Newbie needs help on MH!!! - Posted by rickrILL

Posted by Tony-VA on April 24, 2000 at 12:58:29:

Slow down a bit. It is good to be enthusiastic but jumping in without some education is like diving in head first without checking to see if there is water in the pool.

Lonnie’s books will walk you through these deals and protect you from making some very serious mistakes. These are mistakes that Lonnie has made for us. Spend the $30 and get an education that will save and make you thousands.

You do have more to lose. Have you figured out if there is even a market for 1 bedroom mobile homes? How much are they going for? How fast do they sell? What is your competetion? What do one bedroom apts rent for in the area? Is this your targer market? Is there back lot rent owed? How much? Does the owner have liens on the title?

Right now, you don’t know what you don’t know. Once you read Lonnie’s book you will either know, or know what areas you require more info. Simply reading a couple of posts and running out to make your fortune in mobile homes is not investing, it is gambling. Do a little homework and protect yourself by making good safe investments that provides you large yields for very little money.

Lonnie will discuss things that you need to know before you run out and start making low ball offers (not to mention negotiating techniques other than low ball offers). First you need to know if the home can stay in the park. Will the park manager allow you to buy, sell and finance homes in their park. Not all managers will.

Do yourself a favor and wait until you have had a chance to get a little bit more information about how to approach your new business. I commend your enthusiasm, just don’t get too carried away that you get yourself in over your head. Having a bad experience on your very first deal can destroy your motivation to continue in this business.

Read Lonnie’s book. Find a park that will allow you to play ball and then find the MOTIVATED SELLERS. Reversing this order is DANGEROUS!

Best Wishes For Your Success,

Tony-VA

Newbie needs help on MH!!! - Posted by rickrILL

Posted by rickrILL on April 22, 2000 at 15:21:56:

Hi all

I’ve been following the site for a while now and I think I’m ready to take the dive! Found an immaculate 1970 Liberty singlewide 1BR big LV/Kit w/shed… all newer appliances and carpet… new roof 3 yrs ago. The seller is motivated and asking $12K. I think I can get him down to $9K or less and turn it around for a good price. Have some questions…

  1. Seller won’t finance and I don’t have $9K… relatives are out of the question…any investors in the Illinos/McHenry county area out there?

  2. I do have some property free and clear… could I leverage?

  3. Is bank financing an option I should consider?

  4. Who invented liquid soap and why?..ooops wrong site

Any help or mentoring would be greatly appreciated … can’t wait to get going!!!

Rick Riggs

Thanks All - Posted by RickR

Posted by RickR on April 24, 2000 at 14:36:34:

Thank you all for the good advice. Sounds like it’s unanimous that we wait and read the books. We have done some due diligence though and have found out allot of information. There are several parks within 30 minutes that will work with us. Next step I guess is to go and meet with them and check out the market. As for the original deal we were trying for here we did do some stuff to answer Tony’s questions and at this point it is not such a good deal. Seller has title free and clear and rents paid up. Called the park manager and did not get the impression they liked investors. Even if we could get him down on the price, it would not be worth the risk of having to move it. RE moves pretty quick here and there are allot of folks migrating out from Chicago (We are in NW suburbs). Apartments in this area go from $500 on the low end to $900 on the high end (1BR). Anyway, all this info is a great help so keep it coming!!!

Have you got Lonnie’s books yet ?? - Posted by Ed Ortiz

Posted by Ed Ortiz on April 23, 2000 at 12:42:11:

Hi Rick,

Every one of your questions(not the soap one)are answered on them. I really think
that you can save yourself a lot of money and headaches if you follow Lonnie’s advice.
Believe me after reading his books you will get a whole different perspective on this type of deals. Finally, I don’t know your market but I know that 9k could get me a lot more than a 1 br unit.

