Author: Raden Payas

When looking at whether mobile homes are good rental investments, one always needs to take a look at exactly what they are looking to accomplish so that their expectations are clear when making the decision to become a mobile home investor.

Are you looking at buying a second home to enjoy during the winter months in the greater Sarasota Florida area and are looking for a way to offset the carrying costs of owning two homes?

Are you looking at buying a mobile home to create a passive income portfolio that you can use to help you in your financial goals?

This is where the basic question needs to be answered before one starts entertaining the idea of buying a mobile home for an investment purchase.

Mobile homes can, in fact, be outstanding investments, but the would-be investor first needs to understand exactly what their goals are before ever putting money down on a mobile home investment.

There are several different ways to buy a mobile home in the United States but one of the most common ways to purchase a mobile home is within a mobile home park where you buy the home and lease the land every month through a payment called lot rent.

This type of purchase is a personal property purchase and not real estate as the home has a title associated with the ownership of the home and not a deed making the transaction process much faster than that of a real estate purchase.

When one looks at obtaining a mobile home within a mobile home park where they have to pay their monthly lot rent then the key is being able to charge a multiplier of the lot rent so that the rental income earned from the investment will not only pay for the monthly carrying costs but also provide an acceptable profit for the work of owning a rental property.

Most investors will look at having a 2-3X lot rent to ratio rental income.

For Example:

Lot Rent Is $500 Per Month

Rent Of Mobile Home Is $1,500 Per Month

Gross Profit: $1,000 Per Month

Before you get too excited at the above numbers it is important to note that as lot rents increase one can see that attempting to obtain the 3X ratio of lot rent to rental payment may be difficult as there are several mobile home parks in the greater Sarasota Florida area that have lot rents at or above $1,000 per month.

Prior to looking at what the investor can charge it is of utmost importance to see what other like rentals in the area are renting for and if their mobile home is as good as or better than the other properties in the area that are for rent.

This can be done by looking to see what other mobile homes, single-family homes, and apartments are renting for.

If these rentals are costing less than your mobile home rental make sure you take a look to see what they include for the base price and what you are able to provide in order to make your mobile home rental the best option for all the folks who are looking for a rental in your area.

The reason we put the profit as gross and not net profit is that it is always important to account for additional repairs and expenses that may come up on a monthly or yearly basis that need to be budgeted for so that the mobile home investor does not get into a situation where they do not have enough cash on hand to cover these expenses.

A perfect example is that of lot rent.

If the mobile home investor does not have additional monies set aside from their profits each month for this and, all of a sudden, the renter moves out without notice they, as the owner, will still need to pay lot rent even when they do not have a paying renter within the home.

Not having additional money set aside for these unexpected expenses can certainly put the investor in a tough position fast!

It is a rental property industry standard that for every dollar of gross profit an investor receives each month, they should take 30% out of that amount for unexpected expenses and have it set aside in a “rainy day fund”.

Even with this understood that still puts a net cash flow of $700 per month in the investor’s pocket in the example above.

But, let’s dive even deeper into the numbers to see what type of return on investment the would-be investor would be making on this transaction.

Most mobile homes on leased land are purchased with cash, meaning they have no mortgage debt on the property.

Again, using the example above, let’s say the investor buys the mobile home for $20,000 and has to sink another $10,000 into updates and repairs to the home prior to having it ready to rent.

All in, the investor has $30,000 put into the mobile home.

In the above rental example, if they have a net cash flow of $700 per month and have a renter in the property for 12 months they are receiving a net cash profit of $8,400 per year which is a 28% annual return on their initial $30,000 investment!

Seeing as that the stock market usually turns a 6% annual return on investments you can quickly see how, even having 1 mobile home turns out to be an out-of-this-world investment when to how profitable it can be!

Before you rush off and buy a ton of mobile homes, we first need to caution you on a few different points below.

When looking at whether a mobile home is a good investment one also needs to look at the type of park it is and what rules the park has regarding rentals.

The majority of parks in the greater Sarasota Florida area are age-restricted, meaning that at least one person on the land lease needs to be a certain age in order to qualify for residency within the park.

