Buying a property and immediately removing a mobile home

[David J Lepard]

Hi All,

I’d love your ideas on this: there’s a mobile home on the lot next to our short term rental (str) property that is long since abandoned. Its a bit of an eyesore (only when driving up the road—thankfully it can’t be seen once at the house). I’d like to buy the lot its on--which i think I can do as it's being foreclosed on for back taxes later this year, and I’m wondering what to do with the mobile home. The price i would offer for the lot would be dependent upon the costs of clearing the lot of the home. Renting it out as-is is not a desirable option (and it's unclear whether its even habitable at this point). The options I’ve identified are:

1) attempt to ‘sell’ the mobile home: I say ‘sell’ because I would sell for $0 if the purchaser would pay moving costs. I don’t expect to make any money off of this, although if I did, great. I considered calling local mobile home parks nearby as part of this plan.

2) Somehow donate it for the write off. I 'm guessing this is only an option if it's habitable. I assume I’d be paying removal costs.

3) have a hauling company take it away. I’ve seen estimates for $2-5k. ( Does that seem accurate?)

4) have the fire department perform a controlled burn for training purposes. I’ve heard of this working for others but I immediately dismissed this option as its a wooded area and I don't want burn scars on the land.

What else could I do? What should I consider regarding the above options? Any ideas are greatly appreciated.