Home Buying Question

[Stu]

My wife and I are interested in purchasing a Doublewide Home.

The doublewide would be located on her mothers property in Florida.

I am confused about how one goes about purchasing and financing a home to be setup on my mother in-laws property?

Should we have my mother in-law deed us the property we are going to need for our home, or should we purchase the property we need from my mother in-law?

My mother in-law is willing to work with us to do what is most beneficial for the both of us, just looking for help on which way to go.

[jgn]

Wish I had that nice a mother in law. You can place a home on you MIL property and finance the home as chattle much the same as a car loan. If you can receive deed to the property than you can finance the home as a mortgage. The chattle loan will be much higher than the real estate mortgage loan so the best thing for you to do is have your mil transfer ownership of the property to you.

[Kevin C]

How do you go about transfering the deed to a portion of the property from one family member to another? Can the dealer help with this? Do you uses a lawyer specializing in real estate? Will sub-dividing the property like this change the zoning classification?
Thanks in advance.

[Mark]

If you are transferring the entire property, then a simple quit claim or warranty deed can be done.

If however, you want to break the property up, say it's 5 acres and you only want 2, then the property will have to be surveyed into two pieces and both pieces deeded seperately.

The first options might only cost $20, depending on what the courthouse in your area charges for filing (mine charged $12.50).

The second option could cost several thousand due to the need for new surveys.

But FIRST.. make sure the property is zoned for mobile homes before you do ANYTHING ELSE.

[rmurray]

Kevin.....

I would check with the local building and planning office to see what the minimum requirements for a lot are...Then...some subdivisions do not allow the further subdividing of property...You should read your mom's deed restrictions if there are any...

If the local laws allow the transfer...then there will be a surveyor involved to draw an exact plat of the land in question...then preparation of a deed..usually done by a real estate attorney..

I usually ask my customers not to do anything until they have picked a home..agrred to price and arranged long term finance..The gifted property's equity can act as you down payment if the deed is carefully prepared...as a true gift...often attorneys transfer the property for $1...this would NOT be considered a gift and the equity could NOT be used for a year...Basically let the dealer and mortgage company help with the details...You will be using an attorney to close your mortgage loan..do not pay for another one..the survey can be financed as a closing cost in most cases..

The survey will be priced by size of the lot...most will be from $350 to $500 in your area...larger tracks could be more...One of my customers just did 7 acres with extensive work in the courthouse researching the property records...cost $950..

Most counties in Florida have extensive info about land use online...

[Stu]

Murray,

Thanks for your info.

I don't believe my mother in-law has any deed restrictions on her property, but will look into it.

With regard to "gifting" the property, I have a couple of other questions:

1. Should the size of the property "gifted" include the area of say the septic tank field, and well...... or just the area where the double wide will be sitting?

2. How does "gifting" effect my financing options? Can I still get a home mortgage, vice a loan?

[rmurray]

There are many types of finance avaiable...

1)...Most local or state governments will require that the septic be on the property with the house on it...usually the government does not care if the well is on the same property...BUT..some lenders do...with that in mind I would suggest the well and septic be on the property..remember the septic cannot be used by more than 1 home..If your mom is using it..you will have to buy a new one...of course this can be financed with your home..

2)..True gifted (not bought for $1) property can be used as downpayment equity for your mortgage...actually it would be considered a substancial downpayment and qualify you for the best possible mortgages in the market today..With a little luck..your appraisla of the home and land should make it high enough to avoid PMI insurance and make tax and insurance escrows a personal decision instead of a requirement..

3)..One other thing..the land will have to have legal access to a road or street...You cannot subdivide a section of the "back 40" and not have direct access to a road...The therory is if the mortgage goes sour...mortgage companies do not want to have to drive over others property to see their investment..

Go for it..