How to help rural mobile home sellers

Question

I've got my website and CL ads bringing in some callers who are looking to sell, but I've gotten a few that are mobile homes. I don't feel as though the area I'm in is a good market for mobiles, and these people are calling from rural towns. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I could help these folks out? I'm assuming that because they haven't had any interest in their immediate area I'll have no luck down their either. I'm contemplating having a company move the mobile home to a nicer park where there is more of a sellers market, but not much more.

Thoughts, Ideas?

Sam Parkins · Answer

Steven J.

I agree, if you're not in the business it's hard to know what to do with the leads. It's hard enough to find others in the business when one is in the business, much less an investor in a different niche trying to passively find a mobile home investor.

You could try @John Fedro as he works with investors via education in a lot of areas...but I have seen him post leads on here for leads out of his area. There are a handful of excellent mobile home resources on BP though I'm not 100% sure how many are taking leads and or where they take them. If you happen to find them in Virginia I'm all ears! :)

Not sure what to tell you, but I think I know how you feel in that you're just trying to easily/passively lend a helping hand to those sellers. Other than putting more of your time into it and actually marketing the homes I don't really have great advice for you as to what to do unless you feel the overwhelming desire to reach/network more people. Might have to be a database listing for you and you can tell the sellers you'll refer them on as soon as you find someone.

Sorry I couldn't help more on it!

John Fedro · Answer

Hi Steven and all,

It is great to hear you expanding your knowledge to mh investing and looking to help others even more. 
	
	My thoughts would first be to find out what your end goal for investing in a few mobile homes would be. Obviously you are looking to make a profit however is that long term or more of a shorter assignment plan or both.

From your use of the word "park" above it sounds like most of the homes you are looking at are inside a mobile home park. I will base the rest of this comment with that assumption.

I agree with you that if a seller is selling a home and she has not sold it yet either the price or terms are not attractive or she is not advertising the home correctly. If the sellers are reaching out to you it could be with a high levels of motivation or low levels.  
	
	Only after understanding your local market can you make a rational decision about each specific deal. These areas are rural however there are buyers for most markets depending on the price and terms. It is a prudent idea to know the resale demand, resale price and terms buyers are looking for in your areas.
	
	With all that said if you simply wish to forward the lead to others in your area for a finders fee I would be happy to reach out to some local MH investors I know in your state and aim to put you in touch. If you wish I can do the same for you with regards to SFRs in Minn. PM me if interested.

If you wish to capitalize on these leads yourself I would not advise moving the home however I would advise you to understand what you would need to buy and resell these homes for to make them a good investment to you. From there the only question is if that a realistic price/terms or not.

Another idea to find other investors is to search by location and interests within biggerpockets to find local active members. You may have likely already done this.

Talk soon and all the best,

John Fedro

Dev Horn · Answer

Unfortunately, this is not a business where we can help every homeowner.

Mobile homes are a different animal than single family homes.  It sounds like you want to be helpful, and that is awesome, but sometimes the best thing to do is simply say, "I'm sorry but we don't purchase mobile homes." and leave it at that.  You will not be the first or last person that will say that to them.

As a rule, AVOID MOBILE HOMES.  They don't age like fine wine - instead, they depreciate like cars.

Steven J. · Answer

I've looked into all of the above. My weakest link is not having connections to mobile home investors in the area right now. I could try some out of state guys I know, PM me if you're interested, but I don't have the expertise and my focus isn't on mobiles in this market now.

Sam Parkins · Answer

Regarding the move, it's not cheap. It's very easy to spend more on the move than on the home. And by the time the move/set is absorbed you have a scenario where you may be trying to sell a mobile home for much more than it's worth. For instance:

Buy a $5000 home. Move/Set it for $5000. Now you're trying to sell a $5000 home for $10,000 minimum to break even - and the location alone is the only factor contributing to the appreciation of a depreciating asset. Compare to single family homes with an ARV of $100,000 trying to sell for $200,000. Obviously that's a stretch, but I think you get the point.

Don't get me wrong, it can be done and I've done it, but much less often do we decide to move them rather than figure out a way to keep them in place.

Regarding the referral, I would try to make connections to do just that. Personally, we're on the receiving end of a lot of these types of calls from investors just like yourself (many assumptions made there). In other words, we've connected with many local investors for referrals on manufactured homes and return the favor when we come across leads of their niche. If we're not that close with the investor to return the favor, we do offer a referral fee and you might be able to negotiate that. It's small, but something is better than nothing if you're just forwarding an email or voice mail that you have vetted already anyway.

Afterthought: You can save on the move by contacting other parks and ask the parks if they'll foot the bill or at least some of it if you move it to their park. Further, you could negotiate terms with the park in the event of vacancy and much more. A park in my area was offering $3000 to move a home in there; another was offering 6 months free rent for moving a home in there. I have recently pulled one into a park at my cost in exchange for lot rent concession on all my homes in there in the event of vacancy. Whereas I never have to pay lot rent while transitioning tenants. These are some industry "standards" you can go by if you choose to get involved. Otherwise, call some mobile home investors in your area and see if they'll give you a referral for the lead. Best of luck!