Sarasota Florida is known for not having nearly enough all-age mobile home parks for folks with children looking for an affordable living situation so if you want to rent to folks of all ages you may want to look at other areas in the state of Florida.

As one can see this could be a problem for many would-be investors if they are not old enough to buy a mobile home in the park to begin with then how can they buy one to rent it out?

Another important detail is to find out if the mobile home park that you are considering investing in even allows mobile home rentals or if all the mobile homes within the park need to be owner-occupied.

This may sound crazy if you are new to the mobile home industry but, many times, parks will not allow rentals of any kind and if they do they will not allow rentals for less than 3-4 months.

This means that if you are looking at buying an investment property for an Air B&B type rental then a mobile home within a mobile home park will not be your best option.

An easy way to curb both of these concerns is before you get set on buying a particular mobile home to first call the park office and speak to the manager on staff to see what the age restrictions are if you can purchase the home in the park as an investor if you are not the required age and what the rental restrictions are if you were looking at purchasing a mobile home as an investment property within the park.

Mobile homes can certainly create a significant return on one’s investment money but any would-be investor needs to proceed with caution so that they understand exactly what they are getting involved with before they get to the closing table!

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:

• Which Mobile Home Is Right For You?
• Park Profile: The Winds Of Saint Armands!
• Do Manufactured Homes Lose Value?
• Road Trip Diary To Sebring Florida!
• Road Trip Diary To Lake Placid Florida!

When looking at buying a mobile home whether it be throughout the greater Sarasota Florida area or anywhere in the country, one needs to fully understand what type of product they are buying and what the difference is between all of the most common models available to the Buyer.

Mobile homes are, for many, a home that they can go to every day, raise their children in, and enjoy the Golden Years of their lives.

This purchase is not one to be taken lightly as buying a new home is usually the largest single purchase someone will make in their lifetime.

With such a large purchase on the horizon for so many folks looking for an affordable place to call home, we want to review the basic differences between the three most common mobile home models and what you will need to understand prior to moving forward with your new mobile home purchase.

The rise of folks purchasing these types of homes is on the rise now more than ever so if you are looking at upgrading your current home or entering the mobile home space for the first time you are in good company!

According to http://www.movity.com, it is believed that over 17.7 million homeowners are living in some type of a mobile home in the United States at the time of this writing making this type of living one of the most popular options in the entire country!

In fact, according to NAHB, of the 912,000 new build single-family homes constructed in 2020, almost 30,000 of those homes were built using some sort of modular construction

Further, with the need for affordable housing being higher now more than ever before it has been estimated that the cost of a mobile home is significantly lower than that of a single family home.

To further illustrate this affordability statistic, as recently as 2019, the average cost for a new mobile home out of the factory was around $50 per square foot as the average cost for a traditional stick-built home was close to $250 per square foot!

With all of these numbers in their favor, it is no wonder why so many folks consider buying a mobile home such a great investment!

Most oftentimes, mobile homes will come in three different types of configurations; a park model mobile home a singlewide mobile home, and a doublewide mobile home.

All of these models offer their highlights and we are here today to review some of the most important features and items you need to look out for so that you can make the most informed decision when you are looking at buying your next mobile home!

Park Model Mobile Homes:

Park Model Mobile Homes are most commonly found in mobile home parks where part of the park is set up for traditional mobile homes and the other area is set up for park models and RVS.

Although one can certainly put a park model on their own property, it is not as common as that folk placing a single-wide or double-wide mobile home there due to the size differences of the models.

Many times these mobile homes are shorter and stature coming in at around 32 feet in length and 12 feet in width.

Most park-model mobile homes provide the same amenities as traditional mobile homes just in a smaller, more compact package.

These homes will have a full kitchen, full bathroom, large sitting area, and a very spacious bedroom towards the back of the home providing the new homeowner with a very nice comfortable home in a smaller space.

Throughout the South, it is very common for these homes to have an additional room, commonly referred to as a “Florida Room” attached to the body of the home that is used as a screened-in porch, storage area, or laundry room for added living space.

While small in stature these homes do not lack practical usability for anyone looking for a nicely equipped home at a fraction of the price!

