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All Forum Posts by: John Fedro

John Fedro has started 17 posts and replied 377 times.

Post: MOBILE HOME INVESTING CLASSES

John Fedro
Posted
  • Investor
  • Austin, TX
  • Posts 410
  • Votes 292

Hi Nicolas!

Great question. It is important to get feedback from real world folks that have experience working with the two coaches/programs you mentioned above.

First things first, great job finding biggerpockets in the first place. If you have any questions definitely post them to the forums here as there are some very very knowledgeable people, definitely including Rachel, here that are happy to give you advice and deal help free of charge. Most folks here on BP are great! 

Important to know, mobile home investing takes hard work, persistence, and regular effort almost daily. No matter which program you decide to move forward with, or you decide to work with somebody else locally, or you decide to go the school of hard knocks… Definitely have someone that you can ask questions to in real time. Also, its important to remember this business takes a lot of hard work and regular focused effort. I'm sure that you understand about this business taking hard work, I just wanted to mention that for everyone else that might be reading this thread.

Post: Does anyone play with mobile home investing?

John Fedro
Posted
  • Investor
  • Austin, TX
  • Posts 410
  • Votes 292

Hi Fredrick,

Welcome to Biggerpockets! Its a great site with an awesome community of helpful folks. Many of us here are investing in individual mobile homes and mobile homes parks. Get ready for some hard work! There are many many differences between SFRs and mobile homes. Ask a lot of questions and make sure you know what you're doing before jumping in too deep. We are here to help. All the best! 

Post: California mobile home dealers license?

John Fedro
Posted
  • Investor
  • Austin, TX
  • Posts 410
  • Votes 292

Hi Joshua Hodges,

Thanks for reaching out and connecting. No apologies ever needed. Questions are great. Keep them coming. It looks like you are in California. In California they DO use the term salesperson to describe a person that works under a dealer and buys and sells mobile homes. California does NOT use the term retailer, however retailer is more similar to a dealer. Some states will use different names to describe dealers, retailers, installers, salespeople, distributor, manufacturer… Even though they may be used interchangeably from state to state. I hope this helps some. If you have any follow-up questions never hesitate to reach out.

Talk soon, John

Post: Mobile Home

John Fedro
Posted
  • Investor
  • Austin, TX
  • Posts 410
  • Votes 292

Hi @Jayy Farris, Thanks for reaching out and connecting. Please see my thoughts below in bold. 

hello John I have been following you for quite a while now I’m located in Mississippi , ima new mobile investor, looking to wholesale a few mobile homes, thank you for following along and watching some of my videos and articles. I do hope that they have been somewhat helpful to you already. Great job jumping into this business. Make sure to ask a lot of questions as costly mistakes can happen very quickly. I have everything in order so far as the right contacts and end buyer list . But the covid 19 situation has closed down most DMV and the notary many either. In Mississippi the title office to call and verify titles are current, taxes are current, and there are no hidden liens will be open to receive phone calls. In Mississippi when purchasing a mobile home older than a 1999 no title is technically needed. Sometimes they are around and we will definitely take them, however they are not required. Many of our homes will likely be in the 90s or before. Some of our paperwork can be done through notarized.com. Over some paperwork have to wait until the state opens up in order to transfer titles and ownership. Most title companies don’t handle mobile homes with closing. I’m tryna find a way to close successfully I’ve been told that the end buyer handle the title transfer. Just so long as the title is signed from the seller . And the bill of sale is notarized it’s pretty much up to the end buyer to make sure the name change happens . I’m lost here can anyone put me on the right track.  May want to reach out to a local real estate attorney that specializes in real estate closings. Anywhere from $500-$1500 is not uncommon for real estate attorney to help facilitate the transaction. However keep in mind an attorney is not really needed when working with motivated buyers and sellers. They are more needed if an underlying loan is needed to be paid off prior to title transferring. You likely have more questions moving forward. Never hesitate to comment back reach out to me personally via email. All the best. Keep in touch. 

Talk soon, John

Post: How to structure a deal

John Fedro
Posted
  • Investor
  • Austin, TX
  • Posts 410
  • Votes 292

Hi all!

Thanks for the shout out Brian Gibbons. I'm humbled to be named along side of Jackie Lange.

