Just made my first deal on the purchase of an old “cheapo” mobile home, and it was easier than expected. I drove around about 12 mobile home parks last Saturday looking for signs offering homes for sale and found one that looked interesting. Turns out, it is a 1982 14×60 in a pretty decent park. Owner was asking $5,000 and in the process of evicting a tenant. Looked at it a couple of days later and it was trashed, needing lots of repairs (I figured it would cost about $2,000 to fix up).
Before I left, I used the classic Lonnie line, “If I could get you cash right away, what is the least amount you could take?” He told me he could not take less than $3,000. I told him I would think about it, but gave him my card and told him to call me if he could do better.
The next day, I was out of town, but he called me three times leaving messages. When I called him back, he asked if I could give $2,200 for the home. When I hesitated, he said, “How about $2,000?”
I told him it needed lots of work, could he consider doing some of the repairs himself? He agreed, and I figure I am getting about $700 to $800 worth of labor from him. So the price is $2,000 with all repairs made. My only other cost is new carpet for about $500 and about $200 for paint and materials.
I will shoot for $6,500, 10% down, balance at 12.5%. Good enough for me! Oh yeah, the home can stay in the park and closing is after repairs are made. I learned a lot from Deals on Wheels, and this site is great. Looking forward to many more.