Purchase of sale and agreement for mobile home park

[Paul Kit]

Do I need an attorney who specialize in MHP to draft P&S? or an experienced real estate attorney can handle this?

It seems hard to find an attorney who has done MHP deal.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thank you much 

[Jim Johnson]

So I use a slightly modified commercial real estate contract. I never use a Letter of Intent, and when selling, I require full contracts. If presented with a letter of intent and a contract for basically the same offer, I would take the contract every time. I know opinions vary and I am not trying to forge a rabbit trail here. I just extend the dates a bit from a general purchase and sale agreement. I tie most of my dates into the end of the 'due diligence' or 'inspection / objection/ dates- what ever you call it in your part of the country. So I put in I want say 20 days for the owner to provide me with the document package, and if the documents are not provided by the 20th day, there are automatic extensions built in to push that date out. Only I (buyer) can push that date. If the seller blows the date  I can call the contract in default and walk from the deal. Or, I can precede, or extend. There are several auto extensions built into this one area. Sometimes the documents can take a month or longer to get. Then- once the 'document deadline' (DD) is met all other dates can be added in, as they say things like- Inspection Objection deadline is 45 days after DD. Though, I do have an auto extend built into the inspection objection deadline also. If you want a phase 1, and it is winter- you need some fudge in your inspection deadline because snow followed by a hard freeze can blow dates pretty quick. There are also times of the year- like the months November and December and January that can be very slow for inspections because people work less. 

So- if your going to build a contract- I recommend you set the first dates, and let the rest flow from the first one. 

Also- I use the same real estate contract in every state. Its a contract and I am not a real estate agent so, I do not have laws stating I can only use certain contracts etc. If the seller does not like something in the contract they can counter. I also always ask if I can present my contract to the seller. I will send them a copy of the contact and then set up my computer to share the screen. That way I can go through the contract section by section so they can fully understand it. If they have questions I can answer them instead of a real estate agent guessing what something might mean. 

I also want the seller to hear me, to feel my competence and energy. I want them assured I am the best person to buy the park. I really want that if the seller is financing the park. So my advise is to know your contract inside and out. Find someone you can present it too. Practice it several times a day for several weeks. Have your friends listen and ask questions in the middle of you presenting. You do not want to be caught not knowing what terms mean because you need to be the expert in the room. 

ok- off that soapbox. I will say I have used the same contract for about 10 years now. I modify it a little from time to time and have used it in several states. 

People will ask- the answer is no. I will not share it. The contract is written for my style of putting deals under contract. It is set to my cadence, my flow chart for due diligence. I am experienced so I do things differently then people just getting in as my comfort level in the evaluation and due diligence process is pretty advanced. 

But that said- I did share some fairly advanced contractual things, and if you can figure out your pace and stay on top of the flow of dates and deadlines- a contract that flows like mine can save your behind. It forces the owner to get you documents quickly for review, and allows you to massage the dates a bit without needing more documents signed. One last date you REALLY need to have auto extensions put in for is the appraisal deadline. I just did a deal in the mid west and the appraisal took 60 days. I had 20 built into the contract. Some banks will only use one person, and if they are backed up- your hosed. So that auto extend allowed me to stay in contract and I was able to not default. Because the date for earnest money to go hard is tied to the appraisal, I remained safe in case the property did not appraise.