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