Do you know how to pay back the lot rent owed on a Sarasota mobile home that you’re planning on buying?
We are currently in the exact situation with a Buyer who is looking to purchase a listing that we have had for a few weeks on a property that is located in Sarasota County.
The Seller came to us with a sudden life change.
Their father had passed away, unfortunately, and they were looking to sell the mobile home for him after the property had gone through the probate process.
During the time the home was in probate and the father had passed away, no one had been paying the lot rent on the property. Although this is not terribly uncommon, this does cause an issue with the current owner’s family, since they are still responsible for the lot rent even though the father had passed away.
The reason why this is so is that the mobile home is still sitting on a lot that the mobile home park owns.
Each lot that is being used within the mobile home park for the purpose of having a home residing on it is required to pay the park each month through their lot rent.
Many parks will require that whoever owns the home is required to pay the lot rent, regardless of if anyone is living in the home since it is physically taking up a space within the community.
The family was not aware of this, as their father was the only one living in the home and the other family members had no experience with how mobile home parks were run prior to this situation. With all of this taken into consideration, the family owed the park six months of back lot rent since they found out that they had not been getting paid.
That totaled around $5,000!
The park began the process of evicting the home after the fifth month, as this was part of the company policy for unpaid lot rent.
The family, facing the eviction process, needed the home sold quickly and contacted us at The Mobile Home Dealer.
Prior to marketing the home for sale, we contacted the park to get an exact amount that was owed on the home for back lot rent. We asked to receive this exact amount on their company letterhead so there was no confusion.
Mobile home park
We utilized our marketing methods and found an interested Buyer for the mobile home that was needing to be sold.
After getting an agreed-upon price on the home with a park-approved buyer, we went to close on the property.
The sale price of the home was divided into three parts. The first part was to be paid to the mobile home park directly for all of the back lot rent that was owed for the home that was still sitting on that lawn. The second amount was paid to The Mobile Home Dealer as our brokerage fee. The remaining amount was paid to the family directly
There are several reasons why mobile homeowners fail to pay their lot rent on time and not just because of money. In some cases, owners who are not living in their mobile homes while selling them will miss a lot of rent payments. These payments accumulate over time especially when the mobile home is sitting for sale on the market for a long period of time. Some owners also refuse to pay lot rent while they are not living in their mobile homes. This is not an ideal attitude and attracts trouble but unfortunately, some homeowners do this, often ending up either losing their property or selling at a very low price.
Over a dozen times just this year have we been able to sell the home for the Seller who is in default of their lot rent and still get them some money while at the same time paying the park what they are owed.
The way we do this is we get a ledger from the park stating exactly what is owed on the home, we then sell the home to a park-approved resident, and before the Seller receives any money for the sale of the home the park gets paid in full for the owed back lot rent.
Having the sale handled this way gets the park paid, ends the legal proceedings against the Seller, and gets the Seller some money for their home.
By not following this basic process many times the Seller will have legal action taken against them for the back lot rent while at the same time getting their home repossessed by the park which doesn’t want the home in the first place.
If you are running behind on your lot rent and are looking to sell your mobile home don’t be concerned as we will be more than happy to help you navigate the process!.
Lastly, the average monthly cost of lot rent for a mobile home is $200 to 800600, but this number can change based on the location and amenities of the park.
For example, a mobile home park in a rural area with few amenities may have lot rents as low as $100 per month, while a luxury park with many amenities could have rents upwards of $1,000 per month.
Lot rent typically covers the cost of maintaining common areas like roads, landscaping, and playgrounds, as well as utilities like water and sewer.
In some cases, it may also include trash service and cable TV. Before signing a lease for a mobile home lot, be sure to ask the landlord about what exactly is included in the monthly rent.
When buying a mobile home with back lot rent, be prepared to pay the park directly all remaining rents that have not been paid.
Make sure you have written documentation from the park stating exactly what is owed so that when you buy the property there is no confusion on what is owed to bring the home back into good standing within the mobile home park.
This is Mark Kaiser with The Mobile Home Dealer, and we help mobile home buyers and sellers get to a better place in life.
See Also:
- Is The Mobile Home You Are Buying In Sarasota Real Property?
- How Much Does It Cost To Sell Your Mobile Home Yourself In Sarasota?
- What Is The Best Option To Sell Your Mobile Home In Sarasota?
- Adding Onto A Mobile Home? Important Things You Need To Know
- Is Sarasota A Good Place To Live? 10 Reasons Why You Should Move To Sarasota Florida