All Forum Posts by: Kelly DeWinter

Per my lender.
No, you cannot use a VA loan to buy a rental property. You can, however, use a VA loan to refinance an existing rental home you once occupied as a primary home. For home purchases, in order to obtain a VA loan, you must certify that you intend to occupy the home as your principal residence.

There are a lot of if's here that need to be verified:

. If the lot rent exceeds the rental value of the Mobile Home
. If the Mobile Home Owner has been evicted from the lot.
. If the repairs are of a quality to bring in sufficient rental income.
. If the repairs are not in accordance to Park guidelines.

It always helps to define terms when starting a thread. Terms like SFR have multiple meanings.

A Realtor can historically search sold units for manufactured or mobile homes. then cross check the community or street with the tax records to give you all of the parks in a region or state.

It would be best to contact a real estate attorney to review the ground rent contract between the unit and the park owners. If the AC unit has been there 15 years I doubt the park owner was doing anything but blustering.  Since she is paying for her metered portion for 15 years with presumably no complaints for park owner, its doubtful any judge would make her remove it.

This type of scam appears so often, there must be a "How to Scam in Real Estate" course at Trump University.

Considering  they "only" stole 52 Million out of 1.3 Billion, they were pretty inept as scammers go, 

No consolation to their victims.

What is surprising is how long these scams go on before they collapse.

"How do you arrange to meet with the owners?"

If you are represented by an agent have your Agent make the request.

If you are not represented by an Agent, write them a letter or drop by their house in the evening or weekend.

If they do not live in the house check the tax record for Mailing Address

Remember Real estate Agents are constrained in HOW they have to interact with Seller, You are not even if you have retained the services of an Agent.

Yes; The MLS is a good source of properties, The important thing is to be aggressive, Most (not all) agents are not, they look for the easy sales. Be aggressive, persistent and consistent. When I use an agent I have a standard MRIS contract filled out and a template in Docusign. I don't wait for an agent to fill out the info, I fill it out and send it to them. If a deal is at an impasse with the sellers, meet with them and present your case especially if the property has been on the market for awhile, 90% of the time properties that are sitting only sell when there is a price reduction. Meeting the sellers could get them to understand that better than an agent can.

Depending on the state

Lease agreements state the terms of the lease.'If you purchase from Seller without leases, and the Tenants  have a lease or "find" a lease, you may be liable for Deposits ,repairs,inability to raise ground rent etc.

Most states a mobile home in not a house but registered with the state with a VIN number. Your seller may or may not own them.  Check your state DMV for each unit.

Check with county to ensure the park has only the number of units it is licenced to have. Some older parks fudge on the number of units parked.

Have septic inspected and water inspected and tested to ensure you don't have any hidden problems that could cause you 100's of thousands to correct.

In Maryland verbal or handshake agreements can be legally binding, have a real estate attny review any Sale Documents

Verify 3-5 years  of income and expenses.

If you are buying the park as a business entity have an accountant verify the books, Ensure Seller gives you copies of State and Federal Filed Taxes

Check for current Insurance and Have insurance company list any claims in last 3 years

Check with courts to ensure there are no outstanding civil lawsuits filed against Seller ,company or Park

Verify Verify Verify

Make your offer contingent on:
. Garbage being removed. (you can pay with understanding you will be reimbursed if contract falls thru.
. Home inspection with structural inspection.

You can pay for the garbage removal and place a lien on the house if contact falls thru and you are not reimbursed