Welcome back,
In today’s lesson we talk with Casey as he shows us around his second mobile home investment. Casey is a member of the Mobile Home Formula training/mentoring program and for the past few months has been committing over 30 hours per week to building his mobile home portfolio.
Like many investors, Casey is beginning to invest in mobile homes with limited money. Casey has set for himself a budget of $10,000 to begin flipping mobile home.
Casey’s Plan
Begin flipping mobile homes for all-cash profits. Then reinvest all profits back into mobile homes for long-term profit by renting or selling via monthly payments to a low-risk monthly-payment buyer. The mobile home in today’s video will be sold all-cash as a handyman special with some repairs still being needed for the end-buyer to complete.
Mobile home investing on a budget…
We all should be on a budget for every deal. It is this author/investor’s opinion that every mobile home investor should aim to have a budget and stay below this budget per each deal, whether a beginner investor or seasoned pro. Aim to double your invested capital when selling for cash or recoup your entire investment in less than 12 months when selling for payments. Budgets are good.
Special thanks to Casey for hopping on today’s video and sharing his latest mobile home flip to help other investors he’ll likely never meet. Keep up the great daily effort, Casey!
Video: Casey’s 2nd Deal | 1996 Singlewide 2/1
Taking action towards your mobile home investing goals
Casey had/has his fears, however he began taking immediate action and following the instructions he was provided in the Mobile Home Formula training. Casey is pushing through his fears one day/challenge at a time. It brings most mobile home investors some anxiety and fear speaking with park managers, mobile home sellers, mobile home buyers, other investors, brokers, Realtors, state officials, and more on a daily basis while getting started.
Have a plan and do it, again and again. If others have accomplished this goal, there is likely no reason you can’t do this as well. Even when we know almost exactly what to say/do, the first few dozen times speaking with others as a mobile home investor can be simultaneously nerve-racking, eye-opening, and fun.
Pro Tip: Have a Plan-A & Plan-B before, during, and even after every mobile home flip.
Related Video: Introducing yourself to local park managers.
Persistence & Determination
During the video above Casey mentions the park manager and park owner were not initially in love with him coming into the community to provide help. This park owner and manager had been burned by other mobile home investors in the past and were cautious of working with someone new. Through specific follow-up and staying persistent Casey was able to win the park manager over. This manager was able help convince the park owner to give Casey one chance to shine and prove himself with the home above. One chance is all Casey needed.
Note: It is normal for your first mobile home inside a new mobile home park to lead to others deals inside that same park. Since investing in the mobile home shown above, Casey has been offered multiple other mobile homes by this same park owner in a neighboring community.
Pro Tip: While making repairs to a mobile home inside a park, respectfully show-off all repairs/improvements you make to the park manager(s), park owner, and/or neighbors to help boost your reputation inside the community.
Related Video: Do this while holding vacant mobile homes.
FREE mobile home?
In today’s video Casey mentions that he was able to purchase this second deal for FREE directly from the community manager.
This “handyman” mobile home was not free at all… Casey had to then pay roughly $900 to catch up the previous owner’s back lot rent bill. Casey then paid approximately $100 in back taxes and $55 in closing costs. Casey then invested just over $4,000 more in repairs for plumbing, mold removal, rebuilding a 8-foot section of the mobile home’s exterior wall, general cleaning around the mobile home, and holding costs.
Related video: 50 tips while working with mobile home handymen
Update/Sold: Once repairs were made the mobile home was listed online and offline for buyers paying all-cash. The location of the mobile home has a substantial population and high demand for affordable homes. Casey was able to make a quick agreement to sell for $9,800.
The buyer was quickly approved by the mobile home park and the home sold as personal property. Casey nearly doubled his invested capital with this quick handyman project. Plus, the manager and park owner wish to continue working with Casey moving forward.
Asking questions
Casey still has so many questions. We are all still ideally learning more every day. If you are taking action daily then you should naturally have questions almost daily. This is a very good thing and all these questions have answers. Have someone to ask your questions and receive fast/detailed answers.
Unfortunately, there is no single article, video, or training program that is going to solve every mobile home investing question or deal scenario that you will ever encounter. Every mobile home seller, buyer, transaction, community, and location are a bit different and may likely have differing moving pieces to consider. For this reason and more it can be very helpful to have someone on your side to ask real time questions to.
Please never hesitate to email John at the email address below for your mobile home investing questions and/or deal help you may need.
Love what you do daily,
John Fedro
support@mobilehomeinvesting.net
Related mobile home investor videos:
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12 Comments
Jim Farmer
June 5, 2021Hello John, I have a question I’m hoping you can shed some light upon. Last year I (husband only) purchased a 1992 double wide and I have the bill of sale–in my name only. Being pre-1994 there is no title. Now, I would now like to make my wife a co-owner of the trailer and have her name entered onto the annual land lease. The Property Manager (Horizon Land Management) indicated that I simply need to provide a document showing that she is now a mutual owner. Does anything come to mind to help solve this puzzle.
