Many new mobile home buyers are rushing to buy their first mobile homes without knowing the things associated with owning it, only to find themselves later in difficult situations.
In the state of Florida, mobile homes are taxed as personal property and not as real estate. This means that when you buy a mobile home, it’s like you are buying a motor vehicle. And since your mobile home needs a lot to sit, this lot could be privately owned by you, or a mobile home park which is owned by other people or companies.
If you are planning to buy a mobile home in the Sarasota Florida area, it is important to understand everything about mobile home parks.
Does it even matter that this is done before buying a mobile home on leased land in Florida?
Many times those who are not familiar with the buying process of a mobile home on leased land do not realize that getting approved by the park is a part of the mobile home purchase process.
This then begs the question to be asked, what is park approval?
When buying a mobile home in a mobile home park, every resident needs to be approved as a resident within the community in that the home is physically located. Different parks have different requirements but, generally speaking, if you are in an age-qualified community, every person who will be physically living in the home will need to be approved by the park. If you are buying a mobile home in an all-ages park, usually you will need to have approval for everyone living in the home who is over a certain age to be able to be approved for residency.
Each park has its way of going about the actual approval process. Usually, every park will require each person who is going through to be approved to fill out a written application. Along with the application the applicant will need to provide a photo ID, pay a nominal application fee, and agree to have their background checked by the park. If you or your applicant friend does not have a current driver’s license that is okay as usual, a state-issued photo ID card or a passport will do the trick.
Every community has its own set of rules, so it would be wise to do your due diligence and understand them. For example, does the community allow pets? If you are a pet lover, this will be a top concern of yours, right?
Bay Indies-Venice Florida
Expect the park to ask about running your credit and criminal history. A grave mistake would be unwilling to share this information or being untruthful. This will raise questions about you and, certainly, they are likely to conclude you’re hiding something from them. Cooperate and provide the needed details if you’re looking to join the park.
The background check that most parks go off of is going to be the criminal background the applicant’s credit score and if the applicant has any history of evictions on file.
For safety purposes, the community may scrutinize your background and ensure you satisfy their set of profiles. For example, they’d want to know your previous living arrangements, and why you are moving. If you’re convincing enough, they are likely to accept you.
No mobile home park will gladly open its doors if they know nothing about you. It’s a common industry practice to do a background check.
I have asked several park managers and park owners how they figure out their algorithm for park approval. No one can really make heads or tails of it.
What I have been able to come up with though, is that most parks are not looking for 800 credit scores or for someone who has never had a speeding ticket in their life. What I have seen is that park management is looking to avoid folks with violent felonies or no credit scores at all. This does not necessarily rule you out if you have one of those but if you or someone you know has that difficulty in their background, make sure they provide documentation to the park to let them know what they are going to see just so everybody is in good communication from the beginning.
Some parks will put eviction history as a major deciding factor as with every mobile home that is on leased land, one will be required to pay a monthly fee, called lot rent. Having an applicant on file who has not paid their monthly bill and has been evicted may throw a red flag because you will be required to pay a lot of rent each month.
The fees that a park will charge for the application process vary, but it is reasonable to think somewhere between about $25 to $50 for each applicant.
The importance of obtaining mobile home park approval before purchasing your mobile home is a good idea because at least at that point, you will know whether you can physically live in the mobile home that you just bought…. or not.
The Mobile Home Dealer are licensed mobile home broker in Sarasota Florida and the surrounding areas. We provide professional buy and/or sell assistance to our clients. If you have any questions, please contact us by clicking this link. You may also visit our Facebook Page and send us a message.
This is Mark Kaiser with the Mobile Home Dealer and we help mobile home Buyers and Sellers get to a better place in life.
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