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Selling mobile homes
by Tom
Laing
Statistics show that there is a spurt
in the number of people opting to own and live in mobile
homes. For some, selling mobile homes is a business,
while for others it is a process for when they prefer to
move from a place to another.
Before discussing selling mobile
homes, lets look at what mobile home is? A mobile home
is a residential structure thats been constructed in a
factory and is then shipped as a single piece to the
address. Sometimes it is a misnomer as only 5% of the
homes ever leave their original site. Generally mobile
homes are bought by the less affluent, lower-income
consumers and for them, selling mobile homes are a good
way to recover the money and in fact a good profit. If
you are a mobile home owner, keep in mind that before
setting about selling your mobile home, do all the
necessary homework. That is, dont rush in to selling
mobile homes without setting some goals and meeting
them. Tap the trend of the real estate market in the
region to your fullest advantage so that after selling
mobile homes, you have made a profit. In the process of
selling mobile homes, let us start everything with the
simple marketing technique - that is to make the
structure look appealing to others. |
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Landscaping, window treatments, and the front door are
all eye-catching areas that need to be kept beautiful
and appealing. Those selling mobile homes should make
sure that their rooms smell nice and are free of animal
odors. Walls should be cleaned and painted, carpets
freshly cleaned and bathrooms and kitchen spotless.
While selling mobile homes, keep in mind that people
love well lit homes. Play it to your advantage - have
the brightest light bulbs in your fixtures. Another
important point, while selling mobile homes, take care
not to leave any of the rooms cluttered with furniture.
People tend to imagine how their furniture will fit in
your home and to have the room cluttered could be a
deterrent. When you want to sell mobile homes, tune the
appearance of the house in such a way that it appears
well maintained to a visitor who visits the home.
If you want to sell mobile homes, give yourself a
good 6-9 months from the date you need to have the home
sold, depending on the real estate market in the area.
If you fail in selling mobile homes on your own, contact
a realtor. In selling mobile homes, it is recommended to
have your home appraised by a licensed appraiser. Dont
price the home too high or too low. Advertisements play
a major part in selling mobile homes. They are
instrumental in bringing prospective clients to the
seller in numbers. Try free ads first and if it is not
working as you expect, start advertising in news papers.
To sell mobile homes, in advertisements always begin
the sentence with A. Since most news papers place ads
alphabetically, there is more chance of you finding the
top position. Here is a tip, start with words like
"adorable, admirable, accented, accommodating,
affordable or available". In the advertisements, you
should be ready to give directions to the home and be
ready to set times for people to see the home. This is
vital in striking the deal in the business of selling
mobile homes.
In the process of selling mobile homes, placing For
Sale signs on the window will help draw passersby to you
who actually are on the look out for a home. The sign
should have your phone number as well. Most people will
find the home easily this way. If the buyer wants the
security of a home warranty, a finance company can
provide one if the mobile home is less than 6 years old.
In selling mobile homes, keep the contracts available
and loan applications in case these folks want to buy
your home on the spot. Once someone seriously decides to
buy your home, refer them to a mobile home banker for
their financing needs. The mobile home banker will take
care of all loose ends thus making the process of
selling your mobile home a lot easier for you.
While selling mobile homes, now a word of caution; do
not let these buyers assume or take over your payments
on your current loan! If they default the payments, you
will be held responsible to make the payments, until the
home is paid off! This is something that could ruin your
credit rating. Hence it is an important thing to
remember when selling your mobile home!
Copyright 2005
http://www.bringyourbusinessonline.com
Buying mobile homes
Buying Mobile Homes |
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Get
Rich With Mobile Homes
by
Steven Gillman
Does the myth that mobile homes depreciate in value keep
you from investing in them? Well, they do lose value in
a park, on a rented lot. Mobile homes with real estate,
however, are an entirely different investment.
My mobile home doubled in value in the twelve years I
lived in it. The home deteriorated a little (don't all
houses?), but the value of the land continued to rise.
Also, by renting rooms, I took in far more money from my
home than it originally cost, and I was living in it!
Forget your prejudices and look at the numbers. In this
town, for example, a two bedroom house rents for
$800/month, and costs about $120,000. A mobile home gets
$500/month, but you can buy one on real estate for
$50,000 or less. The cash-on-cash return on investment
is obviously higher with mobile homes.
What about the long term return from appreciation? House
rentals here typically have negative cash flow, while
mobile home rentals at least break even. Investors
prefer houses anyhow, believing they'll build equity
faster, but is that true?
