Buying or Selling a Home/Selling a Mobile Home

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Expert: - 12/25/2010


Question

house part
Hello!I am in a very unique predicament.  First off, let me start off by saying I believe no one should buy things unless they have the money to do so.  Here's my questions...it's rather long so I apologize in advance.  My parents gave me a 1969ish mobile home about 4 years ago.  This particular mobile home was re-done in mid to early 1990's.  The man built a frame house over half of the mobile home.  Hence, the living room and master bedroom was completely new construction.  That part of the place is really nice today and looks new.  The other bedroom and part of the kitchen had this new roof and all put over top of it (regular house style roof).  Recently, when I acquired the house, I redid almost all of the interior with new sheetrock, paint and carpet.  I have two room left to do(wiring, sheetrock, etc).  The rest of the house has new number 12 wire with 20 amp breakers.  All the old trailer wiring has been removed.  The outside looks horrible because one side looks like a house and the other looks like a trailer. It sits on one acre.  I own everything.  It is my American Dream to stay debt free.  My wife and I don't have any bills (thank God)  I have considered spending 5k or 10k to finish the roof, rooms, and add a porch on the backside.  However, many people have told me not to.  In fact, some tell me to bulldoze it and get a mortgage and pay 30 years.  Remember what I said about being debt free?.  I would like to get as much as I can out of this free home.  My plan is to save 30 or 40k within a year and then use money from this place to buy a 'real house'.  I have asked this question on another forum but don't believe I was being clear enough.  I want to sell this place.  I don't know what to fix that will give me profit and what not to fix because it will be a waste of my money.  Some have acted like I shouldn't fix anything on this place because I'm not going to get any more money out of the deal.  What work, if any, should I do to this place to maximize my sell?  I really appreciate it and if this still isn't clear enough let me know so I can make it less ambiguous.  I attached a picture of the part that was built over the trailer.  The trailer part looks like a 1969 aluminum trailer sticking out of a house (not very appealing).

Ben

Answer
Hi Ben,

You said you want to sell “this place,” and you also stressed that you want to stay debt-free.

My personal opinion is that you should stay where you are if you have no mortgage payment, and continue to save your money until you have sufficient funds to build/buy the home you want.  The economy is horrible, and I think it’s going to be a long haul before there is a major recovery.

It sounds like the home you are in now is comfortable for you, and if you and your wife are willing to stay there until you have sufficient savings to buy what you want, by all means do that.  I would not even put the property on the market until I had all my money in place to purchase or build what I wanted.  If you sell before you have all your savings in place, what you would have to pay for rent could put a major dent in savings.  I am a very conservative person and, like you, am totally debt-free and plan to stay that way.

As to what repairs to advise you to make before selling this property, you need to assess what the demand for properties of this type are in your area.  If “redone” mobile homes with additions are in high demand in your area, I personally “might” put a little more money into it, but probably not $10,000.  Again, this is a hypothetical for me, because I am not familiar with the value of your property and values, generally, in your area.

If you are handy and can do the sheetrock work and painting yourself over a period of time and/or do the screened porch yourself, this might be an option.  On the screened porch, for now anyhow, unless you and your wife really WANT and would put the screened porch to good use, I would probably hold off on that.  You could always offer later when the property is for sale to add a screened porch for someone for “X” amount of dollars.

Mobile homes, unless they have been detitled and are on a permanent foundation (a foundation which meets FHA/VA specifications and will qualify for an FHA or VA loan), generally do not appreciate, but rather DEpreciate.  Unless there is a huge demand in your area for the type property you currently have (and not knowing values in your area and having a lot more information), my gut instinct is to advise you to not spend any more money on the house than you could afford to lose when you sell it, period.  

This advice is much the same as I would give owners of a stick-built home who have added (or who want to add) an inground swimming pool or who have done extensive landscaping with gazebos, etc.  Adding a swimming pool or extensive landscaping does not guarantee that when the property is on the market, a Seller will get any more money because of these items.  Sure, they are nice, but is a Buyer willing to pay a Seller extra for them?  In most cases, the answer is, “No.”  A pool for many buyers is nothing more than extra work and a liability.  Again, it all boils down to demand.  If all homes in a subdivision have inground swimming pools, then an investment for same might be wise.  Likewise, if all other mobile homes in your area have a screened porch, this might be a factor you want to consider.

Thanks for the photo.  Some ideas I would definitely suggest would be to possibly add some shutters and plant some shrubs along the front of the house to add curb appeal.  You can also “dress up” the inside with inexpensive accessories to make it show well when you do put it up for sale.  I’m talking things like area rugs, a nice floral arrangement on, say, a dining room table, and mirrors in rooms with low light.

What I always say to people is to drive up to your own house, walk inside, and look at things with a critical eye and then correct things that you do not like.  Again, I’m speaking of inexpensive, cosmetic things to make your property show better:  Eliminate all clutter, have a flowering plant at your front exterior entry, grass cut, fresh straw in flower beds, and so on.  In other words, stage your house.  You can go online and search “home staging tips” for more ideas.  It’s not a question of whether or not you should stage your home, but HOW you should stage it for maximum effect.

I hope the above is helpful to you.  Good luck to you, and feel free to write again if you have additional questions.

Regards,
Elizabeth

liznarr

Expertise

I can answer questions relating to the purchase and/or sale of residential homes and land, including what a really good agent should be expected to do and/or not do; where to turn when problems occur; and questions regarding disclosure. I`m a Licensed Realtor in the Southeast since 1984 with designations of Broker, GRI, CRS, and CBR (Certified Buyer Representative). Current active and Life Member of Million Dollar Club, Certified by State Real Estate Commission to teach Pre-Licensing and Continuing Education courses, specializing in Agency. Currently serving on Grievance and Professional Standards Committees, and Education Committee in past.

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