selling a mobile home

[Elisa Griffin]

Hello! Ok, we purchased a double wide mobile home from my brother-in-law when he filed bankruptsy. It is a 1995 Horton and we owe 43,000.00. My husband has taken an out of state job so it is vacant but we are still making the payments. It sits on family owned property which means it would have to be moved. For the past six months, we have listed it with a realtor and have listed it on our own but have had no success. It is my understanding that it is only valued at approx $30,000.00. At the time we bought it we were not educated enough to know to negotiate the price. Do you have any suggestions as to how to sell this home?

[Chrissy]

I would first suggest you go to area retailers to see if they are interested in listing it for you. Talk to brokers who specialize in manufactured housing. Then, talk to some of the communities in the area. They might buy it, or they might know of someone looking for a home who would want to buy it and move it into their community. If the land is not included in the sale, it is sometimes difficult to get a realtor to understand the value of manufactured housing or to market it properly to a prospective buyer.

[Elisa Griffin]

well, unfortunately, we have already tried these ideas. The dealers almost laugh at us for asking. The man that markets used homes said that he had newer ones for less on his lot. The realtor did get a couple of people interested but... when they put the figures to paper with moving it they walked. They can buy a new one for the price of ours. Thanks for the ideas but... do you have any other ones?

[Chrissy]

Well, maybe a couple. Is there a possibility at all that the home can remain where it is and rent be paid to the land owner? Perhaps an agreement can be drawn that the new homeowner would agree to move it within five years. Or, can it remain where it is and be used as a rental home to generate income to make the payment for you while your equity continues to grow and your loan balance continues to decrease? Or, are you willing to lease it with an option to purchase to someone who may not qualify for bank financing right now?

[Karl]

I sold an almost-new 1995 mobile home in 1996 in about a month. The way I did it was list it "contract for deed." When I ran the ad saying "possible contract for deed" I was flooded with interested customers, many of whom had bad credit but seemed like good risks. I was desperate to sell so I sold it. There are a few things I should have done (but didn't) that I would recommend if going the contract for deed route. One would be to put in a 6-month trial period--sort of a rent with option to buy. Put in the contract that after six months, if you are not happy with their payment regularity, you can cancel the contract and evict them. For the first six months, their rent is rent--not mortgage payment. Another thing I would put in the contract is that after, say, five years, they are required to get their own financing and buy you out of the mortgage. Otherwise you will have to deal with it for an eternity, as I am. Just make sure you get a good lawyer who is familiar with real estate contracts.

[Karl]

Also--on the contract for deed, the way it works with my contract is, the buyer pays me the mortgage payment every month. I send the payment into the bank (Greenpoint high interest specializers)and then I send the buyer a receipt. That way, there is no possibility the people will ruin your credit rating if they are late (hopefully they wont be late). In addition, while they are required to keep insurance on the home, they pay me the insurance money and I mail it in to the insurance company. They tend to be a week or two late every month but have never missed a full month. They complain about having no money on hand but somehow manage to own two cars, have a satellite dish, and recently bought a shed and carport. I guess if they default the shed, satellite dish and carport will make it easier for me to sell! They also tend to be late on the lot rent which is another headache. So again, I would urge you to be picky once the people start coming to look at your home, and also make sure you have a real good lawyer. The one we had only charged $250 to draw up the contract but he did leave out some important things. The loan is still in your name so it has a (minor) affect on you buying another home, so that's why I would emphasize the requirment that they buy you out in a few years as their credit rating improves. Just put "possible contract for deed" in your ad and I think you'll get more potential buyers.

[Elisa Griffin]

Hey Karl, here is an idea for you as well... You may have noticed in my original discription, we purchased our home from family that were filing bankruptsy. At the time we were baisicly bearly making ends meet. We had horrible credit but we had paid the home note for my brother in law currently for two years. GreenTree was not happy with us taking over the note but did change into our name when we showed cancelled checks for the payments. Maybe you could work something out with the mortage holder in your case. Just thought I would run this idea by you. It stinks paying for two homes. If your "purchasers" have been there a while and not over 30days late they might work with them too. Conseco bought out Greentree and from my experience if you push them a little they may work with you. ...

[Karl]

Thanks, Elisa, for the reply. I haven't tried that with Greenpoint. I'll give them a call and see what they say. A problem may be that the people buying my home via the contract for deed filed for bankruptcy awhile back. That may prevent them for being approved--I'll have to check it out.

[Elisa Griffin]

The plus side to them filing bankruptsy is that they can not file again for 7years.... This may be a good point to be made with Greenpoint. And we all have to have a roof over our heads! It's been great talking with you. Good luck on your sale as well...

[Karl]

Same to you! Let us know if you get it sold.