Can't find anyone to sell my home!

Deann · Post by **Deann** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 7:03 pm

I have a '96 beautiful 1500 sq. ft. home which we can't find anyone to list. We have been with 9 different agents over the last 6 years. It is always the same story. We are getting alot of calls; business is picking up etc. etc. I am always the one to call them. The last guy didn't call me until 2 months after the listing expired to ask me to resign, the only time I talked to him was 8 months before when I signed the contract. I know it is not my house. We are asking 15 grand under appraisal and almost 10 grand under payoff. We are building a house (stick built, we will never do the MH thing again) and need to get rid of this by July of 04. We have listed it ourselves 4 times (6 week periods) with no response. I am getting ready to have a fire sale!! I have spent almost 13 grand on the house over the last 2 years (not knowing if we were going to move ever) with hardwood floors, expensive curtains, wall treatments, etc. How can I find an agent that will work at selling my house and not just sitting on their rears? We are in Macomb County in Southeast Michigan. Thanks

JohnnyJ · Post by **JohnnyJ** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 10:13 pm

All of the agents in the world can do nothing to sell your home if they don't have
buyers. Some agents advertise their listings more than others in order to find
a buyer.

The other side of the coin is the location of your home. If the home is in a good
location, and on a lot that you own, it will be more easily sold. If it is in a park,
or on an otherwise rented lot, it will be harder to sell because it may have to be
moved.

My wife and I owned a 1992 Bucanneer, 28 X 52 DW, on an acre of land. It was
out in the country, on a paved road, yet about 8 miles from a main highway. We
went through 2 different agencies, and no luck. I started advertising it in a weekly
published local trader type paper, and still no luck. My wife had the idea of placing
a for sale by owner sign in the yard with our phone number on it. It sold within 2
months. The total time it was on the market was 18 months. All in all we lost
about 6K on the place when sold. The bottom line was the location of the home was so far out that people didn't want to buy it. Like your home, it was in superb shape, and had new appliances as well. It was worth taking the loss just to get rid of it, because the monthly payments, insurance, and electric was a bit much for a home we no longer lived in.

Price is the other key ingredient. Agents sometimes price the homes too high.
If they are not used to selling manufactured homes, they probably won't even
check the NADA book value.

Don't give up. it will sell eventually.

good luck

Deann · Post by **Deann** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 8:39 am

Well in Michigan you have to have special licence to sell a mobile home and "stick built" real estate agents won't touch the things. We are in a nice park with really cheap lot rent for the area. If there are no buyers, then fine, say there are no buyers. Don't tell me your phone rings off the hook all day and then try to back track when I ask well has anyone called? Buying a mobile home is the worst thing anyone can do. It is better to throw away your money on apartment rent because when you are ready to move you don't have to worry about selling something for ever. I read on one of the Michigan State housing sites that the average mobile home takes 8.3 years to sell. Unless of course you live in a single wide that is older than you are and can take less than 10 grand for it. Hmmm has anyone invented the time machine yet..... Mobile homes do not appreciate. They just get to a point where they do not depreciate anymore. In less than 10 months will be paying mortgage on a 300k house. I am half temped becuase I will already own the new one to let this one get repossed. Easiest way to get rid of it. Give the bank 10 grand for the difference and tell them it's their problem now.

jgn · Post by **jgn** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 11:40 am

Deann:
In a park or rented lot you are correct that MH depreciate and they very hard to sell sometimes even at a huge loss but so will any home, stick, MH or a barn that is on rented land because realestate appreciates not a structure. It is unfortunate that people but MH and put them in a park without the knowledge that it will not bring close to what you paid for it. On the other side, if you own the land and sell it as realestate than you can expect it to maintain it's value. I still believe that a site built home will appreciate more than a MH because of the stigma associated with MH. If anything built after 1976 is not considered a mobile home but is a manufactured home why is this site mobilehome.com not manufacturedhome.com, the stigma can't go away.

Deann · Post by **Deann** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 1:06 pm

We knew going in that we would never get out of it what we put into it. We just thought we would be able to sell it at a loss. We can't even do that. Alot of the problem is the repossession rate was so high the last couple of years the banks are literally giving them away just to get them off of their books. This means "trailor trash" people in a home they would otherwise be unable to afford which drives down value even more. It is a never ending vicious circle. It is not a stigma at all, it is the truth. People who live in "maufactured homes" (not modulars) are lower income. In our park (the other side of it thank god) it seems to be single 20 something mothers with 5-7 kids. I have considered buy a piece of land for cheap and moving it to that, but face it, a trailer is a trailer no matter what it is on.. rented land, private property, a crawl space, a basement, etc. Where ever it ends up it still needed wheels under it to get it there.

Bill Fry · Post by **Bill Fry** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 3:52 pm

If you are considering repossesion,consider this.Your credit will be ruined,you won't be able to get a morgtage on anything in 10 months,stck built or otherwise.Be prepared to live off cash for at least a few years.
As for your other thoughts I can afford to live in just about anything I wish.I live in a manufactured home by choice.You seem to like to throw the term trailor trash around a lot.Perhaps you should look a little closer to the tree with that mentality.Buying a manufactured home is like buying anything else.You don't do your homework you might not like what you up end up with.Putting a home on rented land is a no win deal unless you're in a market that sells.You apparently are not.Food for thought,your 300k stick built you speak off will lose value too if its in a area that becomes undesirable in the future.
Good luck,sounds like you're going to need it.

Art Rigsby · Post by **Art Rigsby** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 8:31 pm

Location, location, location. A better way to spell that is California. If you lived here you would be singing your way to the bank because of the appreciation you made off the sell of your MH, in a park or on private land.

I am a retired individual that purchased a MH/land package approximately 18 months ago. We estimate that the value has increased a minimum of $20,000.

Deann · Post by **Deann** » Thu Nov 13, 2003 8:51 am

We seem to be getting alot off of subject here. I will state my question again.. How do I find a good agent? Plain and simple. I don't care why you do or don't like manufactured homes, I don't care if you feel there value goes up or down, I just want to know how to find an agent and what recorse I have if I get a bad one. When you sign a contract it states the agent will do all in their power via marketing, advertising, etc. to help you sell your home. I want to know what body governs agents in the state of Michigan. It used to be they needed used car licenses to sell "mobile homes". They did stop that a awhile back though and now you just need a specialty license which anyone can get with an 8 week course. It is not like a real realestate license. There has to be some club, group, or organization which governs these people.

rmurray · Post by **rmurray** » Thu Nov 13, 2003 9:23 am

Your state should have a list of licensees in your area...Try an Internet search on the state web site or find the department that issues the license and ask them...

Then..call them..interview them as you would any other employee..check them out and ask for references..just as you would when you hire an employee...These persons are your employee..Good Luck

crystal · Post by **crystal** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 9:02 pm

Hello, I also am in Macomb county and was on the other side of the coin I worked with a wonderfull agent to find a great home, good price. I watched her work for months and she was very knowledgable here is her name and number
Judy Bronwnlie with preferred manufactured home brokers 226-3066
www.pmhb.com
I have given her name to friends who wanted to sell their home and Judy was very honest and knew what they needed to do to sell, ie repairs, upgrades, pricing etc. Last I spoke with Judy sales were down, its hard to finance used homes in parks. I had worked with 5 other people and 4 other manufactured home offices before I found Judy. She really took her time to get to know me and likes matching people to their perfect homes. She also knows the good and bad points of most area parks. I had been reading on this forum for a year befor I found my home and attended many open houses have you tried to advertise at area churches and host your own open house? Just some thoughts, good luck
Crystal

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