Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A couple of months ago, I became a licensed sales agent for mobile/manufactured homes in Phoenix with a company in which I started investing years ago. (Their investments earn 14%!) It started providing affordable housing to vets and seniors and then expanded into the family market.
While some of the older ones are what you'd think of as typical mobile homes and have a lower price tag, many are virtually indistinguishable from traditional homes. One we're repping has 2 fireplaces and comes with 3 TVs (including an 80") and an 8-camera security system. It's set in a gorgeous 55+ park with a couple of 9-hole golf courses and a fishing lake and is in upscale Scottsdale. It's offered at $225k, which is the same or more for which you'd be buying a home in some areas of the country.
But you CAN distinguish it from traditional homes because you wouldn't own the LAND underneath it! That is a GIGANTIC minus -- I would NEVER buy in a park where the lot rent is high and clearly will just keep going up. (If my circumstances were to change and I had to find much less expensive accommodation, I actually COULD see myself buying one on land that I owned myself, even in a park -- as long as said park was extremely quiet, as in, I could NEVER hear my neighbors. I'm not sure such a park exists!)
OP, I think not owning the land underneath your home is probably your biggest issue. Do you sell any on land where you buy the land too, or just those in parks with very high lot rent?
If there are any new ones that use ecological materials, that would help, a lot, in improving the reputation - the materials they use to build the ones I'm aware of are toxic.
But you CAN distinguish it from traditional homes because you wouldn't own the LAND underneath it! That is a GIGANTIC minus -- I would NEVER buy in a park where the lot rent is high and clearly will just keep going up. (If my circumstances were to change and I had to find much less expensive accommodation, I actually COULD see myself buying one on land that I owned myself, even in a park -- as long as said park was extremely quiet, as in, I could NEVER hear my neighbors. I'm not sure such a park exists!)
OP, I think not owning the land underneath your home is probably your biggest issue. Do you sell any on land where you buy the land too, or just those in parks with very high lot rent?
There are three kinds of parks: 1) you own the land beneath the unit 2) you lease the land beneath the unit
3) you own a share of the park, but not the specific land beneath the particular unit.
There are three kinds of parks: 1) you own the land beneath the unit 2) you lease the land beneath the unit
3) you own a share of the park, but not the specific land beneath the particular unit.
They need to be marketed much differently and as was said, if you have to "rent the land" it sits on....a rose by any other same is still a "trailer".....Everyone is attempting to make money off this type of housing forgetting that many are used by senior citizens and newlyweds beginning life. None of these socio-economic genres have a lot of money or they would live elsewhere. It is up to you...those in the business, to change the mindset by spending marketing dollars and selling a different lifestyle.
My kitchen should look at nice as some of the ones we've got in inventory.
The might "look" nice, but in the case of mobile homes (trailers), the fixtures are affixed to particleboard. The walls are thin and there's very little insulation. In a good windstorm or God forbid a tornado, it will fall apart like a house of cards. Not to mention the frequent haboobs out in that area; you'll never get rid of the dust.
I lived in what I thought was a decent, new singlewide in the nineties, and while it "looked" pretty, it needed constant maintenance, a simple leak would destroy cabinets, and it cost an arm and a leg to heat and cool. Not to mention the day you buy it, it depreciates by half.
With any luck, I will never, ever live in a trailer again. The last thing I want to worry about in my old age is all the things that can go wrong with owning one.
A couple of months ago, I became a licensed sales agent for mobile/manufactured homes in Phoenix with a company in which I started investing years ago. (Their investments earn 14%!) It started providing affordable housing to vets and seniors and then expanded into the family market.
While some of the older ones are what you'd think of as typical mobile homes and have a lower price tag, many are virtually indistinguishable from traditional homes. One we're repping has 2 fireplaces and comes with 3 TVs (including an 80") and an 8-camera security system. It's set in a gorgeous 55+ park with a couple of 9-hole golf courses and a fishing lake and is in upscale Scottsdale. It's offered at $225k, which is the same or more for which you'd be buying a home in some areas of the country.
Since I'm still new at this, the question is how to change people's perceptions of these homes. No, they are not low-cost housing when you've got to have a down of at least $5k and be able to afford financing (in most cases) and lot rent ($650-$950), but they do make for a solid alternative for people who either are downsizing, can't afford to buy a traditional home (median in Phoenix is $460k) or want amenities they can't afford. (Family parks tend to be pet-friendly and have basketball courts and playgrounds.)
Other than on Zillow, Craigslist, and MH (Mobile Home) Village, they're difficult to market. As an old post stated, many people think of them as "tin can" housing in rundown parks. My kitchen should look at nice as some of the ones we've got in inventory.
What would you suggest? Thanks.
I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm not about to pay $225k for an immobile mobile on a rented lot, even if it is a fancy double-wide with a TV thrown in. Shoot, your upper end lot rent is more than my mortgage on a solid log house sitting on 20+ acres of privacy.
My wife's grandfather lived in a nice double-wide in a 55+ park, but it was still a 'trailer'. No matter how much lipstick you put on the pig, it's still a pig. On the other hand, during my mother's last years she lived in a 'manufactured' house that replaced her old house that had partially burned but it was on her*** land with a full new basement poured for it. It came in pieces, on trucks, but it was still a 'real' house. I could be wrong, but it doesn't sound like that's what you're selling.
***(Actually, it turned out that my brother screwed her out of it, so it was actually *his* land, but that's a whole 'nother story.)
I think you've got an extremely limited market for a tough sell. I'd suggest you become an actual real estate agent rather than being a company rep for a product with a limited market. Anyone who could afford your deal (mortgage + lot rent), could afford something better.
Location: Formerly Pleasanton Ca, now in Marietta Ga
10,345 posts, read 8,559,492 times
Reputation: 16679
Consider these to be a depreciating assets whereas homes mostly appreciate. Also it’s telling when you see financing is way less attractive than financing a real home.
I had a friend who worked in the home loan division of a national bank. He advised me at thay time that his bank would not lend money on homes built back when the term "Mobile Home" was in use, only built after 1980 (I am pretty sure).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
