Mobile Home Dealer License Per State (Updated)

Thank you Dave and Cindy. You have continued to shine, close deals, and make a great name for yourself in your area. Also, thank you for taking such an active role and helping out with the private facebook group. The dedication, excitement, and eagerness you bring to MH investing is sincerely exciting to watch. I’m always here to help.

Best,
John

Hi Matt,

Thank you very much for taking the time to relay this valuable experience to us and other WA investors. That makes a lot of sense that this organization may offer liberal answers to help deter competition from entering the market. Wa is not the only state that this has happened to us. Sometime it has takes us 5 or more calls to the same department to get a clear answer on the subject from someone who says they know what their talking about. Thanks for looking out.

Talk soon,
John Fedro

Hi Paul,

Thanks for reaching out to me on this. Congrats for having the guts and drive to begin investing and building another income stream for yourself. As I read your comment I see you have 3 questions. Please see the answers to those questions below.

1. What are my options for getting a deal done without a MH broker license? As I mentioned above you are in the driver’s seat when it comes to getting a mobile home “deal” done in the next few days or weeks. There will be nobody monitoring your investing until you become larger. With that said there is nothing physically stopping you from getting your first few deals. The state does want you to become licensed if you plan on buying/selling more than 1 per year in your state. You mentioned above there is a bond required (which can cost several hundred dollars per year) and other requirements that must be met. This is required if you plan to stay in this business and aim to build your MH investing business larger and larger.

2. What about contacting an established licensed broker in my area and asking if they would be willing to draw up a note for a MH sale in my name in exchange for a commission on the sale? I have never done this but I would imagine this would be difficult to find a broker willing to put his license on the line for you. However it is certainly worth calling around and asking. Are you trying to get this license mainly to create Notes? If this is the main reason there are other easier ways to legally create notes without being a dealer.

3. Do you know if this would be legal and/or a broker would typically be willing to do so? I think it would be unorthodox and not typical, but some of the best business ideas have started out this way.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you’re still confused and we’ll get to the bottom of the issue.

Best,
John

Hi Anand,

Thank you for commenting and welcome aboard the MHDMF again.

Becoming licensed is important. However not wasting money on education you will not use or benefit from is even more important. With that said make sure you complete your first few deals with ease and excitement and see a future in this business. Then once you prove you like this business and wish to continue you should become licensed to improve your State specific knowledge and business contacts.

Have you singed up for our Member’s only Facebook group yet? If not the link is in the Mental Attitude Training module. Also, send me your Action Assignment results form module 1 once complete so I may review your progress. This should take no longer than 2 weeks, 1 week if possible.

Best,
John

Thank you. I too am glad you stumbled on over to my site. Please don’t hesitate to ask any further MHI questions in the future.

All the best, John Fedro

Hi Mary,

Thanks for commenting and reaching out to me about this. In short Yes, selling mobile homes inside your park will require that you and/or your company become licensed as a dealer. There are multiple types of dealer licenses that you may obtain in Arizona. See a list here at the following link. http://www.dfbls.az.gov/omh/licensing/dealer.aspx

In addition you may be able to work under a dealer without obtaining your own license. For this I suggest you personally call the licensing office to ask a clerk, explain your situation, and ask for help. These folks at the MH division will also be able to inform you when the next class is and the procedure moving forward. I hope this helps and makes sense. All the best and don’t hesitate to ask any further questions you may have.

Talk soon,
John Fedro

Hi Tom,

Thanks for commenting and thank you for bringing that up. Wyoming does not have a Cap when it comes to purchasing and reselling mobile homes for a profit. There is no special license needed. Have fun up there 🙂

Talk soon,
John

Hi Sandy,

Thanks for commenting and reaching out on this issue. No, I do not have a list of mobile home manufactures. My advice is to Google search and look online for nearby factories and dealerships. To answer your question about licensing the state says you should have your “dealer” or “retailer” license if you plan to sell mobile homes for profits. If you are planning to act as a Realtor and help people sell their homes you will need your Realtor’s license as well.

I hope this helps. If you have any follow up questions do not hesitate to ask them as well.

