Finding an agent - any agent! (listing, for sale, rental, value)

[karibear]

I am moving out of state, and I have my place up for sale. It's an older doublewide mobile home, one of very few in the county that doesn't have to be moved. [There are a lot of singlewides for free for the moving, ditto for doublewides, but there are a limited number of parks that will take them, so they are usually scrapped out.] So I have the advantage of mine being set up and not having to be moved. Even though it's older, it has a lot of upgrades and it's financeable. It's small, it's a two bedroom, and perfect for a retired couple or a small family. It's a good park.

The problem is that last year we had all our stuff in storage in Alaska shipped here, so I have about 4-5,000 lbs of stuff in boxes. Now that I'm getting ready to move, I have still more boxes of stuff packed and stacked. The one agent who came over, the only one I actually know and trust, said I'd have to empty it so people could see what it looked like with furniture, that people these days have no imagination. If I empty it, they'd see one bed, one couch, one computer desk, a dog, and a bird! Besides, if I moved everything to a storage unit, there's enough so that it would cost me more than I'd make on the sale. And every day there are more boxes filled.

We bought the place as a fixer-upper for a pittance, and we put a lot into fixing it up, both work and $$. It's got a third more in it than it's valued for the tax rolls. I've already cut the price radically, and I'm willing to cut it even more just to sell it rather than walk away with nothing - which I will do, if necessary. In the meantime, it looks like a warehouse with boxes stacked up here, there, everywhere. I have it listed myself as a fsbo, but everyone who's called so far says 'only 2 bedrooms? I thought it was a doublewide, we've got 3/4/5 kids' and that's the end of the conversation. It is, it's just a small one. But this is also an area where a lot of people retire to, so it's plenty big for a couple.

Any ideas, short of paying more for storage? I don't need a lot for it, I just want enough to cover the original purchase price and to not abandon it to the park. I'd really rather they didn't make a profit off of our work.

[middle-aged mom]

Originally Posted by karibear

I'd really rather they didn't make a profit off of our work.

Listen to the agent and get the boxes stored off property. In fact, seriously consider listing it with this agent to increase the exposure your home obtains.

Good luck to you.

[Boomerang]

I agree with middle-aged mom.

You probably wouldn't buy a house unless you could see the rooms. Who knows what's behind - or under - so many boxes? Would you buy a car if the whole interior was filled with boxes? Maybe - but most folks want to see what they're buying. The home inspector, if any, also needs to be able to see things, because they only check what's visible.

It's already hard to sell a 2-bedroom doublewide. It's harder to sell one that's full of clutter. If I really wanted to sell your place in a reasonable amount of time and try to get the most $$$, I'd get rid of the boxes.

Do you know anyone who has a storage shed or garage where you might store some things temporarily? Or you might take a storage unit near your new place. Talk to the storage owners. Sometimes you can work a good deal if you agree to store for a certain minimum number of months.

[Gretchen B]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but mobile homes on rental lots in parks are extremely difficult to sell. First off, they're personal property and not real property, so it's kind of like selling a car. Generally speaking, mobile homes depreciate just like cars do. The fact that you sunk quite a bit of money into fixing it up may help, but most people will just go to a dealership and buy a newer repo from the dealer.

Definitely the boxes stored in the house would be a big drawback. Can you move them to your new location and store them there? Maybe you might want to sell off some of the items in the boxes and just replace them when you get into your new place.

I'm afraid you'll have to be patient on getting your mobile sold. In my area there are lots of retirees, too. We had a really hot market 2003-2006; however the few mobiles in parks that have been for sale during that time have been on the market 4+ years, and most are nice and very reasonably priced. Of course, I have no idea what your local market is like, but you may want to make some contingency plans in case your mobile does not sell as quickly as you'd like.

Have you talked to a MH dealer to see if they might be willing to buy it?