Single Wide Mobile Homes:

One of the most common mobile home models would certainly be that of a single-wide mobile home.

Single-wide mobile homes, as shown above, look very similar to that of a park model mobile home only that they are much longer in stature.

Most single-wide mobile homes will have one to two bedrooms or one to two bathrooms, a full kitchen, and a large sitting room towards one end of the home.

Traditional floor plans will usually be one of two options; either a split plan where each bedroom is on an opposite side of the property or a “line” approach where the bedrooms are next to one another with the bathroom separating the two rooms.

Single-wide mobile homes can vary quite a bit in length but will usually be 12 feet wide and anywhere between 36-52 feet in length.

Very similar to park model mobile homes, it is very common for owners of these properties to add additional living space onto the existing structure of the property for additional living space.

Single-wide mobile homes offer the homeowner all of the amenities of a park-model mobile home only in a larger package.

Double Wide Mobile Homes:

Doublewide mobile homes are by far the largest of all of the most common mobile home types available for sale.

The reason why these units carry the name doublewide is because there are two single-wide mobile homes banded together in order to make a doublewide mobile home.

In the photo above, one can notice the strip in between the two parts of the property that adheres the two halves of the home together making it one combined property.

Doublewide mobile homes will most often resemble of a traditional stick and brick home due to the size and total square footage the home possesses.

The most common doublewide mobile homes will be 24 feet in width and 40-54 feet in length.

Most doublewide mobile homes will be either two bedrooms two bathrooms or two bedrooms and half bath with a large open kitchen and sitting area in the center of the property.

Due to the size of the property, it is not nearly as common for a doublewide to have the additional room attached to the body of the property for extra living space as the property itself is already twice the size of the average single-wide mobile home.

Which Mobile Home Is The Right One For You?

As mentioned in this article, each mobile home that is available on the market provides its pros and cons for each Buyer.

If you are looking for a lower-cost home that is small in stature but provides everything that is needed for an efficient lifestyle then we would suggest considering the park model mobile home as these homes pack quite a bit of punch in a pint-sized price.

If you are looking for more space but do not want too much home to take care of then we would steer you in the direction of a single-wide mobile home as these properties provide all the convenience of a park model without the extra maintenance requirements of a double-wide mobile home.

Lastly, if you are a growing family or are coming from a single-family home where you are used to adding space then you may want to skip the first two options and veer directly to that of a doublewide mobile home as these properties provide the most square footage and usually always come with two large sized bedrooms.

When reviewing all of the different types of mobile homes on the market make sure you have a good idea of what you are looking for in a home prior to setting out on the hunt for a new home.

Shopping for something new is always fun but having a solid understanding of exactly what homes are available and the attributes that each of them carry will make you an educated mobile home Buyer!

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:

• Park Profile: The Winds Of Saint Armands!
• Do Manufactured Homes Lose Value?
• Road Trip Diary To Sebring Florida!
• Road Trip Diary To Lake Placid Florida!
• Park Profile: Colony Cove Mobile Home Park

According to The Manufactured Housing Institute, as of 2020, there were over 22 MILLION people living in manufactured homes throughout the United States.

This equates to nearly 10% of all new single-family home starts in the United States.

Did that number surprise you?

If so, join the club!

Manufactured homes have been an affordable option for families seeking homeownership for decades.

With the average square footage price for single-family homes coming in at nearly $120 per square foot compared to manufactured homes at less than half that it is no wonder why so many folks are flocking to manufactured homes as an economic way to get to their goal of home ownership.

What Is A Manufactured Home?

Manufactured homes are properties that are built within a factory on an assembly line.

These factories tailor make each and every home that goes through the factory line having every inch of the property built in a climate-controlled environment. Every aspect of the home is built within this factory making it a precision build for every model that is constructed.

Once the homes leave the factory they are put on large trucks and hauled to their new homesite whether that be within a manufactured home park or on private land.

After the home arrives at the homesite a separate “set up” crew is assembled to get the home off the truck and set up correctly on the property. Here all of the tie-downs are put in place, the steps installed and the home set up on its “pad” so that all utilities can be run out to the home.

