All Forum Posts by: Terry Drake

We have a Ready Mix Concrete business and have been to a few of our customer's homes with concrete counter tops. They look very nice, but not as nice as granite and mostly used for a bar on the back patio or man cave.

@ Brian, I sell my homes with a sales agreement and carry a note. The note specifies payments, interest, collateral, and terms of note (non payment, ect). If someone is going to fall behind I try to get them to leave peacefully by having them just sign the title back over to me and they move out. Then it is a done deal. I tell them if they leave peacefully and don't trash the place I will forgive all debts and not chase them for money owed. Otherwise it will have to go through foreclosure/eviction. If it goes the nasty route then I will file judgments or anything else I can do.

BTW The whole process is about $500 and 30days here in FL.

Personally I would demand payment and begin the eviction process immediately. If he's not paying you then it's inevitable that he's going to stop paying lot rent too if he hasn't already. Next thing you know back lot rent is piling up while he's not paying you, then it could take months to get him out once you begin the eviction process. By the time you finally get him out of there you've got back lot rent, repairs, current and future lot rent until you sell it so you might as well get the ball rolling now sooner then later.

The exception might be is if you have history with this guy, he has always been a good/early pay and you know it's a temporary hardship but if he's job hopping I think we've got his number already.

Perhaps I'm just a mean ol' Scrooge?

I agree with Jon on this. Also, I can't tell you how many times I've had a home "sold" to someone that never bought it so I wouldn't jump in a deal with the belief of having it sold already.

Looking back when I started there were some free "deals" I almost took on. I can't tell you how glad I am that I ended going with my gut. Keep your eyes open though! You can definitely make money on the right ones!

Have you rehabbed homes this old before? One of my main concerns would be once the building inspector starts poking his fat snout around that I would have to get the wiring, this, that, or the other "up to code".

David, in my opinion I would stick as close to home as you can. The park I work in is a straight shot from the highway and about 30minutes door to door. I personally wouldn't want to spend anymore then 30-45min travel time but that is just me. Especially for your first one. You're going to be going back and forth a lot. Believe me.

If lot rent is too high in your area, try to build some report with park manager and work out a deal for free or discounted lot rent or free lot rent for X amount of months. Find out about their foreclosed homes or abandoned homes. After you've done a deal or two they will want you to take their homes.

If the home prices are too high then that is just a matter of finding a seller that has to sell more then they want to sell.

Basically if you are working in a good mobile home park, they will do a good job of screening people. My buyers pay for the park application and if they are approved by the park then they are good enough for me. I can tell you typically the park is ok with a 600+ credit score as long as there are no collections, clean background, ect.

Hi Ken, much like wholesaling you have to find the sellers that are selling because of necessity. I've had good luck in picking up abandoned homes that the park gets back and fixing those. Find some parks with reasonable lot rent and ask if they have any MH they have gotten back. Most of the time they just want that lot back on the rent roll and will sell it cheap enough and sometimes even free.

Marc, depends how nice of a job and how much you want to spend. I just have someone pressure wash the home and put a coat or two of exterior paint on. Came out looking good. There's a picture of it on another thread. My handyman said to prime the bare metal if there was any but the new paint will bite to the old paint.

If you really wanted to put paint on it you could pressure wash it, prime it, then paint it.

Sounds like you've learned quite a bit on your first deal! Repairs are a lot cheaper then most people think. I don't remember if I posted this in this thread before or someone else's post so forgive me for repeating myself but to give you an idea I'll tell you what I usually pay for services.

Cleaning lady that brings her own cleaners, vacuum, ext cord, ect - $50 (well worth me not doing it)

Carpet + Install (includes removing old carpet, installing tack strips where needed, new padding, and new carpet) - $10.60/yd after tax. Avg cost for MH is about $500.

Paint - My handyman can do the entire exterior 2 color paint in about 1-1.5 days. So usually $150 labor and another $100 for paint means a total of $250 for ext. Paint. Interior is a little cheaper at about $200 labor and materials. Below is a picture of a MH I just finished about a week ago. This one cost just $250 labor and materials.

Pressure wash exterior - For $50 Scott shows up with his equipment and power washes everything. It's either cleaned up enough to sell otherwise it's clean and ready to be painted.

Here is something that I find saves me a lot of drive time and hassle. I leave a lock box on the back door. This is where I will leave a check for Scott, or the cleaning lady. When they are done with the job they put the last 4 numbers of their phone number in the box and collect their check. This way I don't have to drop what I'm doing and spend $25 in fuel on a $50 job. They love it because they get paid right away with no hassle. The exception is the handyman though because I want to make sure everything was done that was supposed to be done and if anything else pops up he can take care of it while he is there.

I'm sorry to babble on but I enjoy sharing what I've learned with other people and I love watching you guys go from reading about Lonnie Deals to DOING Lonnie Deals.