Kind Thanks,
Jim Farmer
John Fedro
June 7, 2021Hi Jim,
Thank you for reaching out and connecting. Thank you for the detailed comment as this certainly helps me understand your situation a bit better. I’m guessing that you are located in New York, Mississippi, or one of a few other states that have a rule concerning homes not needing titles after certain years. If you do have a title then by all means you could transfer the title to obtain a new one with both you and your wife’s name on it. However you are correct that no title is needed if the home was built before 1994. However the paperwork I suggest is a bill of sale from you as the seller, to both you and your wife as the buyer. Keep all of these forms together in a folder to show chain of ownership as the home sells from one party to the next in the future. I hope that this helps and answers your question. If you have any follow-up questions never hesitate to reach out anytime. All the best.
Talk soon,
John
Eleanor
June 7, 2021I read your article on advising how to transfer title in N. Carolina on a mobile home. I still need clarification on something, if you would please assist me in resolving my question.
The mobile home I’m purchasing, is in an established mobile home park. I have been accepted through the park’s application processes, so that’s all good. The seller is an individual who has an existing balance on his loan for the mobile home. My concern is, that if I pay him in full for the home, because it’s a cash purchase, and he wires the payoff amount to his lender on that same day, but he will not receive the title for possibly 3-4 weeks, how do I have ownership or proof of ownership at the time of purchase?
If he doesn’t have a title that is in his name, until the lender processes the payoff on his loan, and mails him the title in his name, what do I have that states I am the owner in the meantime?
Thank you for your assistance in helping me understand the process.
Respectfully,
John Fedro
June 7, 2021Hi Eleanor,
Thank you for reaching out and connecting. Additionally, thank you for your detailed message as a certainly does help me understand your situation a bit better. This is a very good question. You’re right to be leery of trusting the seller to not simply abandon you and sell the home to somebody that removes it off of the property. There are other situations that put our buyer or seller in that similar situation of needing to “trust someone”. For this reason it may be helpful to have a third-party trusted person such as a real estate title company, closing attorney, contract attorney, notary with an office, etc. to read contracts, take documents, collect funds, and disperse everything accordingly. In my experience this will cost you roughly $500-$1500 for an hour or so of an attorney’s time. Definitely try to aim towards having someone perform this personal property closing for closer to the $500 range or less. I would encourage you to have a purchase and sale agreement written up between you and your seller. You will also want to take a state approved power of attorney form and have the signed and notarized by the seller. They should also give your attorney a bill of sale signed and notarized. Make sure you understand the banks pay off process. On a three way phone call with the seller and the bank make sure the bank knows the mailing address of the satisfaction letter will be the attorney’s office. Once the attorney receives the satisfaction he to the power of attorney may be used or the seller may go and to sign off on the title and also collect any equity/profit they have coming to them. Hope this helps and makes sense. There definitely are follow-up question so let me know if you have any mobile home related questions moving forward. Keep in mind that some states and banks work with electronic liens that will automatically release within 24 hours allowing the homeowner to sell the home as it will show free and clear in the state system. Hope this helps. Feel free to keep in touch moving forward. All the best.
Talk soon,
John
Lyria
June 9, 2021I read another of your articles on what to do when potential buyers are denied; but what do you do when they refuse to take a potential buyer’s application? I purchased a mobile home to live in and have been renovating it. I came across another mobile home that was more spacious. Now, I want to sell but the park manager said that I cannot sell and they’re not accepting potential buyers applications and threaten to make me move my home. What should I do?
John Fedro
June 14, 2021Morning Lyria,
Thank you for reaching out and connecting. I very much regret a year that you are in this situation. Most communities and park managers are very normal and nice. They want what is best for the community and are thoughtful people. However some managers are toxic and evil. You have a few different options on what you may do. If the manager does not want you to sell perhaps you can fill the home with a renter or payment buyer, however in most situations the park would still want them to be approved. However sometimes they will approve you to have a renter in the home as long as your name is still on the lease and you are on the hook. Clearly a park that is threatening you is not somewhere that you want to be. Additionally, if you argue with them they clearly sound like they do not care about hurting your feelings or burning a bridge with you. I’m curious to age of the home and if it can be removed from the park due to its size and location within the community. If it is possible to remove the home then by all means this may be an option to sell to someone that wants to remove it and place it on their land or in another community. Some nearby mobile home parks may also be having promotions where they will pay the moving cost as an incentive for you to move into the community and stay there for many years. You may also want to seek legal counsel to get their opinion as well. You may have to call around to a number of real estate attorneys to find one that is experience with mobile homes. You may also want to contact your state’s manufactured housing Association to see if they can point you in the direction of a mobile home experienced attorney. For now I would stay pleasant with the park manager however quickly understand your options and/or be willing to move the home if needed. Keep in touch moving forward. If you have any follow-up questions now are moving forward never hesitate to reach out any time. All the best.