Once this is done and the necessary inspections and permits are on file then the home is ready for occupancy.

Benefits Of A Manufactured Home

Speed Of Build:

With the entire building process being taken care of within a climate-controlled warehouse the delays commonly associated with a single-family home do not exist. With no concern of weather delays as well as a standard, factory-like assembly method these homes can go from an idea to a home that is ready to be hauled to their new home site in a fraction of the time that it would take a single-family home to be built.

Financing:

When buying a single-family home the financing is pretty straightforward, either the Buyer will be paying with a traditional mortgage or paying in cash. When looking at financing a manufactured home there are several different options as the home can come in different packages including:

1. Buying The Home And Leasing The Land In A Manufactured Home Park
2. Buying The Home And The Land From The Dealer
3. Owning The Land And Then Putting A Home On It
4. Financing The Land Through A Traditional Mortgage Then Mortgaging The Manufactured Home In Another Loan

As you can see there are several financing options, one to surely fit every manufactured home Buyer!

Affordability:

Manufactured homes can be bought new or used. Generally speaking, the newer the home the more it costs. If you are looking at buying a used manufactured home you could be setting yourself up for a great deal, far greater than that of a preowned single-family home.

When taking a look at all of these issues it is easy to see why purchasing a manufactured home can be a great purchase option!

Now that we have laid out the basics of what a manufactured home is and how it can benefit the Buyer we need to next discuss if manufactured homes are good investments.

Manufactured Homes Are Vehicles

Crazy, right?

Let us explain; manufactured homes have titles associated with the purchase of the home and not deeds. What this means is that the home is just like a vehicle in that it gets registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) when putting the home into a new owner’s hands.

Each year, a manufactured home will need to be registered with the local DMV. When registered the owner of the home will be given a set of stickers that will need to be placed in the front window of the home as seen below:

*Pro Tip*

If you own a doublewide manufactured home make sure you apply for and obtain a registration sticker for each side of the home.

Ever thought the place you call home also has the same requirements as the car you drive to work?!

Manufactured Home Prices

Now that you understand what, exactly, a manufactured home is, what the benefits are, and how these homes compare to vehicles it is important to then understand if they will gain value in value like a single-family home or lose value like that of a vehicle.

Surprisingly, the answer is not a straight one.

Depreciation:

Generally speaking, manufactured homes will depreciate, much like a vehicle does when it drives off the car dealership lot. The reason for this is because manufactured homes are considered personal property and not real property such as real estate.

Appreciation:

Even though the manufactured home can depreciate with time, if the home is purchased and placed on its own piece of land the homeowner may benefit from appreciation through the value of the land the home resides on.

Are Manufactured Homes Good Investments?

This question should be looked at both in dollars and value.

There is simply no better value in the housing industry than that of a manufactured home. The speed at which the home is built, the accuracy of the build, the cost efficiency, and the features that are included are all leaps and bounds ahead of that of a single-family home.

The downside is that, if the home is viewed by itself, it will depreciate, much like that of a new vehicle purchase.

With this understanding, another option to consider would be that of buying a preowned manufactured home and then placing that home on your own property. Here, one could have the best of both worlds seeing as that the Buyer could then have the appreciation of the home being on a piece of land while at the same time not suffering as much of the depreciation as the original owner did when they bought the home new.

Whether you buy new or used, in a manufactured home park, or on your own land, manufactured homes provide the highest value of any housing option in the United States at this time.

If you are willing to take the good with the bad then do yourself a favor and take a look at purchasing a manufactured home for your next home purchase!

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:

• Road Trip Diary To Sebring Florida!
• Road Trip Diary To Lake Placid Florida!
• Park Profile: Colony Cove Mobile Home Park
• 10 Best Holiday Activities To Do In Sarasota Florida
• 10 Things To Consider When Buying A Mobile Home In Florida

Have you ever wondered who handles the monthly lot rent collection?

Curious about who is the one in the mobile home park who makes sure all the rules are followed?

How about who is the person who oversees the mobile home park approval process?

Wondering if this is the same person.

Yes, it is!

Within the greater Sarasota Florida area mobile home parks usually have a manager that oversees all of these tasks and then some.

