One of the few reasons why people are hesitant to buy a mobile home is that they believe that mobile homes that don’t have land are hard to sell when they plan to sell it in the future. This always triggers one of the most commonly asked questions, “How do people sell a mobile home without land”? If you are having the same thoughts and are eager to find out, continue reading.

Mobile Home in Nokomis Florida

Are Mobile Homes Considered Real Estate Property Or Personal Property?

As someone who wants to invest in mobile homes, you will certainly find mobile homes that are attached to their owner’s private land, as well as mobile homes that are sitting on leased land. Before investing in a mobile home, as a buyer, it is imperative that you understand the big difference between these two types of mobile homes.

By default, all mobile homes are considered personal property with very few exceptions, especially during the application process. A landowner could still set up a mobile home on their own property and consider it personal property if the setup is not permanent. 

Let’s take a look at the two big differences.

1. Mobile homes on leased land inside mobile home parks are considered personal property and taxed as motor vehicles. This type of mobile home doesn’t need to pay real estate property taxes. In order to own this type of mobile home, all you need are park approval and monthly lot rent payments. The land where your mobile home is set is owned by the mobile home park and you are paying monthly lot rent in order to use the land. For the sake of this article, it is important to note that we are referring to mobile homes within a park where lot rent is paid. If you are looking at purchasing a mobile home within a park where you own the home and the lot then this may not apply to your situation. 

2. Mobile homes on private land can be considered either real estate property or private property depending on the application. There are few parks that offer to sell mobile homes with the land. This type of mobile home is considered real estate because you own the land that is intended only for the mobile home. If, however, you own a large area of land like a farm and buy a mobile home, you have the option to declare it as personal or real estate property. If the mobile home is permanent, most states require it to be declared as real estate property. If, however, your mobile home is not permanent and you plan to always move the house whenever you want inside your farm, this cannot be considered a real estate property.

The Two Types of Mobile Home Parks: Leased Land VS Resident-Owned 

There are two most common types of mobile home parks, leased land and resident-owned.

1. Leased land mobile home park. The leased-land mobile home park is the most common and popular type of mobile home park in the United States. These parks are either owned by a private person, a family business, or a corporation and run by mobile home park managers. The number of park managers depends on the size of the mobile home park but in many cases, there is only one park manager and a couple of assistants. 

When you are planning to buy a mobile home inside a leased land mobile home park, it is important to know the policies first by inquiring at the park manager’s office. There you can ask about the monthly lot rent fee for the particular house you are going to buy, park approval requirements, and the things included in the lot rent payment like water, electricity, garbage collection, lawn mowing, and other services such as the usage and upkeep of the community clubhouse or pool”. As mentioned, you only own the mobile home and not the land, and you are renting the land occupied by your mobile home.

2. Resident-owned mobile home park. Although fewer than the leased land mobile home parks, a resident-owned mobile home park gives you the opportunity to own part of the mobile home park. This means you are a part owner of the whole mobile home park and do not specifically own the land where your mobile home is set up. 

Owning a mobile home in a resident-owned mobile home park is comparable to owning stocks in a business. This type of mobile home ownership pays real estate taxes just like you pay property taxes on stick-built houses. Although there is no lot rent fee, the park may still have a monthly payment for garbage disposal and other services but the monthly payment may be as low as half as much as the lot rent that land-leased residents pay.

Things To Prepare When Selling A Mobile Home On Leased Land

Selling a mobile home without land is not really a complicated process that one must be worried about even before buying a mobile home. Selling a mobile home on leased land is like selling any other valued property like a car or any other vehicle. Although mobile homes are registered under the Department of Motor Vehicles, the registration does differ from that of ordinary vehicles. What mobile homes have is the title. So, if you want to know what are the things you need to prepare when selling a mobile home, take a look at the following.

• The title of your mobile home. Make sure the title is ready and available. This is the most important thing to prepare.
• Make sure the lot rent is paid without past dues. Buyers will turn away from the mobile home that they know will give them headaches.
• Make sure the house is ready for viewing. If you want to sell your mobile home on an as-is basis, make sure you are ready for all the details and explanations like maintenance history, the needed repairs, and other things that concern the structure of the house. If, however, you want to sell your mobile home fast, you can add some furnishings and furniture, and do some repairs to improve the home’s aesthetics
• If you want to sell your house through a trusted mobile home broker like The Mobile Home Dealer, make sure to provide access to the agent so that when a buyer comes, the agent can show them the inside of the mobile home.
• Declutter to make your mobile home look presentable to everyone.