Talk soon,
John Fedro

Hi Jacob,

Thanks for commenting and your kind words. Your questions are ones that are good for a podcast of their own. However, to not keep you in suspense I’ll answer your questions now. Concerning a mobile home inside a park we do not use appraisals and they are pointless unless you are obtaining a loan or some types of insurance. In parks we base our purchase offers on what we know the home can sell for by knowing what buyers will pay. This is a combination of testing your market and knowing your market from past experience with regards to 2 and 3 bedrooms mobile homes when selling for payments. If selling for all cash then Realtors and park managers will be a decent source to start getting resale prices and days on the market figures. When investing in mobile homes on land then an appraisal or comps are needed before you purchase. There is a lot more we can discuss about the topic so let me know if this makes sense and any further follow up questions you have.

Talk soon,
John Fedro

Hi Vick,

Thanks for commenting and stopping by. Glad you found us. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out and ask.

Talk soon,
John

Hi Joey,

Thank you for commenting and reaching out. First off, I am happy that you are almost on your way down south to a warmer area.

Concerning selling your MH, it sounds like your back is against the wall at $28k (or higher if using a Realtor), unless you want to bring money to the closing table. Make sure you are advertising in print media as well as online, such as Craigslist. I say this because if you are not correctly marketing to the masses this is step 1 to drive calls and foot-traffic to your door. If you do consider holding payments I agree with you that you should wait until you receive an amount down that will make you most comfortable. When dealing with payment-type buyers they can be very flaky and may default on you, which means you may have to come back to NY to resell the home.

I hope this helps some. If you have any follow up questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Talk soon,
John

Talk soon,
John

Hi Susan,

Thank you for reaching out and connecting. The answer to your question is, it depends. This will depend on the state that you are in. Some states require no license at all. However if your state does require a license and the park owner typically giving you permission will not satisfy this licensing requirement. In certain situations when the park owner is a licensed dealer, you may work underneath this dealer however there is typically still training or a license that you will need to obtain prior to reselling homes legally. Keep in mind that there are many many parks and park managers around the country selling mobile homes without the right type of licenses or paperwork. However I would very much encourage you to contact the mobile home title transferring department in your state. Explain the situation to them they will be the ones to give you the exact answers of one a license will be needed. I hope this helps and puts you in the right direction. Moving forward if you have any follow-up questions now moving forward never hesitate to reach out anytime. All the best.

Talk soon,
John

Hi Vicki,

Thank you for reaching out and connecting. Good job trying to call a few times to get to the bottom of this question. There are handful of mobile home investors that I know in your state. All of these investors are investing ethically and keeping their buyers and sellers safe. However I am not sure that any of them are licensed at the moment. Some states require much more training and redtape than other states to become licensed. I am not 100% certain of the newest Pennsylvania requirements to become licensed and I do not want to give you any wrong or misleading information. For this reason absolutely stay on the phone as long as possible to get in touch with the manager of the licensing department and the DOT. I apologize for not being able to answer this question however I would rather you hear directly from the horses mouth and speak to someone working at the state. Please feel free to reply to keep in touch and let us know what is required as of the current date. Thanks for your help and commenting.

Talk soon,
John

Hi Jon,

Thank you for reaching out and connecting. First things first, congratulations with regards to the land you own and adding more and more mobile homes to the property. Great work aiming to do the things the right way by getting license. Also understood with regards to the considerable discount that you will get from the factory. Different states will require you jump through various hoops before, during, and after you are licensed. $1000 per home is definitely a reasonable fee. With that said do not let the surety bond scare you. A bond is a type of insurance of sorts. You will pay yearly premium for this bond. You may pay a few years in advance depending on the company that you use. Call at least three surety bond companies to check out the lowest prices. In my experience you should be paying under $2000 or less per year for $35000 surety bond. You can probably find it for under $1000 per year if you look enough. I hope this helps and points you in the right direction. Definitely get licensed and keep investing. Not just in your own property but investing in other mobile homes as well. Hope this helps and makes sense. Any follow-up questions please never hesitate to reach out anytime. Keep up the great work!