When looking at learning exactly who the mobile home park manager is and what they do it is highly suggested to understand that the mobile home park manager is the “gatekeeper” if you will of the entire mobile home park.

Most mobile home park managers within the Sarasota Florida area are ones who have set hours of work where they are in the park office tending to the day-to-day tasks of running and operating a mobile home park.

Generally speaking, the mobile home park managers usually live on-site within the mobile home park. If they do not live physically within the park then they certainly live in the same general area of the park itself.

These managers report directly to the park owner if the park is a smaller one or if it is a larger corporation that owns the mobile home park usually these managers will report to the Regional Park Manager for the area.

While it may sound like mobile home park managers have an easy job, this is simply not the case. Most managers only get spoken to when there is an issue such as if there is a resident who is not taking care of their property a noise issue or even a maintenance issue that has to do with the public areas of the park.

As you can clearly see this quickly becomes a thankless job.

When looking at residing in a mobile home park it is important to realize that these managers have a difficult and, oftentimes, very unrewarding position within the mobile home park and to make sure you give them an ample amount of time to respond to your questions or your park approval status.

What Do Mobile Home Parks Managers Do?

A mobile home park manager has a wide variety of duties related to the park, its residents, and potential residents. They regularly meet with residents to receive their lot rent payments and often go to residents’ homes to collect (or follow up on) late payments. 

Mobile home park managers sometimes show available units to those interested in moving to the community; the units they show are sometimes model homes, and they are sometimes actual homes that are currently available. While they often have an on-site office, a mobile home park manager regularly works in the park, dealing with resident issues, addressing disputes that arise between residents, and investigating reported problems within the community. These problems can be wide-ranging, from trees falling down to snow removal to inspecting units for safety. The manager may perform repairs or maintenance duties themselves, assign them to a staff member, or contract them out as necessary.

These managers also regularly interact with maintenance workers, utility companies, and other businesses necessary for the park’s operation and any needed repairs. For large mobile home parks that require more than one park manager, a shifting schedule is often required of these managers, based on specific needs at the park and any emergency situations that must be immediately addressed. Mobile home park managers who live on-site (which is common) are generally on-call 24 hours a day. 

Educational requirements vary by employer. Previous experience in a related position is typically required; often, these managers are former park maintenance workers who have been promoted. Repair skills are often needed in this position, as well as excellent communication skills.  

How to Become a Mobile Home Park Manager

There are no educational requirements to become a mobile home park manager, but most positions need relevant work experience. 

To become a mobile home park manager, you must be willing to live in the mobile park, pass a background check, and have some customer service experience. 

Park owners seek reliable people who can work well with many different types of residents, address their needs, and collect land rent and deposits. Basic bookkeeping and excellent communication skills are essential. Good mobile home park managers ensure the mobile park is clean and organized

Special Skills Needed from Mobile Home Managers

 Let’s find out what skills a mobile home park manager actually needs in order to be successful in the workplace.

• The most common hard skill for a mobile home park manager is eviction. 19.1% of mobile home park managers have this skill on their resume.
• The second most common hard skill for a mobile home park manager is bank deposits appearing on 16.6% of resumes. The third most common is background checks on 13.5% of resumes.
• The third common soft skills for a mobile home park manager are communication skills, customer service skills, and interpersonal skills.

Most parks have one manager, if they are large enough this one manager will have an assistant but that is rarely the case. With all of these job duties required by the manager, it can be an overwhelming position but one that needs to be staffed in order to make sure the park runs as well as possible.

If you are looking at moving into a mobile home park within the greater Sarasota Florida area we highly suggest you learn who the park manager is and introduce yourself to them the next time you see them in the office!

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:

• Will Sarasota Florida Mobile Homes Rise In Price?!
• Will You See A Return On Upgrades To Your Sarasota Mobile Home?
• Is Park Approval Necessary When Buying A Sarasota Florida Mobile Home?
• Considering Selling Your Mobile Home? Read THIS!
• What Is A Sarasota Florida Mobile Home Title?

By this time, we have all seen that mobile homes located on leased land within the greater Sarasota Florida area have begun to see a dramatic rise in price.