First things first, great job looking at this potential opportunity in the first place. Let us assume for the rest of this comment that the seller truly is very motivated and willing to be very flexible with you and provide you the paperwork and forms that you request. Let us also assume that the home does not have to be moved, is it a decent location with population, decent size/age/condition, and the parks application process and ethics are normal.

When it comes to purchasing a mobile home with or subject to the underlying debt within of a park, it is a bit tricky because in most situations the bank will not allow the owner's name on the title to transfer unless the lien is satisfied. States vary, however CA and OH both make it difficult to take a home in a park subject to the underlying debt. That is not to say that this cannot be done or should not try to still help a seller and put a potential deal together. 

You certainly have a few options moving forward. 

You can choose to do nothing at all. 

You can pay cash (obviously) and resell for payments, cash, or rent. Use seller financing, OPM or your own. 

You can wholesale the property. Likely utilizing the help of a closing attorney since there is an underlying debt that has to be paid off in Ohio a title is needed to transfer title. The attorney is not technically needed however most buyers will not want to pay off the seller's underlying debt and just assume that everyone is honest enough to provide title in the near future when things are satisfied and clear title is able to be transferred. There are many other things to consider however this is one option.

If the mobile home park allows renting, you can continue paying the underlying debt and get every closing document and power of attorney form signed when you take keys. This is assuming the underlying loan is something that you would want to continue paying on. This is not assuming the loan in any way. There are many other things to consider. Remember that if you do not have ownership on the title the owner of record can come back and make things difficult for you. For this reason you may want to rent the mobile home until there is no underlying lien. Again, with the strategy there are number of things to consider and things I am leaving out with regards to due diligence.

Since you confidently said that you could sell the home for $20,000 cash. Which I really hope is the case and curious why this gentleman hasn't sold already. I would very much encourage you to sell this one quickly for cash. Take the money and run. Get this home under contract for a price the seller is happy with. You'll want another contract with the buyer for around $20,000. Find an attorney that will help be the trusted middle person to make sure all the money goes were its supposed to go. 

Lastly, you mention selling it on payments for around $26,000. If you can sell it for $20,000 cash, then you can likely sell this one for payments for $30,000 or $35,000 on payments. By extending the length of months from 60 months to 84+ depending on the age, condition, size, area, etc. That will of course be with a low amount down under $5000 in many cases.

Hope this all helps some and make sense. There is definitely a lot I am missing that I do not know about your specific deal however feel free to keep in touch. All these great folks are here to help as well.

Talk soon,
John

Post: Mobile Home Investors in Topeka, KS

John Fedro
Posted
  • Investor
  • Austin, TX
  • Posts 410
  • Votes 292

Hi All,

Thank you for the connection, Michael Santopadre.

Thanks for posting this here, John. I will email you shortly to connect and put you in touch with a local investor in your area. As always, if you need anything else we can simply communicate via that email.

Lastly, any other investors in the area should definitely contact John Jacobus as well.

Talk soon,
John

Post: Mobile home investing

John Fedro
Posted
  • Investor
  • Austin, TX
  • Posts 410
  • Votes 292

Hi Alvonta,

Good to hear from you. I'm not exactly sure if you are meaning, "why might it better to make payments when you are buying a mobile home as an investor" or "why might it be better to sell to a payment-buyer on monthly payments". Both answers come down to keeping capital in our pockets. For our end-buyers, many folks simply do not have $20,000 or more cash lying around to buy a used mobile home that we may be selling. Selling on payments allows us to help buyers that would not otherwise be able to purchase a home. Additionally, when you're purchasing a used mobile home as an investor we can sometimes negotiate the purchase terms in monthly, quarterly, or annual payments. This allows us to keep more of our cash in our pocket to use on another deal when the seller will not take payments. By making a seller payments we are able to literally have the mobile home pay for itself. This is because we will be filling the home with a payment-buyer that will be paying us money monthly. This money every month we will use to pay the lot rent, the sellers payment we agreed to pay them as the purchase terms, and ideally some profit for us every month. When the seller is paid off our profit will shoot up as your income on that home will keep coming in from the payment-buyer. Keep in mind that when we make payments to a seller we can often times offer them a much higher purchase price than we could by paying them all-cash. Occasionally, we can even pay the seller more than they are asking if we are able to make the monthly payments or some type of other creative offer. There are a few more benefits however I hope this all helps and makes a bit a sense. This answer may bring up more questions however that is a good thing. Feel free to keep in touch and we are all here to help.

