Owner finance mobile home in park

[Rob Strawder]

All, I'm buying a mobile home in a park with seller financing. Would someone please describe the necessary steps that should be taken to safely and legally close the transaction, including steps to make monthly payments to the current owner. Thanks!

[Sam Parkins]

I'm sure I'll be corrected if wrong, but I believe under the the new laws (Safe Act/Dodd Frank) that a seller may owner finance their own property (personal residence). I also believe that one may seller finance up to 3 a year before the laws kick in but it's been about 10 months since I reviewed the laws...and I am speaking for the laws specifically for my state which is VA. Each state (I believe) enacted their own laws under the federal mandate or something like that so it's worth checking out your state.

For the record, there are a TON of safe act/dodd frank forum discussions on BP. 

Further, to answer the question specifically, have a solid purchase agreement and promissory note, a copy to each you and the seller. You don't have to have an attorney close the deal (think used car) but you may want to have an attorney review your docs before using. Further, make sure that the seller's own the home outright. It is NOT LEGAL for ANYONE to sell personal property if they do not own it. They can use payment from you to pay it off up front, but they can't finance to you if they're still paying on it (making payments). Though this is okay in real estate (subject to) it's not with mobile homes since they are personal property. 

I would also request a photocopy of the title to verify that they are in fact the owners and that they aren't sitting on an open title either. (Meaning they transferred it when they bought it.)

And yes, the Safe Act does specifically mention mobile homes. Again, there are a lot of discussions on BP that address this. 

If you're buying for your in-laws you may consider letting them go directly onto the contract instead of getting in the middle. If you're in the middle you stand to be scrutinized by the park as well as could be getting into cloudy territory via the laws. If you plan to make money then that's one thing, if not then just do the good deed by helping orchestrate the whole deal/process for them.