Talk soon,
John
Tristan McKnight
August 3, 2021Hey John,
Scenario:
(Texas) 2001 3bed/2bath home. Has great structure and roof. Everything looks intact. The problems are, the owner died, kids sold it to another resident in the park, then he got into health challenges and wants to get rid of it. But he is behind on property taxes, lot rent, and its completely trashed and there may or may not be a mortgage on the home. Vanderbilt would not tell me (still a lien attached).
Question: Is there a way to check the balance on the mortgage? And have you negotiated a way for past lot rent to be forgiven in any way?
We have preliminarily discussed prices, in the $3k range, contingent on the seller removing the trash.
John Fedro
August 10, 2021Hi Tristan,
Thank you for reaching out and connecting. Additionally, thank you for the detailed comment as it certainly does help me understand your situation a bit better. Please see my thoughts below in bold.
(Texas) 2001 3bed/2bath home. Has great structure and roof. Everything looks intact. The problems are, the owner died, kids sold it to another resident in the park, then he got into health challenges and wants to get rid of it. But he is behind on property taxes, lot rent, and its completely trashed and there may or may not be a mortgage on the home. Vanderbilt would not tell me (still a lien attached). Understood. This deal certainly has a bunch of moving parts… And I love it. There is a lot going on and a lot of issues to overcome. The more challenges we are willing to face as investors the less competition we typically have. Great job being willing and able to help the sellers on this one.
Question: Is there a way to check the balance on the mortgage? In my experience there are ways to verify and check the balance of mortgages/loans. However the situation moving forward will vary if the original lienholder is alive and available or not. Additionally, if Vanderbilt has sold to someone else you may have to become a detective and track down who the lien is currently with. From this point, depending on the authorization you have you may be able to find out a balance, if everything is current, things are still open or if they have been paid in full. And have you negotiated a way for past lot rent to be forgiven in any way? Yes, however this definitely depends on the park, the manager, and your plans moving forward.
We have preliminarily discussed prices, in the $3k range, contingent on the seller removing the trash. I hope that the small amount of advice above helps. With everything going on in this deal there certainly are a number of different “if/then scenarios” that can happen moving forward. This unfortunately is not the first time that all of this has happened, and it will not be the last time. I hope that this helps a bit. Feel free to keep in touch moving forward if you have any follow-up questions. All the best.
Talk soon,
John
Karen Zadrozny
September 30, 2021Can I sell my New York State 1978 mobile home in a mobile home park to my 3 daughters for minimal dollars and retain life estate. Thank you, Karen
John Fedro
October 13, 2021Hi Karen Zadrozny,
Thank you for reaching out and connecting. New York State you will be able to transfer ownership in this mobile home with a simple bill of sale signed by you as the seller, and her three daughters as the buyers. Make sure to mention that each of the daughters has a third ownership in the mobile home on the bill of sale. This is assuming that the mobile home is inside of a pre-existing mobile home park or considered personal property. However I am unsure with regards to your comment about the life estate. My thought is any change to the life estate would complicate things however since this bill of sale is not recorded anywhere I’m thinking it may not be very impactful on the life estate. However I’m certainly no attorney and do not want to give you any wrong or misleading information. Definitely double check what I’m saying and if you have any follow-up mobile home related questions never hesitate to reach out anytime. Keep in touch. All the best.
Talk soon,
John
Colleen Marie Finley
March 9, 2023I’ve been interested in buying one particular place for months. Some corners inside are squishy, both bathrooms need everything replaced. Told I had to make an offer before bringing a contractor in to estimate the cost of repairs. I know nothing about what I’m doing. That sounds risky to me.
John Fedro
March 21, 2023Hello Colleen,
Thank you so much for reaching out and connecting. Great job looking at this mobile home for sale. It sounds like it has been on the market for some time. If that is the case I wonder if the price is too high, or something else is fundamentally wrong with the property or locations. While it certainly is not very fair that you have to make an offer before bringing in a contractor to give you final estimates. However remember that the initial offer that you make is absolutely subject to change once the contractor goes through to give you estimates. If you find a bunch of mold in the walls, the roof is falling in, or something else terrible than that may be a dealbreaker. Remember to mention this to the seller. You can certainly mention a price that is very conservative assuming that there are repairs. But then once you go through the price will definitely change depending on the repairs needed. Remember that you can also give a vaguer price range to say that you are definitely going to be under $10,000. But you do not have to be specific until you understand more about the repairs. This is a bit of a short and vague answer however I hope this helps and points you in the right direction. Moving forward any follow-up questions please never hesitate to reach out anytime. All the best.
Talk soon,
John
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