Faster Equity With Mobile Homes
Buy a house for $120,00. Put $20,000 down, and you'll
have a $100,000 mortgage loan. Amortised over 30 years
at 6% interest, you'll have a payment of $599.60. Of the
first payment, $500 will go towards interest, $99.60
towards principal. In other words, you only built equity
of $99.60. I'm ignoring appreciation, but only for the
moment.
Second scenario: Find a nice mobile home for sale, and
borrow only $30,000, at 8% interest, amortised over 10
years. Note the higher interest - this is always the
case with "factory built home mortgages." The shorter
term is normal too, so you'll be done with payments in
10 years instead of 30.
Now, despite higher interest and a shorter term, the
payment will be only $363.99. The first month, $200 will
go towards interest. That means the other $163.99 goes
towards principal. You bought more house (built more
equity) in this scenario.
A mobile home on land might appreciate more slowly than
the "regular" house, but faster loan pay-down covers
this factor. Pay less per month and build more equity!
Don't expect your real estate agent to tell you this.
Don't expect him to even agree with me after you explain
it. I sold real estate years ago, and math skills were
not part of the licensing requirements.
Cash Flow With Mobile Homes
In the example given, you'd initially lose about
$150/month on the house, after your payment, taxes,
insurance repairs and other expenses. You'd break even
or better with the mobile home, and after the loan is
paid (ten years), you'd have a lot of cash flow, of
course.
Mobile homes are cheap to maintain. The furnace died in
rental I owned, the most expensive repair you'll have in
a mobile. I replaced it for $1,200, much less than a
furnace for a larger home. For $200 you can have a
mobile home roof tarred, instead of $5,000 to re-shingle
a traditional roof. Windows, plumbing, doors - they're
all cheaper.
Property taxes cost less, because they're based on
value, and mobile homes have a lower value than
stick-built houses. Insurance will cost less too,
because you are insuring less value. The only precaution
to remember here is to be sure you can get insurance.
Very old mobiles may be uninsurable in some areas.
The Bottom Line
Mobiles have their own problems. Renters who have to
rent for less sometimes pay late, for example. These
issues are minor compared to the advantages. Your twenty
thousand could buy you two mobile home rentals, with ten
thousand down on each, instead of one negative-cash-flow
house, for example.
Take an honest look at the numbers. The two investors in
my town that own most of the mobile home rentals always
have cash flow, and have millions in equity now. Other
investors, following their prejudices, struggle to make
money with their "nice" rental homes. So don't
automatically pass on those mobile homes for sale when
you're looking for a good investment.
Steve Gillman has invested in mobile homes and other
real estate for years. To learn more, and to see a photo
of a beautiful house (not a mobile) he and his wife
bought for $17,500, visit
www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com |
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Why
Mobile Homes?
by
Steven Gillman
There are mobile homes for sale, for much less than
stick-built houses, in most areas of the country.
Despite persistent predjudice against them, and
sometimes the people living in them, mobile homes are
the cheap housing choice of millions. The advantages are
not always obvious, but they are real.
First of all, let's acknowledge the big "truth" about
mobile homes and appreciation or depreciation. It's true
in most areas that mobile homes in parks go down in
value over time. That's why I don't recommend buying in
a park, unless you absolutely can't buy real estate, and
you have done the math to see if you are better off than
renting a nice apartment.
To "do the math" consider lot rent, payment, and the
remaining value of the mobile when you put it up for
sale, minus what you will still owe, when you are likely
to move. These are guesses, but still better than
nothing if you are as objective as you can be.
Mobile Homes For Sale With Real Estate
When looking at mobile homes for sale on land, however,
you are looking at an entirely different investment. My
mobile home in Michigan doubled in value in the twelve
years I lived in it. That's because even as the home
deteriorated a little over time (don't all houses?), the
value of the land continued to rise. You also can do
what you like with the home when you own the land. For
example, I took in more money from my home than it
originally cost, by renting out a room or two over the
years.
As mentioned, mobile homes usually sell for less than
other houses, and this means lower payments. Also,
because of the shortened amortization and lower loan
amount, you will often build equity faster in a mobile
home than in a more expensive house. A quick example
follows, for the skeptical among you.
Equity Building With Mobile Homes
If you buy a house with a $100,000 mortgage loan
amortised over 30 years at 6% interest, you'll have a
payment of $599.60. Of the first payment, $500 will go
towards interest, $99.60 towards principal. In other
words, you only built equity of $99.60 (I'm ignoring
appreciation, but only for the moment).
