First Lonnie Deal -- Is this a deal? (long) - Posted by JVRacing_NY

Real Estate Investing Real Estate Law
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Posted by B.L. Renfrow on June 12, 2006 at 15:48:11:

Not necessarily. Just means you have to be resourceful enough to figure a way around the roadblocks.

I know there was a guy near Rochester who posted here a number of years ago (I think it was Chuck-NY). He was very successful doing Lonnie deals, but I believe he did sell on lease options.

On the bright side, there’s no title on the older homes; you just transfer with a bill of sale, there’s no transfer tax, no dealer license requirements and no shortage of buyers.

Brian (NY)

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First Lonnie Deal – Is this a deal? (long) - Posted by JVRacing_NY

Posted by JVRacing_NY on June 06, 2006 at 21:20:02:

Hello all. I really appreciate the wisdom that’s being shared on this board. It has been a great help to me and I’m sure plenty of other people who will never post. So on behalf of myself and them, thanks.

My wife and I have read through DOW and MMWMH, as well as most of the mobile home articles and posts on creonline.com. We have been driving the speedbumps and checking the classifieds for the last month or so, though we haven’t talked to any PMs yet (we tried, but they’re not around on Saturday afternoon – when is someone working a full time job supposed to meet these guys anyway!?).

We think we may have found our first Lonnie Deal, but we need some guidance. The seller, a 40-something single woman living with her 21 year old son, is asking $2800. After looking through the home, it seems fantastic. 1981 2/1, quite clean, she just had the roof re-sealed yesterday, she replaced the furnace a year or two ago, dishwasher, bathtub with jacuzzi jets. I feel kinda silly that I don’t know the dimensions, but she didn’t know them and I have no idea how to find out other than taking a tape measure over there!

Skirting needs TLC, and there’s tape around the outside of most of the windows, which she said is because they don’t seal very well. Other than that we couldn’t find any major issues with it. The floors seemed ok.

She said she bought it 5 years ago for $5000, and got a good deal then. She doesn’t seem excessively motivated right now, but offering this house for $2800 seems to indicate at least a fair amount of motivation. She doesn’t have a set moving date. She’s just planning on moving to a 1bdrm apt to get her son out of the house.

Lot rent is an obscene $457/mo, which is awfully high even for the generally expensive New York State. So I know I’d have to move this thing as soon as I get it (not move it off the lot though!).

From what we’ve seen of our market here in the Buffalo, NY region, I can’t imagine not being able to immediately re-sell this for at least double. (We told the seller of our intentions to re-sell on terms, and she sounded almost excited to try and find us a buyer! If so, this may be the easiest Lonnie deal ever.) We have a test ad coming out tomorrow in one of the smaller, free newspapers (“We buy, sell and finance used mobile homes. Reasonable prices, flexible terms. No banks.”), so hopefully that will tell us more definitely how strong the demand is.

She said she would take $2500. We’re trying to figure out if we need to give her some more time to get motivated, or if that would be trying to steal in slow motion.

Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Josh

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Also… - Posted by B.L. Renfrow

Posted by B.L. Renfrow on June 09, 2006 at 13:16:58:

Perhaps you already know all this, and if so, feel free to ignore, but from experience, be sure, once you’ve found a buyer, to consider HOW you’re going to sell the home.

The problem in NY with a typical Lonnie deal is this: Due to NY’s laws, if the owner defaults, you can’t just repossess, nor can you evict. If you can’t bribe them to leave, you have to sue on the defaulted note. And worse, because it’s usually over the limit for small claims, you have to sue in city or supreme court - which means paying a lawyer.

Once you get a judgment, you’re far from done. Then you have to pay the sheriff to seize and auction the MH in satisfaction of the judgment. THEN you only get your judgment amount, you don’t have the MH back to resell.

If you know a way around this, I’d love to hear it, but the few New Yorkers doing this whom I know recommend you sell on a lease option instead. That way, if they default, you can evict based on the lease. Many PMs won’t agree to this however, because they don’t want renters in the park.

My understanding is that Florida’s laws are similar, so you may want to search for posts about the laws there, and how folks deal with it, since there aren’t many posts on the board from New Yorkers.

Brian (NY)

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Thanks for your advice - Posted by JVRacing_NY

Posted by JVRacing_NY on June 08, 2006 at 09:54:45:

I appreciate the quick and helpful responses. They definitely give me more confidence, and I will continue to persue this.

Josh

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If - Posted by Steve-WA

Posted by Steve-WA on June 06, 2006 at 22:00:40:

If she is not in a hurry to move, but can move as soon as you buy it, then you are definitely right to start marketing for a buyer - but before you buy, you HAVE to talk to the PM and make sure things are cool with what you are wanting to do.

if you have three months of holding costs set aside - buy it

if you know enough about your resale market to know that it will sell on terms for 2x or more - buy it

if you wait for her motivation to get the price lower - you’ll lose it

you have a good deal here; and what’s wrong with using a tape? I do it all the time. check for back rent owed, back taxes owed, physical title with no liens - this seems pretty good.

Good on ya

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Re: First Lonnie Deal – Is this a deal? (long) - Posted by Adam (IN)

Posted by Adam (IN) on June 06, 2006 at 21:55:11:

a couple of things…high lot rent parks are MH’s form of russian roulette, better be quick my friend or your dead…also, just a personal thing, but as soon as i hear what they’ll accept, i offer right around half that and at the worst it makes them ? the true value of their home and trust me they will ALWAYS take less then thier original low #…ALWAYS

sounds like you’ve got the general idea…best of luck

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Re: Also… - Posted by JVRacing_NY

Posted by JVRacing_NY on June 12, 2006 at 13:19:00:

So… That basically kills my plans for doing Lonnie Deals.

Anybody see any reason I shouldn’t quit? Sounds pretty hopeless. I hate NY.

On the brigher side, the housing market in Buffalo is very, very cheap. I’m probably just as happy buying some plexes and having a management company take care of my properties.

Josh

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its been - Posted by Adam (IN)

Posted by Adam (IN) on June 12, 2006 at 21:36:48:

said before so i’ll say it again…you’re not a rock, you’re free to move about as you wish

im sure not many do so, but you can move somewhere more “Lonnie” friendly

or, you can just buy some plexs and let a management company (who doesn’t give a #%@ about your $) watch over your properties, either way…