This is due to several factors including the continued rise in real estate prices as well as inflation and the ever-present scarcity of homes on the market during this time of year.

When all of these factors are added together one can easily see why prices are higher than normal, even as recent as this time last year.

So, will the prices stay this high forever or will we see prices go down in the near future?

Before we dive into the ever so popular questions we first need to realize that mobile homes on leased land here in Sarasota Florida are viewed as and taxed as personal property and not real estate.

The reason for this is that the home that one is buying has a lot of rent associated with it along with a title for ownership and not a deed. As such, sales comps are nonexistent so it is nearly impossible to say for certain what homes are being sold during this time.

Without sales comps readily available there is no real way to see exactly what a home in a local mobile home park sold for due to the lack of a need for public recording of sales prices.

What we can say is that mobile homes on leased land are the last beacon of affordable housing.

Many home Buyers are being pushed out of the markets due to the high price of housing and the rising interest rates associated with purchasing these already high-priced homes.

If these prices for mobile homes on leased land do not eventually come down then the number of qualified Buyers for these types of properties will quickly dwindle leaving a surplus of higher-priced homes on the market. The reason for this is that most all mobile home parks in the greater Sarasota Florida area are senior parks requiring the residents of the home to be 55 years of age and older.

If mobile homes continue to stay on the market for prolonged periods of time with the Sellers of these homes continuing to pay lot rent we would expect to see the home prices come down significantly at a rapid pace.

In the early 2000s, Americans lost interest in the compact form of housing like mobile homes. From 2010, sales of mobile homes remained low, however, in 2018, Bloomberg reported that mobile homes were making noise.

In just 4 years since the Bloomberg report, sales of mobile homes have skyrocketed faster than single-family regular homes, as more and more Americans seek affordable dwellings.

Mobile homes are America’s biggest source of affordable housing, however, the rising prices due to increasing demands and investors’ activity are turning buyers away.

Although mobile home sales slowed in 2020, likely due to the Coronavirus pandemic, shipments of manufactured homes bounced back in 2021 and 2022. In fact, the year 2022 sold the most mobile homes since 2006 according to the data provided by Stacker.

The prices of new mobile homes are outpacing the prices of new single-family conventional homes. Mobile homes are becoming more expensive than traditional single-family homes,  especially between 2020 and 2021. Although much of this can be attributed to the pandemic, the increasing cost of construction materials for conventional homes played a big role in the mobile home’s high demand eventually pushing the price up.

Lot rent prices are following suit. It’s not just mobile home prices that are going up. The cost of renting a lot where the mobile home sits is also increasing not only in Florida but in the whole country. The Midwest has recorded the highest lot rent increase according to the data while the average nationwide lot increase was 4.4%. This trend is likely to continue together with the increasing price of mobile homes.

While we here, at The Mobile Home Dealer, certainly do not have a crystal ball as to when the home prices will go down what we can say is that mobile homes, just like real estate, sell in different cycles. At times, a market is hot and homes go up significantly in perceived value, and at other times we see homes sell for far less. Within the Sarasota area, we even see this throughout the calendar year with more homes being available in the fall and winter and fewer homes for sale in the summer.

What we can say without a doubt is that if you are looking to buy a mobile home on leased land within the greater Sarasota Florida area now is the best time in the current market to do so. The reason is due to the lack of inventory and lack of Buyers who are in the market at this time. If, however, you decide to wait to buy your mobile home in Sarasota until the fall or winter of this year we could certainly expect the prices to go up even further and the willingness for Sellers to negotiate even less due to the number of available Buyers in the area!

The Mobile Home Dealer are licensed mobile home brokers in Sarasota Florida and the surrounding areas. We provide professional buy and/or sell assistance to our clients. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us by clicking this link. You may also visit our Facebook Page and send us a message.

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:

• Will You See A Return On Upgrades To Your Sarasota Mobile Home?
• Is Park Approval Necessary When Buying A Sarasota Florida Mobile Home?
• Considering Selling Your Mobile Home? Read THIS!
• What Is A Sarasota Florida Mobile Home Title?
• 3 Things You NEED To Know Before Renting Your Sarasota Florida Mobile Home!