Second scenario: Find a nice mobile home for sale, and
borrow only $30,000, at 8% interest, amortised over 10
years. Note that higher interest is always the case with
"factory built home mortgages." The shorter term is
normal too, but least you'll own your home
free-and-clear in 10 years instead of 30. Despite higher
interest and a shorter term, the payment will be only
$363.99, and the first month only $200 will go towards
interest. That means the other $163.99 goes towards
principal. You bought more house (built more equity) in
this scenario.
It's true that a mobile home on land might appreciate
more slowly than a "regular" house, but the faster loan
pay-down probably more than covers this factor. If you
also chose to bank the difference in payments ($235.61
per month), you'd definitely be better off financially
with the mobile home versus the more expensive home.
Pay less per month and build more equity! Don't expect
your real estate agent to tell you this. Don't expect
him to even agree with me after you explain it. I sold
real estate years ago, and math skills were not a big
part of the licensing requirements.
Mobile Homes For Sale; Other Advantages
Mobile homes are cheaper to maintain. Years ago I had a
mobile home as a rental, and the furnace in it died.
This is the most expensive repair you'll have in a
mobile. I had to replace it for $1,200, but that was
still less than a furnace for a larger home. Consider
that for $200 you can tar the roof of your home, or $30
if you do it yourself, instead of $5,000 to re-shingle a
traditional roof. The windows, plumbing, doors - all
cheaper.
Property taxes will cost less, because they're based on
the value of the property, and mobile homes for sale on
land have lower value than stick-built houses. Insurance
may cost less too, again because you are insuring less
value. The only precaution to remember here is to be
sure you can get insurance. Very old mobiles may be
uninsurable in some areas.
Should You Buy A Mobile Home?
Don't buy a mobile home if prices for houses in the area
are just as low. Believe it or not, this is the case in
some areas. We bought a house near Butte, Montana for
$17,500 - less than mobile homes for sale there (See a
photo on our site www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com).
Houses do generally hold up better. Then there are the
issues of whether your own needs and predjudices will
let you be comfortable in a mobile home. They are
sometimes for sale in areas you don't want to live in
(Certainly true of houses as well). These are personal
things you have to consider.
The advantages are clear for many young people starting
out. It may be their only option, but it may be your
better option. Besides a lower initial price, you get
simpler, cheaper maintainance, lower monthly payments,
less property tax, less for insurance, and faster equity
build-up. So don't automatically pass on those mobile
homes for sale when you're out home-hunting.
Steve Gillman and his wife Ana have converted their
mobile home in Michigan to a rental and moved to Tucson,
Arizona. He and his wife also lived for a while in
Montana, where they bought a beautiful house (not a
mobile) for $17,500. That experience lead to the
creation of their website,
www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com |
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Should
You Sell Your Home Yourself?
by
Sameer S Panjwani
Should you sell your home yourself? Yes and no. Yes,
you should leave the option of selling on your own open
and no, you shouldnt rule out using the services of an
agent to help you sell. There are a considerable number
of advantages of using an agent to sell your home but
their services do come at a price - up to 6% commission
on the sale price! Thats quite a sum, a precious $6,000
for every $100,000 your home is worth. Agents are not
indispensable. With the advent of the Internet, a fairly
sizeable number of owners have been able to successfully
sell on their own. Statistics have it that 80% of home
buyers begin their search for a home online. So, putting
your home details on the Internet is one effective
medium of advertising your home and reaching out to a
large number of buyers.
So now, how would you go about doing the yes and no at
the same time? Well, agents may not tell you about this
but there is a type of listing arrangement you can have
with them, known as an Exclusive Agency Listing. Under
the terms of this listing, they would be the exclusive
agents handling the marketing of your property and
should they or another agent find a buyer for your
place, your listing agent would be entitled to a full
commission. This type of listing would also have the
agent put your property on the MLS (Multiple Listing
Service). The other side to this listing arrangement is
that, if you find a buyer yourself, you dont have to pay
any commission to your agent! So, the answer to yes and
no lies in going for an Exclusive Agency Listing. You
would be keeping the option open of finding a buyer
yourself, through the Internet listings of your home,
while on the other hand, should your listing agent find
you a buyer, you would have to pay the commission but
youre getting your home sold in the process.
So where should you advertise and list your home? There
are plenty of websites which offer to list your
property. Two well-known and frequently visited sites
are
ChoiceOfHomes.com and
ForSaleByOwner.com. I suggest not listing on only
one but listing on at least a couple of these sites, if
not more. It doesnt cost much and especially when you
consider the money youd save in commissions from finding
a buyer through these sources.
Happy Home Selling!
Sameer S Panjwani is the CEO and Founder of
ChoiceOfHomes.com - Real estate listings of homes on
sale and rent. |
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