What Are The Requirements For Buying A Mobile Home On Leased Land?

Buying a home without land may sound like a joke but when we are talking about buying a mobile home, this is normal. So, if you are planning to buy a mobile home on leased land, you must be aware of the following things to prepare.

1. Money comes first! If you are planning to buy a mobile home that is already set up inside a mobile home park, this means that you are buying a used mobile home. Why money is important? Because most of the mobile home buying and selling transactions are done through cash and not on a mortgage. This does not mean that you can’t buy a mobile home without cash but your options are extremely limited.

If, however, you are buying a brand new mobile home that you want to order from a factory, you may consider other financing options outside cash payment. We suggest you read these detailed articles on financing a mobile home:

• 3 Ways To Finance A Mobile Home!
• Is It Possible To Finance A Sarasota Florida Mobile Home?

2. Secure park approval from the mobile home park manager. No one is allowed to buy a mobile home and live there without approval from the park’s manager. The park approval process has its own requirements like criminal history, credit, income check, and other small details based on the individual’s situation. You may take a look at our detailed explanation of the park approval process in the following articles:

• What Is Needed For A Sarasota Mobile Home Park Approval?
• Why Do Mobile Home Parks Check Resident’s Income?
• How Long Should The Approval Process Take In A Sarasota Mobile Home Park?

Know the park’s policy and regulations. What is your age? How big is your family? Do you have a kid? Do you have a pet? Before deciding to buy a mobile home in a particular mobile home park, make sure to know what things are allowed, not allowed, dos, and don’ts. This information can be obtained by talking to the park’s manager before making your final decision to buy.

Mobile Home in Florida

Selling A Mobile Home FSBO vs. a Mobile Home Broker 

FSBO means For Sale By Owner or a process of selling a house or any property by its owner without any third party agent or broker.

How convenient can it be to sell a property through a licensed mobile home broker? The first thing one thinks of is the commissions and the money that one could save oneself without it, but if we place all the factors in a balance, it is worth rethinking the situation. We propose a list of 5 advantages and disadvantages that we recommend taking into account when making a decision as important as this.

Advantages of For Sale By Owner

1. You will have greater profits since the commissions that would correspond to the agent can be saved (without considering the value of your time in the entire sales process)
2. You can do things in your own way, for example: publish your sale announcement wherever you want and whatever you want (but if you do not review it frequently, you will not find out that there are people interested in your property)
3. You will have the opportunity to work at your pace, without coordinating activities with third parties (anyway, that could make some potential clients lose).
4. You will be in charge of selling only one property, so you will have more time than an agent who has other properties to sell.
5. You can establish your own game rule (but not necessarily your rules are accepted by the potential buyer. Probably a professional broker could establish a balance point and get the sale to be made). You can control when a home will be shown

Although the sign method is a good, basic strategy that may have worked in the past, it is not one that should be relied on now or in the future as the latest technology is taking over the actual viewing process. People can just spend 30 minutes with their phone or PC and can view dozens of properties, call a broker, and let the broker tour on their behalf.

Disadvantages of For Sale By Owner: Advantages of Mobile Home Broker

1. Selling a mobile home demands a lot of time and dedication. In addition to your daily activities, to achieve the sale, you will have to deal with all parts of the sales process.
2. Licensed mobile home agents such as The Mobile Home Dealer have multiple tools (contact networks, website, experience, market trajectory, etc.) that will allow you to find potential buyers.
3. The mobile home agent has sales strategies, useful and necessary to close a sale.
4. A Broker can also provide sales advice, and negotiate and write contracts that you, as the Seller may not fully understand.
5. In the event that something in the operation goes wrong, you will always have a responsible firm to claim and demand a guarantee. If you were scammed by an individual, you would have no one to claim. And the cases of fraud are increasingly numerous. Do not put your mobile home at risk.
6. If you do not work with an agent, you will have to take care of the cumbersome process of paperwork, fees, payments, etc.

Conclusion

Selling a mobile home without land is not as challenging as some people think if you are full of knowledge about mobile homes. Mobile homes have been existing for decades and many of these mobile homes have been passed to dozens of different owners. This could never happen if mobile homes without land are hard to sell.

If you are planning to buy a mobile home on leased land but are worried in the future that you may not be able to sell it, don’t worry. We, at The Mobile Home Dealer, are experts in this field and this is what we do every day, helping both buyers and sellers in meeting their demands.