We, here at The Mobile Home Dealer, constantly get asked by Sellers of mobile homes in the greater Sarasota Florida area if it is financially worth it to spend money in order to upgrade their mobile home.

The answer is, a resounding, it depends!

Let us explain.

Before we get involved in whether it is worth it or not worth it to spend money to upgrade your mobile home, we feel the best starting point is to have proper expectations of what you are looking to upgrade and what you hope to accomplish.

For example; if you are looking to paint the home a fun beachy color, change the over-flooring, add custom shelving, or change out the bathroom fixtures these certainly can liven up the home. However these upgrades, although nice in nature, are based on the owner’s personal preference and do not upgrade the structural integrity of the mobile home itself.

Sure, these will make the home look newer or “beachy” but it does not mean that the upgrades you put in here will bring you any more money when you look to sell the home.

The reason is that there is no tangible value that can be passed on to the next owner.

If, on the other hand, you are looking to upgrade the AC unit, update the subflooring of the entire home, add a new roof, add brand new appliances, upgrade the plumbing or update the electrical then, yes, these items will certainly see a real-time return on your investment.

The reason why these items will help bring a higher sales price as opposed to the list above is that this list adds structural upgrades to the property that, many times, will have warranties that can be passed on along with years of trouble-free living with some of these major structural upgrades.

To further the example, let’s go ahead and say you spend a few thousand dollars painting the home, it looks great and it was professionally done but the new Buyer does not like the color and wants to change it. Here, the money that was spent to update the property is not a transferable item of value for the new owner and they will not be willing to pay for your personal color taste, regardless of how well it is done.

Now, let’s say you take that same amount of money and put on a brand-new roof for the mobile home. Let’s further state that this new roof has a transferable warranty that can be passed on to the new owner. Sure, this upgrade is not as “fun” as the new paint job but it will certainly bring value to you when you look to sell the home. The reason why is that this upgrade provides a structural component to the home that will bring the new owner years of trouble-free use since it comes with a new warranty.

The paint job?

Not so much.

Upgrading your home is one of the most fun parts of home ownership because you can always put your touch on the property to truly make it yours. However, with this excitement comes a word of caution as too many custom details to a property may not only not return any money in your pocket when you go to sell the mobile home but it also could deter any Buyers from wanting to buy your mobile home in the first place.

If you are buying an old mobile home and plan to upgrade and sell it, consider the following.

Buying a mobile home to upgrade and sell it can be a feat or great chaos. It all depends on how you take the feat of having to carry out a whole series of important works in the house before selling it. Like everything, it has its positive points but, also, a series of disadvantages that it is better to take into account before acquiring the property.

Why flipping a mobile home can be a bad idea?

The price is an important issue since it can play against whether the upgrade you made can make the mobile home’s value rise. It will not be worth buying a mobile home if it falls apart and you must invest large sums of money to upgrade it.

You have to take into account the human factor of the upgrade. Are you prepared to make an upgrade with the headaches and stress associated with it? You have to reflect long before venturing to make a reform with the level of stress that it is supposed. 

Some buyers distance themselves from newly upgraded mobile homes because they know that the price of the newly upgraded mobile home could be more expensive. People who are fond of DIYs, prefer buying mobile homes that need some minor repairs because they know these could be cheaper and they can do the repair by themselves.

When looking at upgrading your mobile home, always weigh the options between using your renovation dollars on items that are personal in taste to those that are structural in nature.

The Mobile Home Dealer are licensed mobile home brokers in Sarasota Florida and the surrounding areas. We provide professional buy and/or sell assistance to our clients. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us by clicking this link. You may also visit our Facebook Page and send us a message.

This is Mark Kaiser with The Mobile Home Dealer which helps mobile home Buyers and Sellers get to a better place in life.

See Also:

• Is Park Approval Necessary When Buying A Sarasota Florida Mobile Home?
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• 3 Things You NEED To Know Before Renting Your Sarasota Florida Mobile Home!
• Why Most Sarasota Florida Mobile Homes Are Not “Mobile”!