An estimated 18 million Americans now live in mobile homes (or manufactured homes). And they do so for all kinds of reasons. Maybe they bought a parcel of land and need to put a home on it fast or maybe they like the fact that manufactured homes are more affordable or, then again, perhaps they are simply in transition and choose to live in a mobile home park.
Whatever the reason, a portion of that 5.6% of the American population eventually chooses to transition to a traditional single-family home. The problem is, though, that it’s not always as simple and easy as it appears at first glance. So let’s take a look at what exactly is involved in making the transition from your Tucson manufactured home to a single-family home.
Finding and Buying the Single-Family Home In Tucson
There are two major phases in the process of transitioning from your manufactured home to a single-family home. Sometimes they happen simultaneously and sometimes sequentially. But, often, the first phase is locating and then purchasing the traditional single-family home.
Just some of the major steps – typically more than would be involved in buying manufactured homes – are:
Setting Financial Priorities and Goals
This involves taking a hard, objective look at your financial situation and goals. First you need to know exactly how much house you can afford (and this involves many expenses beyond the purchase price). And then you need to determine your must-have and like-to-have features, as well as your buying goals, for example, how long do you plan to live in the home.
Determining a Realistic Price Range
Next, after figuring out your financials and your goals, you’ll need to determine your realistic price range. This will entail tallying up all your monthly expenses to see how much of a monthly mortgage payment you can comfortably handle. And don’t forget to factor in all the other costs of home purchasing and ownership: private mortgage insurance, closing costs, property taxes, insurance, and so on.
Locating a Qualified Local Real Estate Agent
Whether you’re buying a home in Tucson, AZ, or anywhere else, a good agent can be an invaluable asset. An agent can save you tons of time in the home search and will have access to listings that you wouldn’t on your own. Most important, your agent will be able to negotiate a better deal for you.
Choosing the Right Neighborhood
As they say, location is critical, so you and your agent must choose the neighborhood that truly fits your needs and preferences. Neighborhood considerations include such things as property tax rates, appreciation potential, quality of the school system, nearby amenities, and crime rates.
Visiting and Viewing Homes
The next step will be actually getting out and touring potential homes. It’s a good idea here rely on your agent’s assessment of the homes’ pricing and condition.
Making an Offer
When you finally find a home that meets all your requirements, it’s time to make an offer. Very often, the seller will make a counteroffer, and this kind of back-and-forthing will go on till both you and the seller reach mutually agreeable terms.
Taking Care of Final Matters and Preparing to Move
After your offer has been accepted, then your mortgage lender will require an appraisal and inspection. Then if these off smoothly, you’ll begin packing and preparing to move.
Closing
The final step in this process is, of course, closing. At closing all the dotted lines are signed, money changes hands, and you get the key to your new home.
Selling Your Manufactured Home
The other phase of transitioning from your Tucson manufactured home to a single-family home is selling your current mobile home. And this, too, involves much more than many people realize. That’s why the best course for a lot of people selling mobile homes – especially those who need to sell their Tucson mobile home fast – is to go through a reputable Tucson mobile home buyer. (More on that in a minute.)
The major steps in this phase of selling your manufactured home include:
Appraisal
In order to list your home on the highly competitive mobile home market, you have to know what your manufactured home is actually worth – that is, the fair market value. Typically, you will deploy valuation tools that take into account local market conditions such as supply and demand, location, square footage, number of beds and baths, condition, and more.
Inspection
Although buyers will have their own inspection done, it’s still wise for you to get one. That way you can fix any problems the inspection discovers before buyers see them.
Staging
Just as with a traditional home sale, staging is important for Tucson mobile homes. Multiple studies show that staged homes sell faster and at a higher price.
Taking Listing Photos
Before listing and marketing your manufactured home, you’ll need to take plenty of top-notch, professional-quality photos. Most people shop online for manufactured homes today, so you absolutely must have professional-quality listing photos.
Marketing
Once the appraisal, inspection, staging, and listing photos have all been taken care of, it’s time for you to market your manufactured home.
Preparing Closing Documents
Then the next step in the process of selling your Tucson mobile home is usually preparing the closing documents. And there are a lot of them, including:
- Sellers Information Sheet
- Promissory note
- Bill of sale
- Title
- Agreements about special conditions/concessions
Closing
Finally, you set a closing date. And on that day, all documents are signed, money changes hands, and the title to your mobile home is signed over.
Additional Considerations for Selling Your Tucson Mobile Home
But wait: selling your mobile home may not follow the process delineated above. Here’s why . . .
If you own the land your mobile home sits on, then selling it will proceed pretty much as we laid out just above. But if you don’t own the land under your manufactured home, selling it will be different.
In this case (when you don’t own the land), the home will be considered chattel property. And the sale will be very much like that for an automobile or a boat.
The point here is that the whole process can get quite complicated and involved owing to the many variables you have to consider. There is, however, and easier and simpler way.
The Easier, Simpler Solution – A Tucson Mobile Home Buyer
Obviously, transitioning from your Tucson manufactured home to a single-family home can be an overwhelming and time-consuming undertaking. So if it all seems like too much or you need to sell your Tucson mobile home fast, consider the substantial benefits of selling to a top-notch Tucson mobile home buyer.