Posted by Michael(KCMO) on April 25, 2005 at 20:17:56:
One thought that comes immediately to mind, and you can thank one of Doc’s old posts for this one, is to put a clause in your purchase agreement that assigns the buyers rights to collect past storage fees to you. Then if anyone ever does come back for the home you can say, “Here it is. By the way, storage is $200/mo (or whatever lot rent prices are in your area) times 18 months means you owe me $3,600 before I can let you come and take the trailer.”
A realtor friend of mine called me to look at an REO L/H to assess the damage and estimate rehab cost for a buyer. The home is a double wide on two acres and in pretty good shape by my normal standards. When the realtor and buyer moved forward in the purchase they were suprised to find that there is ABSOLUTLY NO RECORD of a mobile being on the property. The deal got shakey because the buyer does not want someone to come back a year down the road and repo the home. I went back out to look for the ID plate or paper ID in the normal places and found nothing. The realtor calls today and says that I can have a crack at it since the buyer backed out. I say, if they have no knowledge of the home and the county/state has no record of the home, I am only going to bid for the land cost. (dramatic pause)
“Thats fine, the bank was thinking between $7-10000” I know you folks have no way of knowing if this is a deal or not but it is and in a big way. I had land appraised today and raw land comps in neighborhood came back at 5500/a… I don’t feel like paying retail today so please HELP me get title to the home. I am thinking get ID# and file for lost. Any other ideas? Thanks in advance.
As Steve says, it should be a straighforward process to get the title on an abandonned mobile home, it just differs slightly state to state. Michael’s idea is brilliant, you should do that for sure.
One thing- make sure you press the bank for a lower price for having the MH there- let them know that you’re taking on the risk of an owner coming forward (highly unlikely) AND the cost of removal or curing title or updating the home. I’d start at $3500 and let them know you have cash if necessary.
You can also justify a reduced offer based on the fact that there is no title and therefore you will have to pay for removal/disposal of the unit? I doubt the owner will look into it much and you may have a real bargain if you can eventually get a title.
call your state licensing authority for MHs (DOL where I live) and ask them the procedure for taking possession of abandoned vehicle. Explain the situation to them - if I own property that has a decrepit MH on it, how do I establish ownership of the trailer to dispose of it (use that word). Even with no VIN, there should be a procedure - where I live, a State Police vehicle inspector comes out and verifies by Statement Of Fact that there is or isn’t a VIN, and that SOF gets a new VIN assigned. Then the abandonement procedure begins.
Now, you cannot do anything until you close and are the property owner, but you can certainly ask the right questions of the right people to set your situation up.
Re: -Need Help in MH identification - Posted by ~~Beachboy-ga
Posted by ~~Beachboy-ga on April 28, 2005 at 17:30:07:
hhhmm something rolls around in my mind… I would offer $3000 or so for the entire deal.Let the home set for a month or so to see what happens.Since you now own the land, lets see here now, cant you charge storage for the home should someone claim it? hhhhmmm just a thought… get my drift?
How do i get ownership of a vehicle that I brought from someone who is no were around. I dom’t think I will ever see him anymore. Therefore, I need to establish that the vehicle is mine because I have baically taking of this car. Plus, I paid the guy 300 for the car. Now he is no were to be found. The car was towed to a auto repair shop. And the keith’s auto shop told me to bring a piece of paper saying he gives ownership to me along with 90 dollars and i can get the car back? your opinion please?
Thanks Steve, I am in one of those mindsets where you are waiting for the ball to drop. Something has to be wrong here kind of things. Hope not. Thanks again for the info.