Posted by Dirk Roach on January 22, 1999 at 02:04:33:
Just mulling question number 1 over in my head still; if it were me, I would try to buy all his mobile (which he is selling) in a bulk pact, if I decied I wanted to even work in a park which has rentals.
You could negotiate a better deal when buying a package and wind up in a better postion.
Dirk
MH ? for Dirk, David, Greg NE & others - Posted by Jen NE
Posted by Jen NE on January 21, 1999 at 22:11:48:
I have Lonnie’s Book and just started searching for MH this week. I think I know the answer but thought I post them out here.
The first # I called a friend was answering calls for the owner while he was out of town. He has several old SW MHs he is selling ($7k & under). The owner has quite a few MH in the park but does not own park (not all his MHs in the park are for sale). He actually rents them out - the park is OK with this. He is getting out of the biz & is starting to liquidate. The friend says he is negotiable and thinks he owns all free and clear. The owner is going to call me tomorrow. My question is - do I let the owner know I’m an investor since I may be able to negotiate several deals or will that take away my edge? If he still has MHs in the park, he’ll know I sold it to someone else. How would you approach providing he’s motivated enough to liquidate?
My 2nd call was a lady with a '73 DW 24x45 for $2500. I know Lonnie said no DWs but it was so low. She said the park owner is making her move so he can build something in it’s place. She is just going to move in with her sister. Thus it has to move (Bad, I know). She estimates it would cost $4500 to move ( I will check). She said noone will buy since it has to be moved. She said she’ll just give it to me if it doesn’t sell - since she doesn’t want the ‘mean’ park owner to get it (she can’t afford to move it). If I could get this for only moving costs, utility hookups, etc… would you do this or skip being a newbie as Lonnie says.
Sorry so long… Thanks for the help.
Re: MH ? for Dirk, David, Greg NE & others - Posted by Greg (NE)
Posted by Greg (NE) on January 24, 1999 at 22:14:40:
Jen,
I had the same thing happen to me on one of the first MHs I called on. I was “driving the speed bumps” and found a vacant mobile home in a 500 pad park (Park Meadow Estates) with a sign in the window (the window was broken so I figured I was probably dealing with a motivated seller).
I called the MH owner and she said she was asking a $1,000 for the home. Following the advice of many of the members of this board, I just sat on the phone and said nothing. After 10+ seconds (seemed like a minute) she said she’d consider $700. Again I didn’t respond, then she said “H*ll, I’ll take $300”.
Now for the bad part, she then told me it had to be moved. You think this was the reason for her motivation? 
Not to give up, I decided to approach the park manager and see how firm she was on the MH being moved. She said the owner wanted it moved to put a newer double-wide on the pad (I expect this will be a problem with some of the older homes). I have decided not to consider a MH that has to be moved (why deal with the hassel), so I passed on the deal.
I have found, for me, it’s easier not to get caught up in the excitement of a deal if I map out the process ahead of time (i.e., the Visio file I sent you) and then stick to it. The right deal will come along if you keep trying. 
Good Luck,
Greg Adams
Omaha, Nebraska
P.S. If you e-mail me your criteria, I’ll keep my eyes and ears open and let you know if I come across any opportunities that might interest you.
Re: MH ? for Dirk, David, Greg NE & others - Posted by David S
Posted by David S on January 22, 1999 at 20:09:29:
I had a similar deal on 25 mh’s. I told the seller exactly what I was doing, including all finance options. He was happy to give me a fair price, with TERMS… he was a tired landlord. Your man may even offer to finance for you. He is interested in monthly cash flow.
ASK!
Know your market price. without that knowledge, how will you know what to pay?
There are too many deals to worry about moving mh’s at this point.
Re: MH ? for Dirk, David, Greg NE & others - Posted by Bo (GA)
Posted by Bo (GA) on January 22, 1999 at 12:31:57:
On #2, sofar you only have the seller’s word on that the DW has to move. How about talking to the park manager to find out if you can make him change his mind about the move (for $, maybe), and then maybe get the DW for almost nothing?
My 0.02 cents worth.
Re: MH ? for Dirk, David, Greg NE & others - Posted by Dirk Roach
Posted by Dirk Roach on January 22, 1999 at 02:01:19:
Hi Jen,
First of all I think that it’s great you’re moving some molecules and seeing what’s going on in the park.
On question number one, if it were me, and this is considering I don’t have all the facts to attempt a successful negotiation (I’m talking feel of the park, Park manager, seller, comps etc.) I would have to say sure why not be open with this seller. JPiper really honed into my brain the importance of Stance (how people perceive and relate to you, your demeanor, professionalism, & honor as a business person). Personally I think it is a waste of time and energy sneaking around and trying to be sly. He (your seller) you stated will still have an interest in the park. If he’s on his toes, he’ll hear what you are trying to do. Word travels fast in the mobile home park.
Another point you mentioned caught my attention straight away. You state that there are rentals in the park. I see several things on the horizon which may be affected by that. Rental mentality (hard to sell if the neighbors are renting), also people who rent mobile homes generally do not keep up their mobiles. This I know from personal experience (before I lived in Sunny CA I lived in a rented mobile home in MI). Another thing is why will they buy when they can rent, of course all of us in the know can list off all the reasons why it is better to own, but most likely your buyers will have a different perspective (which of course could be changed).
You say you can get these for 7k apiece. I personally think that is high for a 2bed Single wide. I wouldn’t pay that for one, the reason being why would I tie up 7k in one note when I could tie it up in two. If one goes to pot, you still have the other chunking cash flow to you every month. Terry Vaughan says “Always reduce your exposure” which I think is sound advice in any deal.
Those are just some initial gut reactions to your scenario on query number one.
Onto number 2. Any older mobile home can be a pain to move. But there could be a deal if you can buy it cheap enough (for me in a situation like that I wouldn’t play unless I could get it for a hundred dollars or maybe 2). I don’t want to have more than 4k tied up in a Lonnie deal (but again this is just me). Now moving a mobile in MY market runs about 2.5k this is for a single wide. Double wides have additional costs because your splitting it apart and moving both halves. Also when it is split it must be sealed before moving against the elements. And then resealed once it is dropped into a park. Now if you could successfully do this and have it down right for 6.5 and sell it for oh I would say 20k (low end in for a double in my market), you might have a deal. But again your tying up 6.5k of your money in 1 deal, and your gonna get grey hair with all the particulars which will spring up in setting one up (inspectors and everything else).
I would pass on number 2 if it WERE ME.
These are just some things to think about, while you weigh your decision,
Good luck
Dirk