Afternoon all,
I just got back from a great “surprise” meeting with the seller of a 1984 single-wide; 2 bedroom 2 bathroom mobile home in a family mobile home park. The mobile home has been owned by the same owner for the last 20 of the homes 26 years in existence. She is asking $9,500 but she says she is “Willing to negotiate.”
I found this property by driving inside of a park I had been meaning to check out since I got to Texas. I had to get out of my car to double check if I saw a tiny “FSBO” (for sale by owner) sign in the living room window. As I was looking at the sign my eyes naturally wandered to view the inside of the home. Once my eyes focused inside the dark home I was locked-eyes with Gladys (not her real name).
After screaming from surprise I laughed and walked around to the front door where I was greeted by Gladys. Gladys is a heavy-set middle aged woman with a severe case of diabetes and must struggle to get around her home. This is the main reason she is selling and moving to a more accessible apartment closer to her daughter in the city.
Inside Condition: #2 On my scale (There are 3 types of mobile home property conditions: 1 = "Nice", some cosmetic repairs, painting, etc. 2. = "Fair", cosmetic and some minor floor or ceiling repairs needed, etc. 3 = "Bad news", major damage!) I should only need to get a few cosmetic items fixed, clean and de-funkify (febreeze) the inside of the mobile before it would be ready for sale.
Outside Condition: #2 Same scale as above. No work needed to sell.
Park: Decent condition. Pool and activities house. No gang signs. Kids and pets allowed. Lot rent $410.
Resell potential: $30,000 @ 10%+ interest. $1,500-$4,000 down and $800 month (including lot rent)
My Ideal Purchase Plans: $3,500 (cash) upto $6,000 (payments)
Negations: Gladys and I spoke for almost 2 hours. We talked about her problems, her life, my weekend plans, her future plans, etc. The point I am making is that we spoke at length and established a relationship; this will hopefully help in later negotiations. Without too much pressure I asked her how close she could come to $2,500 ‘All Cash’. She looked at me with surprise, thought for a moment and said, “You are not going to get my house for $1,500! I won’t sell it for anything less than $7,000.”
Are you kidding me, in 10 seconds I was able to knock off $2,500 dollars. Imagine what would be done with a few more times asking. I asked Gladys why she looked surprise when I asked her how low she could go in price was; she told me she was surprised that someone was making an offer, a low one, but an offer.
I did not want to press too hard today on price so I told her I would show the pictures I took to my partner and get back to her with an answer within 24 hours.
I will let you know what I say in my next post.
Until then, John
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