Question about loans and other things

[Melissa]

My cousin's fiance is looking to buy a home in our area since he will be moving here when they get married. He found a repossessed 1999 oakwood doublewide, 28 x 70, on 1 1/4 acre of land with a permanent foundation. He wants to put in an offer on it but is afraid he won't be able to get the financing because 3 years ago his truck was repossessed from him because he lost his job and couldn't afford to make the payments. His credit has been good since then and he is currently making monthly payments towards the balance due after the truck was sold. He has anywhere from 25 - 40% he can put down, where might he look to get a loan that might work with him? Any suggestions would be helpful.

Also the home has extensive repairs needing to be done. All flooring (carpet\vinyl) will have to be replaced, all walls will need to be painted due to yellowing from cigerette smoke from the previous owners, the coutertop in the kitchen will have to be replaced and possibly the cabinets - depending on what they look like after being cleaned, thier are currently no appliances so all of them will need to be bought, the countertop and sinks in both bathrooms may need to be replaced and the back door and front door will need to be replaced. The asking price is 39,900. Unimproved land around the area goes for 8,000 - 12,000. He would like to put in an offer of 20,000 due to the work needing to be done. Tax value once improvements are made will be about 65,000-75,000. Does this offer seem reasonable?

[rmurray]

He should get a preapproval for this loan...Mortgage companies do not like loans this small and he will have to deal with a bank....There will be sources..but he will need to shop around..

Now pricing...how do you know that with a few thousand improvements..a $20,000 house would be worth $75K.....Sounds like a real estate sales pitch..If this were true...why is the real estate person selling the home...he/she could buy it..fix it and make more in the resale than they make in a year..or..2...

I would be doing a very careful check of the problems...maybe a professional home inspector should be involved..so you know just what needs to be done..

[Melissa]

I am not sure of the value of the home, only what the tax value is listed as according to the county, I would assume it would only be that though once improvements are made. The way we have tried to figure out the price is the listing for this property is 39,900, but accepting offers. We figured it will take 10,000 perhaps more in improvements. Even though the tax dept. has the tax value listed at 75,000 the other homes in the area aren't selling for nearly that much so we figured that 20,000 - 25,000 is a good price, starting at the lower and willing to go up if needed. He has yet to actually have much dealings with any real estate agent on this property.

Should he try to get a pre-approval from a bank in this area or in the area where he currently lives (which is hours away). I would assume the area the home is located in, right?

Oh and he is planning to get a inspector to check everything out before he closes if his bid is accepted.

[Melissa]

I am not sure of the value of the home, only what the tax value is listed as according to the county, I would assume it would only be that though once improvements are made. The way we have tried to figure out the price is the listing for this property is 39,900, but accepting offers. We figured it will take 10,000 perhaps more in improvements. Even though the tax dept. has the tax value listed at 75,000 the other homes in the area aren't selling for nearly that much so we figured that 20,000 - 25,000 is a good price, starting at the lower and willing to go up if needed. He has yet to actually have much dealings with any real estate agent on this property.

Should he try to get a pre-approval from a bank in this area or in the area where he currently lives (which is hours away). I would assume the area the home is located in, right?

Oh and he is planning to get a inspector to check everything out before he closes if his bid is accepted.

[rmurray]

Tax values mean little or nothing..it is just a way to tax a home....Personally I have always believed that government should be willing to buy any property for the value they decide is fair for tax purposes...All of our taxes would go down..

As far as loans are concerned...Check with lenders in both areas...ALSO..check with the lender who specialize in manufactured homes on this web site..enter his info into the find a loan section of this site.....

Good Luck