I bought Deals on Wheels back in early part of 2002. I did research by driving the speed bumps in mobile home parks in my area for a couple months. We finally realized we needed to just quit talking and do something.
This is when it gets really good! We bought a great-condition, classic, 1959, 1 bedroom, 12 x 50 mobile home in a park, asking price $5,000. We got it for $4,000. Now I know what you’re thinking–the trailer is too old, too small, paid too much, etc., etc., etc.
Well, we sold it two weeks later for $8,500, $6,000 down and two equal payments of $1,250 each the following two months. We found the buyer by running an add in the “swapper” paper in my area. We offered terms, but he wanted to pay cash. Just hate it when that happens!
Hold on, the story isn’t finished. Our buyer moves in, and after one month comes to me and after making his first $1,250 payment, says he has changed his mind, and the trailer is too far from where he works, and would we be interested in buying it back from him.
I say, “Sure, but you must realize we can’t pay you anywhere near what you paid us for it because we buy low and sell high; that’s the way we make money. You also need to realize that the cash you paid us, we have already invested in another mobile home.”
Final resolution–We repurchased the home from him for $1,500 down, forgave him the final $1,250 payment he owed, and got him to carry a no interest $2,100 loan for 12 months at $175 a month.
Our total repurchase price = $4,850. We then resold the home a month later for $10,500, $500 down, $10,000 financed for 36 months at 12.5% interest. We call this mobile home (our first deal) our “little gold mine.” I only have one thing to say: “Good Enuff!”
Six months later, we now have 11 mobile homes and have three more deals in the works. Monthly income is climbing, and I am looking at quitting my full-time job in the summer of 2003.
I live in southern Utah and work in central Arizona. I commute weekly to my job 400 miles away. Thanks to Lonnie’s book, and all of my new friends on this website, I can see a light at the end of this tunnel and will be able to stay at home with my wife and kids in a few months.
Thanks to: Lonnie, Ernest, Doc, Lyal, Jacque, Steve, Tony, Chuck, Karl, and many others. I have never spoken to any of you, but I figured out how to make this all happen by searching through this website and taking advantage of your years of knowledge and experience. Thank you all!