mobile home parks do occasionally have one for sale (always over $12,000) but they are also run by mobile home dealers. In fact, many of the trailer parks are named after the dealer. I can probably get into this market but it will be slow as I will need to buy them for at least half of what they are asking.
I really want to get into the trailer parks where the homes are $2,000 to $4,000 but am having trouble finding them for sale. I am also not wanting to necessarily “compete” with the MHP owner who is there 24/7. I live in a fairly rural area so there are not a whole lot of transient people (not like Chesapeake VA anyway) wanting to leave mobile homes.
Is this common in rural areas? Any ideas on how to approach this or should I just keep shopping?
Re: It can’t Happen here! - Posted by lyal
Posted by lyal on November 25, 2001 at 22:18:12:
Gerry,
You’re making assumptions about what you can buy for 2k - 4k and where they are that are probably not valid.
You aren’t looking for homes, you’re looking for motivated sellers.
Get a list of parks within a 30 minute drive from www.bigyellow.com and or your county assessor’s office and start cruising. Don’t pick and choose. Cruise them all! Stop and talk to some people and make small talk. Work in a “do you know if there are any homes for sale”? If they know of any, ask what homes usually sell for in the park, how long has the home(s) they know about been for sale and why it is for sale. You are looking for indications that the seller really NEEDS TO SELL NOW! Then go and chat them up a bit. Follow Lonnie’s approach and use the “If I paid you cash today, what’s the best you can do?” Whatever they answer, change the subject and then later work back to “Are you sure that’s the best you can do on the price?” and see what happens. I would suggest you talk to at least 10 sellers before you even think about buying something. It’s at that point you start to become aware of what a good deal looks like. Also last big point, NEVER sign an agreement or pay any money until you talk to the PM and make sure it’s ok to work there. Even a screaming deal isn’t any good if you can’t get a buyer past the park manager.
Whatever pre-conceived ideas you have about what you are looking for, just FORGET them and follow Lonnie’s directions.
All the best, Lyal