Talk soon,
John

Post: Mobile home investing

John Fedro
Posted
  • Investor
  • Austin, TX
  • Posts 410
  • Votes 292

Hi Alvonta Flemings,

Glad to have you here. First things first, great job being interested in investing so early in life. You have a long future ahead of you. With that said, don’t feel like you have to rush into anything too soon. Make sure to ask a lot of questions and understand things before moving forward. 

I felt like I was being perceived as too young for the first 10 years investing. What I learned is that it is tough to say the wrong thing to the right seller. Also, once the seller knows how much you care and are willing to help they will certainly listen. Plus as long as you have the money or can get the money than they are likely happy to work with you. But let's remember that some people are just jerks. Push past this fear, it is worth it. It helps when you envision and act that you work with a small size investment company and have some bosses. At any age this business takes a ton of determination and guts. And when you’re 18 it takes extra guts.

If I am understanding you correctly you are looking to introduce yourself and purchase individual homes in the community. If I am correct then there's an older video you can check out here with one strategy to introduce yourself to managers. https://youtu.be/KlFLxljOI60 

When it comes to business cards they're certainly helpful however not needed. Do not let them be a crutch. Make sure to follow up with park managers and do not simply trust that because they have your business card they will remember who you are. I hope this all helps and starts to point you in the right direction. Feel free to keep in touch. There are a lot of knowledgeable folks on the site that are happy to help if you have questions. All the best.

Talk soon,
John

Post: Mobile Home Investing

John Fedro
Posted
  • Investor
  • Austin, TX
  • Posts 410
  • Votes 292

Hi Ryan,

Depending on where you are in Northeast Ohio, you certainly are in a decent area for this type of investing. If you have any Ohio related questions never hesitate to reach out any time. With that said I would definitely encourage you to attend any local real estate investment clubs as well. Hope this helps. Keep in touch.

Talk soon, John

Post: Getting Started with Mobile Home Investing in Washington State

John Fedro
Posted
  • Investor
  • Austin, TX
  • Posts 410
  • Votes 292

Hi Cody,

Good questions. Great job wanting to help local mobile home buyers and sellers in your area. Please see my thoughts below in bold that may help answer your questions.

I'm trying to figure out the steps and proper license needed in order to start mobile home investing in Washington state. Procedures will change a bit if you plan on renting these homes out 100% of the time, versus selling them for cash or payments. Additionally, the procedure will change if you only plan on purchasing and reselling mobile homes attached to real land. There are certainly a number of mobile home investors around the state that are not following proper procedure and still buying and selling mobile homes. Some of these investors may be doing things ethically, non-ethically, with correct paperwork, or incorrect procedures, maliciously, with some ignorance, 100% by the book, etc. I only mention this because important to have more clarity on your state and what is going on around you than less clarity. Is a license necessary when making my first few deals? I read that as long as I don't sell more than 4 homes within a 12 month period a license is not required. In Washington state you are allowed to purchase and resell up to for mobile homes in a 12 year period in a single person's name, trust, or company name. You can find more information about that here. https://bls.dor.wa.gov/vehiclevesseldealer/dlrmanhomedealer.aspx Keep in mind that if you are planning on making any rehabs to this home than you should be a licensed contractor in the state of Washington as well. While many states have some sort of restriction to the number of mobile homes you may buy/resell in any 12 month period, Washington state is one of the few that asks you to be a licensed contractor when making repairs on your home with the intent to resell in the next six months or so. https://www.lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/Contractors/HowReg/Register.asp Will I be able to be a mobile home investor without having a physical office? The state does ask you to, yes. However as mentioned above, there are certainly other investors not following the exact letter of the law in and around your state. While there is no one directly pointing a finger at you or shining a spotlight at you when you purchase these homes, if someone complains that you are fraudulent, took advantage of them, and lets the state know of what you are doing then you will be found out and given a cease-and-desist letter and potentially fined or more. I hope this helps some and answers your questions. As always, if you have any follow-up questions or concerns never hesitate to reach out any time. We are all here to help if possible.

Talk soon,
John