I'm supposed to be taking a listing tomorrow and am having a difficult time clarifying whether the structure is a mobile home or not. I'm really not that stupid - I swear. The proverbial lines are blurred, and I, apparently, am very nearsighted. With a stigmatism.
Here's what's going on: Before my first visit to the home, did my homework, pulled the tax reports and inventory, and prepared a CMA based on the tax records (and owners' statements) that it was a single family residential raised ranch on a full basement. However, when I was in the basement of the house, I looked up and saw the metal floor joists and tie-ins, and asked the owners if it was mobile home. Their answer was, "it used to be." What do you mean by it used to be?
What I have been able to ascertain is that the original, single wide mobile home was built around 1965. It was eventually mounted onto a full basement. Some years later, an addition was put on, that included adding on to the basement as well. The interior has been remodeled and opened up, the original roof was removed and replaced with a single roof to cover the original mobile home and addition. There is presently as much square footage in the stick built addition as there is in the original mobile home.
So here are the dilemmas: 1) If it's a mobile home, we're going to have buyer financing issues; 2) Does the fact that the original structure is a 1965 mobile home de-value the overall structure as it is now? 3) Do I list it in the MLS as a ranch or a mobile home? The current owners have a mortgage through Countrywide on the property, and the tax records list it as a single fam res. I consulted the mortgage rep in my office. His answer was, "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks...", by which he clarified that it's still a mobile home, no matter how it's been dressed up to disguise it. He in turn called a lender he works with that will give mortgages on double wides, whose response was that it didn't matter if it had been gutted and rebuilt with 52 additions on it. It's a single wide mobile home, and they won't give a mortgage on it.
Do I stick my neck out and call it a ranch in the MLS and do some basic CYA by having the sellers disclose on the property condition statement that it used to be a mobile home? Or do I call it a mobile home, knowing full well that in this area it means we are unlikely to realize an offer? I thought I'd cut to the chase, call an appraiser, and use his or her answer. Because that's what I think it's all going to boil down to - what an appraiser calls it. Four phone calls to appraisers today - no return phone calls as yet. So here I sit, looking for answers before I head out 40 miles from home first thing in the morning.
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