In Need of Some Serious Advice!

[mkl]

Hi DD!!

I hope you've had good luck with trying to sell your home! I too am in your shoes, only maybe a little worse if you can believe that....my husband and I have a '97 Belmont that we bought brand new and paid way too much for...I've been trying to sell it for about 2 years now and get so frustrated I get in tears just thinking about it...I too tried going thru a local broker and he never showed our home even once during the 6 months we were using him, so that was very disappointing to say the least...I've tried running ads myself, but that can be very expensive and didn't result in very much interest...as you said, it's way too easy for people to buy 'stick built' homes now and mobile home sales are way down.....I think you got a lot of good ideas on trying to sell your home yourself and getting flyers out, especially to apartment complexes and colleges, great ideas I hadn't thought of! I may try that myself......I feel your frustation, believe me!!!!!! But I do feel a little better knowing I'm not the only one in this situation!!! We've even looked into sueing the mobile home dealer to get them to buy it back, but couldn't get anywhere with that either....Anyway, good luck to you! I wish you the best of luck!!!!!!!!!!

[DD]

Hi MKL,

Thank you for your input. Believe me, I empathize with your situation! It's a really rotten feeling to be upside-down in a loan and know it. I also know your frustration with brokers, and it really sucks that these people can't work a little harder to earn their money, depressed market or not. I hope things turn a corner for you soon!

I've tried a lot of different approaches, including burying the upside-down statue of St. Joseph in my front yard (and doing a lot of praying)! Now, on the suggestion of a work colleague who's been through this, I'm going to try a new idea (this might work for you too):

I can't really afford to lower my selling price much, because of the amount I owe on the loan, but what I CAN do is offer to pay the buyer's lot rent for a period of time. Lot rent on my place is $320 a month, so it may make the house a bit more attractive if the buyer knew they wouldn't have that expense for, say, 4 months (if that doesn't work, I'll offer to pay for 6 months). Granted, it's a chunk of change, but if it means selling this place and getting on with life, it's well worth it! Given the choice between coughing up 4 months of rent and still having this house after another year, I'll take the former!

Good luck. You're in my prayers! I hope it all works out for you!