What a pickle I'm in... - Posted by Debra-SC

Real Estate Investing Mobile Homes & Mobile Home Parks
#1

Posted by Karl (Oh) on November 27, 2000 at 23:43:17:

Debra,

The actual move probably can be done for close to $500. That would be the tear down, unblock the home and put it on wheels, tote it to the new location, and reblock and level. I pay about $600 for all that. Its the setup that costs extra. I pay about $100 per utility (gas, electric, water, sewer) plus about $200 for materials, labor and material for tie-downs, and another $400 for new skirting installed. Plus it seems like there’s always something extra that costs a little more than expected, and there’s always someone who doesn’t do what they promised, making the move a real drag. When you move a home, you’re sometimes at the mercy of some real colorful folks. Not always fun. I would talk to the PM of the park it’s moving to, they may have someone cheap they could recommend to do the hook up. Find out if you need permits and inspections on the new electric and sewer. If its a nice home that they want in their park, ask them if they could help pay for some or all of the moving costs. I’ve done this a couple times on newer homes I’ve moved.

Careful with your terminology with the buyer. Don’t mix the term downpayment with option fee. An option fee is non-refundable if they don’t purchase at the end of the lease, (unless you want to give some of it back in exchange for them not trashing the home). If they don’t buy the home, forfeiting the option fee makes sense, keeping the downpayment sound unfair. I’m guessing you want the $1500 to be an option fee. If the buyer doesn’t exercise the option, and your agreement says downpayment, it would be hard to justify keeping the downpayment in front of the judge on a home they didn’t end up buying.

Just my opinion.

Karl Kleiner

#2

What a pickle I’m in… - Posted by Debra-SC

Posted by Debra-SC on November 27, 2000 at 17:59:57:

I’m ready to sign the contract on a 16 x 80 from a seller, my buyer is waiting to buy, called the MH transport people to get costs for moving and it’s a whopping $1600!!! Now what? the home MUST be moved. the buyer’s already have a space to put it. not only that, to get a moving permit, I have to buy some taxes for the coming year. Will I have to back out of this deal? Of course, that is only one estimate, but I don’t think any others will be far off. How do I foot this bill?

Thanks in advance. You have all really helped me thus far.

#3

I learned… - Posted by JHyre in Ohio

Posted by JHyre in Ohio on November 28, 2000 at 04:29:32:

not to guarantee a delivery time when moving. In fact, I estimate the time quoted by the mover and add a month, and make sure not to guarantee THAT! Like everything else, I learned this the hard way…had a woman who I gave a delivery date ESTIMATE and she still drove me NUTS. Called every couple of hours, threatened not to pay, yadda yadda yadda. It all worked out in the end, she paid cash and knew that she had gotten a good price, but whatta pain in my rear!

BTW, Karl’s numbers and experience are similar in my market, 100 miles north of him. Just don’t tell him I said so, 'cause I hate agreeing with him. His head might get bigger, which might in turn keep him awake duirng his 5-hour government-paid “workdays” and we wouldn’t want THAT, LOL.

John Hyre

#4

Re: What a pickle I’m in… - Posted by Karl (OH)

Posted by Karl (OH) on November 27, 2000 at 20:27:21:

Debra,

In Ohio, all the taxes through the end of the year have to be paid in order to get a moving permit. I pay about $2000 including new skirting to have a home moved and setup. It’s aggravating and time consuming. We’ve had a lot of discussion here about moving homes. Several of us posted that $2000-$2500 complete was about the average cost you could expect to pay by the time its all done. What kind of prices were you expecting?

Of course knowing this you have to buy a home that you’re going to move with the moving cost (and the aggravation cost) in mind. Have you already negotiated prices that don’t allow for this cost? Renegotiate. If the seller has to have his home moved to sell it, tell them you just found out the moving cost, you’re terribly sorry, but the price you can afford to pay just came down $2000. Is your buyer bringing the money to the deal to buy the home from the seller? Or are you selling on a note? Tell us about your deal, and maybe we can give you some more ideas on how to make it work out.

By the way, I’ve moved a number of homes and had them sold before I was done with the move. This was both good and bad, because then the buyer’s have their nose in the move. A couple moves I did ended up taking several weeks longer than expected because of problems with the utilities, I had promised a completion and move in date that got missed due to someone else’s slow work. So now I don’t show a home, or at least don’t agree to any numbers, before its completely done and ready to move into.

Karl Kleiner

#5

Re: What a pickle I’m in… - Posted by Debra-SC

Posted by Debra-SC on November 27, 2000 at 20:49:23:

To show how naive I am, I thought the price would be closer to one a prospective seller gave me, which was closer to $500!! Apparently, this was someone who knows him well and gave him a good deal.

The seller of the house I am trying to get is very nice and is going to call the person who moved the MH for her when she bought it. She is also going to call the A/C man who hooked up the c H/A (he’s also a friend of theirs).

Meanwhile, my buyer is calling me EVERY DAY because he wants to see the MH. I haven’t even given him a price yet. We just discussed the down payment and the payments (just like Lonnie said they do). Could I ask the buyer to pay the moving costs? He is paying $1500 down for the MH (his old one burned down and he is getting some $$ from that). BTW, I am L/O this home from the seller, who has built a house and is eager to get rid of this (that’s why she is so helpful in this. It was her idea to do the rental/L-O thing)

This is going to be a long week. I’m supposed to call my buyer tomorrow and let them know when they can see the house.