Page 1 of 1

Buying first used home

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2017 3:50 pm
by Mike S 77
I am getting ready to make an offer on a used mobile home. Its a 1994( 18×76) 3 bdrm 2 bath home made by oak creek. Its in fairly good visual shape.

After having it inspected, it was revealed that it has polybutelene pipes, a roof that needs redone, a bad swamp cooler & furnace. It also needs a hand full of other things fixed. The owners listed it at $32,500.

My question as a first time buyer with no buying expierence is making an intitial offer. Would $25,000 be a good starting point considering the expensive problems the inspection showed? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Buying first used home

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 9:33 pm
by Mommaof5
While I am not an "expert", I can point you in a good direction. NADA has book values for mobile homes as well as vehicles. They are pretty much the go-to source for book values.

Honestly, I am not sure about the price. It depends on if it has to be moved, if it has land with it, where it has to be located, and so many other factors. If the price is for the home only and no land, you definitely want to look into the book value and get a cost on moving the home.

Another place you may want to look for advice(if it comes with land) would be a realtor in your area. Most of the time if you can talk to someone they can give you a quick run down on the area and property values as well as info on comps in the area. I would find someone who has been in the business for a long time to get the best info.

Hope this helps even if I couldn't give you more specific info.

Re: Buying first used home

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 7:55 am
by JamesGrape
I just went through something similar. We ended up using a series of data points to coax the seller into a lower price. We found that having land included was a huge plus because then there were more people who were comfortable offering insight on the right value including banks, appraisers, etc. Overall NADA guides are the easiest way to get information. But from there you have to look at improvements (or lack thereof), location (or relocation costs if you will have to move it), and any maintenance costs needed to bring back into working condition. I thought this was a good guide if you wanted to know more: https://www.mobilehomerepair.com/mobile ... me-prices/

So, if we look at 32,500 and assume that the actual NADA guide price is 40,000. Then we look at the repairs needed as 10,000.

So it would seem they already discounted the price by 7500 for repairs, so asking for $25,000 may be a long shot. This is all hypothetical, but I think you need to figure out what the home is worth in great condition reduced by the actual cost to you of getting it there from your inspection to determine an acceptable starting offer.

Good Luck!