Selling manufactured homes (formerly known as mobile homes) is both similar to and different from selling traditional, site-built homes. The standard advice for pre-sale preparation still obtains, but after that, the differences begin to appear. Manufactured homes/mobile homes constitute a unique industry niche, and the target market is markedly different. So let’s take a look at 4 things you need to do before putting your Tucson mobile home on the market.
1. Do First Things First
Before even thinking about putting your home on the market, especially if you want to sell a Tucson mobile home fast, you have to get the first, most-important things right (unless, of course, you choose to do what many sellers do and go through a reputable Tucson mobile home buyer). These things include:
Preparation and Inspection
Just as with selling a traditional home, selling a manufactured home begins with cleaning thoroughly, sprucing up, and making needed repairs (and perhaps some upgrades). It’s also a good idea to pay for your own inspection before listing and before a potential buyer ever sees it. The idea is to fix all the problems before a buyer sees them.
Understand Features and Benefits
Also, before listing and marketing, you need to understand your mobile home’s true selling points – the features and benefits. Often, people think all manufactured homes are pretty much alike, but there are huge differences ranging from size to luxury level. So before you put your mobile home on the market, you need to thoroughly understand its features and the concomitant benefits and how you can use those to appeal to your target market. For example, consider whether you should emphasize the size of your double-wide and how it can easily accommodate a growing family. Or would it be better to emphasize in the listing the luxury kitchen upgrades?
Know the Rules
Another one of these important first things is making sure you know – and don’t violate – the rules of the mobile home park or manufactured home community (if that applies to your situation). In some cases, for example, you may be required to sell your home back to the park, and in others, you just have to keep park management in the loop. There are also usually restrictions on where you can place for-sale signs. The important thing is to understand all these rules and regulations before putting your mobile home on the market.
2. Understand the Tucson Mobile Home Market
The next thing you need to do before putting your Tucson mobile home on the market entails understanding the mobile home market, especially with respect to buyers, and what that means for you as a seller. Primarily, this means understanding the kinds of mobile home buyers and then tailoring and targeting your marketing efforts accordingly.
Cash Buyers
Though fewer than other kinds of buyers, these buyers are definitely out there. The advantage of selling to a cash buyer is that it’s a lot less hassle for you as the seller because most cash buyers will buy your mobile home as-is. The downside is that many of them are small investors who are looking for a good deal and will try to lowball you. So, if you want to sell to a cash buyer, your best bet is to seek out a larger, professional Tucson mobile home buyer that can offer you a fair price.
Payment Buyers
Typically, these buyers can come up with some kind of down payment, but can’t get the needed financing from a conventional lender. They are, then, looking for an owner-finance deal. Such an arrangement is fairly common in selling manufactured homes, and it can definitely work to your advantage. Very often, these buyers are willing to pay a higher interest rate in order to secure the owner’s financing – which translates to more profit for you.
Traditional Buyers
And then there are the traditional buyers who can get their own financing through a lender. While there is far less risk for you as the seller, there are some drawbacks. Typically, selling to this kind of buyer involves listing your mobile home with an agent and then going through that formal, complex transactional process. And, of course, you will have to pay the agent her commission.
3. Be Aware of Your Selling Options
You also need to think about your selling situation and the selling options available to you. These considerations will determine in large part how you go about putting your mobile home on the market.
The first thing to consider is whether you own the land your mobile home sits on or are selling both land you own and the home together. In this case, it’s just a straightforward real estate transaction. If you don’t own the land the home sits on and it can be moved, then you’re selling personal property – a very different kind of transaction, much like selling your car or boat.
Then you need to think about how fast you need to sell. If, for example, you’re at risk of being evicted from a park (and perhaps forfeiting your mobile home to the park management/owner), then you likely need to sell in less than 90 days. So if, as in this scenario, you absolutely have to sell your Tucson mobile home fast, a cash buyer is probably your best course.
Or suppose you need to sell fairly quickly, but not quite that fast, say, within 90 days to six months. You can probably take the more traditional route, using an agent and listing on the MLS. Or you can still advertise for a cash buyer, but you’ll have far more time to get a good cash offer.
4. Prepare a Targeted Marketing Campaign
The fourth thing most sellers will need to do before putting their mobile home on the market is to plan and craft a targeted marketing campaign. Doing it after listing or advertising is actually too late because your efforts are less effective. The top considerations here include:
Online Marketing
Today, the vast majority of buyers begin their search online, and many do almost all their home search online. Effective marketing, then, takes some technical savvy and online marketing creativity.
Traditional Marketing
Despite the surge in online searching and marketing, traditional marketing is by no means dead. You can still get good results (though it takes more effort) using for-sale signs, classified ads in local newspapers, and fliers. So don’t get so caught up the new marketing channels that you neglect the old reliable methods.
Bonus Tip for Ease of Selling and More Profit
Selling a Tucson, AZ, manufactured home, then, could very easily wind up being more complicated and more difficult than you anticipated – even when you set out knowing the 4 things you should do before putting your mobile home on the market. But, as we mentioned, a reputable Tucson mobile home cash buyer provides an avenue to help you sell fast, easily, and at a fair price. Check out the trusted mobile home buyer in Tucson that guarantees a fair offer, allows you to choose the closing date, and pays the costs involved in selling. To discover more about how to sell and move your manufactured home, call 520-433-9298 or fill out the easy below.