Mobile Homes- 32 Condemned--Yikes! - Posted by HollyS

Posted by Holly S on March 11, 2000 at 15:29:19:

Tony,

Thanks for your advice. I have enjoyed reading so many of your very informative posts. I am ordering Lonnie’s book today and can’t wait to get started.

HollyS

Mobile Homes- 32 Condemned–Yikes! - Posted by HollyS

Posted by HollyS on March 10, 2000 at 22:17:07:

I have finally decided where I want to begin-after reading and studying many of the great posts on this site. I believe that mobile homes and Lonnie deals are a good way to get started without an incredible risk or loads of money. On the eve of ordering Lonnie’s book “Deals on Wheels” ( Believe it or not,I planned to do it tommorow) I open my local paper and see on the front page that 32 mobile homes here are being condemned by the city under Fair Housing Laws. Yikes! My question is, will Lonnie’s book tell me what to avoid when I begin looking or should I try to get information from the courthouse. If so where would I find this laws spelled out. Does this happen a lot, I know that Lonnie deals focus on older homes. From the article in the paper, it appears that all of these homes were very old, 60’s and 70’s and had all been there for many, many years. Of course the residents are saying it is discrimination and that our city wants to develop the land into something else. I would appreciate any advice and I am trying not to be discouraged. Thanks in advance.

HS

Wow! Sounds like money too me… - Posted by Dirk Roach

Posted by Dirk Roach on March 13, 2000 at 23:29:35:

Okay it sounds like you have 32 folks who are used to living in mobiles, and who have to move… Man I wonder how you could solve this problem…
Dirk

Don’t Jump to Conclusions - Posted by Tony-VA

Posted by Tony-VA on March 11, 2000 at 10:56:43:

I disagree with Robert. Lonnie does mention that “city hall” can be an obstacle at times when dealing with mobile homes but more so in the building of new parks.

Robert is correct that Lonnie does not mention homes being condemned by a gov’t agency but I don’t know that this happens often. Have you seen these homes or this park? I have to tell you, I have seen many homes that certainly have the potential for being condemned but have not heard of the gov’t taking action to do so. I would hazard a guess that there are different motivations at work here. Perhaps a feud with the park owner. Who knows? Perhaps the park owner even decided it was time to upgrade the 60 homes and tried a back door approach.

Lonnie does go into detail about locating a good park manager to deal with. This is what keeps both your business and the park business thriving.

Lonnie also goes into specific details about locating and repairing damage to the mobile homes that you buy. Finding the damage to the homes is key in negotiating the price. I stick with Lonnie’s plan and let my buyers to the fix up.

Chances are the homes that were condemned were also pre-HUD (built before 1976) homes. These homes were built before HUD put out national building standards. A simple solution would be to not buy pre-HUD homes. I have some and quite frankly don’t worry about them. Once they are sold, it is up to the buyer to maintain them. If I get them back, I will consider my options then of either selling as is, or fixing them up a bit. You could essentially completely remodel one of these homes for under $2k if you felt the desire to do so. They would have a hard time arguing to condemn any mobile home with $2k worth of remodeling.

In your journeys, you will find “War Zone” parks that should be condemned. Easy solution here too. Don’t work in them either.

I would not let these headlines scare you away from doing lonnie deals. Residential homes are condemned all the time. You don’t see Real Estate Investors fleeing the market because of it. Remember, ever problem has a solution, we make our money by finding that solution. If there are 32 homes in one park that need that much work, I would dare say that you have a great potential for lonnie deals in your area.

Seek out the opportunity in situations like this. Remember you are learning to become an investor. You are not buying these homes as your primary residence. Through Lonnie’s material, and others investing material, you will learn that in order to be successful, you must see things differenlty than the average working person. Most people will see this headline and think “who in the world would ever buy mobile homes as INVESTMENTS?” This puts you in a market without competition. What more could you ask for?

Don’t decide on an opinion on this headline, or my post, until you have educated yourself in how mobile home investing works. I think that once you have done so, you will have a much different outlook about the potential a lonnie business may have in your area.

Best Wishes,

Tony-VA

Great Question! - Posted by Robert

Posted by Robert on March 10, 2000 at 23:43:39:

I read Lonnie’s book and it does not go into that type of a problem. I look forward to having your question answered.