Posted by Marty (MO) on February 15, 2005 at 24:16:53:
Nate, this is so much fun! I still think about this as soon as I wake up and I’m thinking about it now. I’m excited for you- you’ll be creating the lifestyle that you want and you’ll be putting people in good, affordable housing. It doesn’t get much better.
As far as the deal you’re working on, we’ve bought a number of trailers (we sell mobile homes! who said that?) for under $500- don’t get excited about that. Sometimes, those $500 deals are alligators disguised as deals. Make sure the home is marketable.
Marty
Possible deal…should I go for it - Posted by Nate Andree
Posted by Nate Andree on February 13, 2005 at 20:22:35:
Hey guys,
I just spent almost two hours in a MH park today. I never met so many nice people and so many homes for sale. At least 4 are for sale and the sellers were giving me more leads on MH for sale in other parks. One family brought me in and poured me some kool-aid and got on the phone to their brothers about the homes they knew that were for sale. I thought to myself…is this a dream? Are you fricking kidding me? I need to talk about one in particular. A 1964 mh. Very motivated sellers. Been selling it for a year. They showed me around and I just asked simple questions. They just kept blabbing on. It was great. They did most of the talking. I asked what they wanted for it and the said 2K. Then the wife said that was a year ago so were willing to take 1500.00. So already they are saving me 500 bucks. Plus I know I can offer them less and they will take it and run. It does need some work but really its not all that bad. Simple stuff. Needs a stove. Needs to be painted. Maybe carpet. The outside is not that great. Not sure what I can do there. Furnace is good. Fridge is year old and staying. Got all the info on lot rent, utilities, etc. I’m meeting with them on Wed to talk about an offer. A beautiful thing about this is my neighbor is very handy and can fix what needs to be done. I’ll help him along the way to keep my costs down. I don’t have a good idea what it will cost me to put it in “buyer shape” as this is my first possible deal. Maybe I can sell it “as is”. My offer to them is going to be in the 600-800 range. I’ve had Lonnie’s book for a week and I’m already working on a deal! I think I will have about 2K in this thing tops and then sell it. Maybe for 5K, 500-1000 down, 30 month term, 16% interest. I guess my biggest thing is the year of 1964. That’s pretty old. I guess if I can make a deal happen then why not. This newbie is looking to get his feet wet. I would like any advice you can give me.
Re: Possible deal…should I go for it - Posted by Mark (Or)
Posted by Mark (Or) on February 15, 2005 at 09:20:55:
Nate, Everyone else has told you this trailer is too old, overpriced, won’t sell, etc. The next to last mobile I sold was a 1964 kit. I got $8,000, $2300 down, $150 a month for 42 mo. In So.Cal, it would be worth 3 times that. It is up to you to learn YOUR market. The others may be right… or not.
Re: Possible deal…should I go for it - Posted by Michael(KCMO)
Posted by Michael(KCMO) on February 14, 2005 at 16:27:54:
How much would it sell for AS-IS? I would not want to be into this home for $2k. If I could buy it for $500 or less w/ a reasonable assurance I could sell it in 30 days (you’ll have to be familiar w/ your market) for $500 to $1000 down and XXX for X months, then I’d go for it.
Since you’re not yet familiar w/ your market, I’d run your test ad and see what you can come up w/. In the meantime, make the sellers name all the numbers.
“How much are you asking?
How did you arrive at that price?
You say you want $XXXX. What kind of offers were you really expecting?
OH, you were expecting in the $XXX range? Well, if I were to pay you all cash, what is the
lowest price you would take for the trailer?
Is that the best you can do?”
Well, I’ll have to discuss it w/ my partner. Here’s my card."
Or something along those lines.
Michael Stilfield
P.S.
I can’t take credit for the above dialogue. It’s a conglomerate of great advice I’ve received from this site!
Re: Possible deal…should I go for it - Posted by Marty (MO)
Posted by Marty (MO) on February 13, 2005 at 22:23:34:
Look before you leap- this isn’t a deal around here. Where are you located? Do you have a buyer’s list? Is there a market for homes this old? I’ve never heard of a motivated seller trying to sell for a year. Motivated sellers have to sell NOW.
My advice is to be patient and follow the book. Have a buyer’s list in place. The deal of a lifetime comes along every week.
Keep working the parks and talking to people and the deals will be knocking down your door.
Good luck,
Marty
Re: Possible deal…should I go for it - Posted by Nate Andree
Posted by Nate Andree on February 14, 2005 at 04:37:56:
I’m located in Wisconsin, about 25 south of Green Bay. I have not accumulated a buyers list yet. I plan on running some ads this coming weekend to get some responses to start on a list.
Re: Possible deal…should I go for it - Posted by Hiya Nate
Posted by Hiya Nate on February 14, 2005 at 08:10:35:
Hiya Nate,
I’m not sure of the values in Wisconsin, but I’m about 40 miles west of St. Louis and that’s way too high for me. You may be able to do an OK deal with this home, but I think with a little patience you can do a GREAT deal that will get your business flying.
It sounds like you’ve talked to a lot of people… Be sure the park managers, water guys, etc know about your $100 referral program and get a solid buyer’s list. Our shelf life on a buyer’s list is usually just a couple weeks, but motivated buyers and sellers don’t have a great deal of time. Focus on the motivation, instead of the home. If you have a buyer who has to have the old home (“That’s just like the home my momma reared me in!”) it’s a buy…
Good luck and keep me posted-
Marty
Re: Possible deal…should I go for it - Posted by Nate Andree
Posted by Nate Andree on February 14, 2005 at 18:08:37:
This site is great. I appreciate your candid responses. This is what I have decided to do. I’m still going to meet with the owners on Wed. just to see what they are willing to take. Its my belief they would take 500 bucks. I’m going to run an ad in the manufactured home section of the local fishwrap for this weekend. I’m going to include this tin can in the ad to see what the market looks like. I will keep you all posted. This should be fun!