I asked you guys a while back to start watching the local papers to see if you could spot any deals on used mobile homes in your areas… Did anyone find anything? I have yet to receive any input from the peanut gallery? Oh well, I watch my Craigslist ads within 100-200 miles of my place in the city, almost everyday. The market is real thin around here right now, I’m guessing? I haven’t found any that were a sure thing but I thought I would share a couple of ads I did find this morning…

 

   These are shown as an example only, I am not saying that these are homes I would personally purchase but these things are still out here, even in a thin market… I’ll post the few pictures and details I have and then make my comments at the end – Take a look!

 

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Ad #1 -

 

FREE FREE FREE MOBILES HOMES, DOUBLE WIDE AND SINGLE WIDE

 

MUST BE MOVED NOW

 

CALL ROB 425-879-3081

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ad #2 -

 

2BR 2BATH double wide NICE Mobile home!!!MAKE AN OFFER!!! – $1 (Federal Way)

 

1981 Fuquah Parkway model – doublewide

 

We are selling our 2 bed 2 bath mobile home that we recently remodeled. Remodel included, new shag carpet (stain resistant) new flooring in the kitchen bathrooms laundry room, and second bedroom. New Paint through out entire house. New toilet, new hardware and paint on kitchen and bathroom cabinets, new lighting, newer fridge. This house comes with all appliances. It has one huge master bedroom with master bathroom, and one large second bedroom with big closet! Vaulted ceilings, and other misc. upgrades. We really need to sell preferably by the end of the month so will consider any reasonable offer. asking $26,000.00. Please call me at 253-569-8012 or e-mail the craigslist address above. more pictures available upon request. thanks for looking!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ad #3 -

 

Single Wide Mobile Home – $100 (Echo Lake Area)

 

1986 14′x66′ 2-bedroom, 2 full bath mobile. Never been smoked in. Has never leaked. I had this posted a while back and no one wanted to pay the estimated $4k to move it. It might cost less to move but I don’t know. Needs new carpet and vinyl (or not, depending on how picky you are). Stove, fridge, washer, dryer, pellet stove negotiable. Perfect for Mom or Dad as temporary housing on your property (check your zoning first!). Write back with phone number if you are serious. I will call you right away.

 

**No photos available yet, I have requested them from the seller… I will re post this ad, if they are sent to me!

 

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   Alright, whats my point, other than to make you look at some bad pictures of some old wobbly box mobile homes? The point is that I took a quick look at what was on the local Craigslist section for Seattle and came up with 3 ads for MOTIVATED mobile home sellers… 1 ad said the home was free but had to be moved, another said $100 and the home had to be moved and the last was showing signs of becoming desperate and their price will certainly drop like a rock once they hit that stage.

 

   Again, your thinking “So What!” I know none of my readers would even briefly ponder this route to home OWNERSHIP… I say this in jest, I’ve had email discussions with several of you that are doing the same thing I am out at the BOL. An older mobile home that you can own free and clear, sitting on paid for land.

 

   Sometimes a fixer/upper is a bad idea but in this case it could actually be in your favor. If the structure is sound and it would have to be to go down the road to your land, you at least have a foothold into a free and clear house. The idea about it being a fixer upper is that when you’re done de-scuzzing the place, you end up with something you can be proud of that is exactly the way you choose to have it set up! I have been to see many of this type of home and if they’re ugly they’re cheap. Often they can be had for just the trouble of getting them off the sellers land. An additional thing to remember is that just like beauty, ugly is only skin deep. A few repairs and some new surfaces and you have what looks like a fresh clean little condo. I might be over simplifying this but you see what I driving at, right? 

 

  The seller will have one of several different motivations in getting out from under these places. Sometimes the county is sweating them to get it moved because their new home is built and they can’t keep both places on the same piece of property. Another thing I see in my real estate related business is the heirs of a deceased older person are needing to dispose of their relatives prior home.

 

   As a side note, since I brought it up… The last scenario, heirs of a deceased home owner are probably the best people to buy from. They have no financial interest in the home other than maybe keeping whatever money they can get you to pay. Even more of a factor is that the heirs are saddled with the monthly space rent for the home while its for sale. We often see these places come on the market with a realtor who prices the mobile home fairly but on the optimisticside. A month or two will go by without a buyer and the seller is out the space rent which would typically be $400-500 or even more per month. You would think that this was their last dollar! It feels like a huge burden to these folks as they are trying to do the family a favor by taking care of the last details after the death but they just get to write a monthly check… See where I’m going with this?

 

   I have seen cash buyers pick these homes up for as little as $2500 bucks. I do know that you can get these homes for free but I wouldn’t see them come across my desk, since they wouldn’t go through a real estate agent, I didn’t want to say specifically something I haven’t personally seen for myself… There are even investors that work specifically in this field and see these homes as the “Gold Mine” they can be! Lots of money has been made with these little treasures!

 

   If you’re willing to do a little research, I’ll bet you can find a diamond in the rough right in your own back yard. It will probably be a distance from where you would ultimately want it but that’s what mobile home movers are for. I have said it before, our 200 mile move with breakdown and reset on the other end was only about $6000! Yes, that’s alot of cash to pull out of your pocket but it’s not expensive, considering what you end up with.

 

   Do us all a favor and take a look or keep looking if you’ve already started and email me what you find! I’m kind of on the “Mobile Homes for Freedom” kick lately… I hope that this subject doesn’t bore you, I would like to have more time to devote in this area. I would even encourage a business minded individual to think about these homes as an investment opportunity? I will pick this subject, the investment idea, back up again in a future post. I haven’t decided if I want to give away what I think could be a lucrative investment idea? Time will tell…See ya tomorrow!

 

 

Prepper