Just my opinion.
Sincerely,
Ed Ortiz

Mobile Home Pitfalls, and how to avoid them… - Posted by Dirk Roach

Posted by Dirk Roach on April 22, 2000 at 16:10:58:

Hi Rick,
Yes Mobile Homes are SUPER!!! Yields that are stratospheric, low risk monetary risks, quick return…ect, etc, etc.
However a Mobile Home deal can eat you up if you don’t know what you’re doing. Remember though, when you do know what you’re doing they can make you a bloody fortune.
Okay first get Lonnie’s Books. They are a must, if you’re going to get serious in the mobile home realm. Also ALWAYS look at risk vs. reward!
in your above deal, why would you tie up $9k on one deal when you can tie up that same $9k on THREE/FOUR separate deals?
See $9k into a deal, and then you sell it for say $12 or $13k (on payments)
Your numbers will look something like this

Present Value: 12K (the amount your carrying a note for)
Interest: 12.75% (Lonnie Standard)

Term: 48 mths (How long the folks are going to be sending you a payment, and how long this deal is going to take)
Payment: $320.44 (how much they’re going to send you each month)
Yield: On an initial $8k (9k minus 1 k downski) on the above scenario is 36.71%…ychk!

Okay now lets say you take the same 9k and create three of these notes
PV: $12k
Interest: 12.75%
Payment: $320.44
Yield: On 3k initial investment (I’m leaving out the minus 1k because It gives me a headache to figure THAT out) would be 127.16% Wow!!!
Now remember that’s times 3!!! So if one flakes out and you have a month or so of carrying costs, you have the other two still rolling in.

Anyhow the other thing I wanted to mention, before I get out of here, is 1 bedrooms, Stink. Reason is, you limit your market on the resell side.
Also don’t pay more than 3 or 4k for these little Lonnie Deals. I’m in San Diego (where every type of RE is just crazy) so I in my market will run in a deal at 5 or sometimes 6k, but what that also means is I get a bigger downski to make the numbers work.

Anyhow Hope that helps, good luck and keep us informed. Gotta get back to work now, the day’s wasten away.
Dirk

One more thought - Posted by Tony-VA

Posted by Tony-VA on April 24, 2000 at 19:00:32:

In order for you to be effective with the Park Managers, you MUST meet with them in person. Lonnie will teach you about this as well. They probably are not keen on investors. That is why we need to come in a establish a rapport with them face to face before we even mention that we want to do business in their park.

Lonnie provides a great example of this in his audio course. He went in and meet with a park manager and spent a little time shooting the breeze so they could get to know each other. Before he left, he not only had permission to work in the park, he also had several referrals.

A short while later, Lonnie’s daughter found a home in the park and called the park manager to ask for permission to work in the park. The manager responded, “no we don’t allow that here”.

As David Alexander says “Relationships, relationships, relationships.”

You are on the right track and I wish you great success in your new venture.

Tony-VA

Re: Have you got Lonnie’s books yet ?? - Posted by RickR

Posted by RickR on April 24, 2000 at 11:34:30:

Thanks Ed… I have not had a chance to get Lonnies books yet but I don’t want that to stop me. In after thought I realized that it’s not a good price and will probably give him a lowball and pray! I’ve been reading HR’s post in NGII and realize I have nothing to lose. Worst that can happen is a no, best that can happen is yes.

Listen to Tony! - Posted by Blane (MI)

Posted by Blane (MI) on April 24, 2000 at 13:16:38:

Hi Rick,

If you don’t want not having Lonnie’s books to stop you, at least let it slow you down a little. No is not the worst thing that can happen. The worst thing that can happen is buying the home and then not being able to sell it because your exit strategy hasn’t been thought through, and then you get discouraged and give up.

Go ahead and drive through some parks to get a feel for your market, maybe run a test ad, but get the books before you dive in. Tony posed some good questions, and there are others. What’s your strategy for selling? Did the home pass inspection yet? How are you going to advertise? Newspaper? Flyers? What’s lowball to you? 2,5,7K? And on and on. Most questions can be answered with the books; the rest you’ll have to figure out “on the street,” as Ed Garcia says. Read all you can here and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Many folks here are generous with their experience.

Good luck,

Blane