G.F.G. Homebuyers

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
So, I had a VERY enthusiastic young couple out to look at my trailer. They poked around opened cabinets and doors and turned on and on faucets, peered at applicances, and generally oohed and ahhed about how "cute" and how "perfect" my little place was.

I am smelling "sale" in the air so thick I can taste it. Then, the come out and tell me they want it. Great!

And then come the fateful words. "Do you know anyone who will finance a mobile home? Whaaat? Well, it's nearly impossible to finance an old mobile home on rented land, especially one that isn't on a foundation, mine is shackled to a slab, and did we mention that mine is in a park? Something else backs don't like. I suggested a personal loan given that the amount is so small.

So, the guy starts babbling about his work history, "He should be OK. He's been working at Good will for 6 months, so that should make up for in the other town when he mostly did day labor, right? (facepalm) He doesn't believe in credit cards so has never had one. Doesn't have a car, so no instalment loan history.

And given that he informed me that he grosses 1200 a month, I don't see where he can get a PERSONAL loan for what I'm asking for the place as the payments on that, plus the lot rent, plus utilities, plus taxes, are gonna take too big a chunk out of his gross income for a bank/credit union to touch him.

So...I've got the place sold if this couple who desperately want to buy the place can come up with the money to buy it...somehow.

I explained about earnest money and told themi they were willing to put up earnest money, I'd take the place off the market for a week while they sought financing. THey don't have the earnest money. Oh well.

I also won't do the land contract they tried to talk me into.

Next time, the PTB,if there are such a thing, and I have my serious doubts, need to send me a buyer with financing already worked out or cash in hand.

Argh...
 

Tanya M

Living with an attitude of gratitude
Staff member
How frustrating. It's one thing to want to look at a home for sale and it's another to be prepared to buy.

When I sold my fist home I told the realtor that I would only entertain offers from people that had been pre-approved with a letter from their lender.

It's nice that they have the desire to purchase a home but obviously need to do some more homework.

I hope the next people that come and look at it will be better equipped and it sells quickly.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
When LDH and I bought our house together, we had financing arranged and approved before we even began house hunting. We knew not only what the bank would finance us for, bur what we could afford (considerably less than what the bank said we could afford).

All that remained to be done once we found a place was to make an offer, negotiate, and have tha appraisals and various inspections done.

When I bought this trailer, I paid cash.

To add insult to injury, I found early on while advertising on craigslist that the phone number craigslist had for me wasn't even similar to the home phone # I had listed in the ad when I set it up. I am now checking the ad daily to make sure nothing has gotten garbled.

Meanwhile,I am getting bombarbed in ads for apartments for rent in the area I want to move to, because I listed my info with a couple of places that specialise in finding apartments for people.

This would be fine if they weren't totally ignoring the rental price range I put down when I signed up with them.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
For every difficult child buyer, there's a difficult child seller!

Like my sweet brother (stepbrother).

When they got into some financial troubles (much of it because they gave too much to their two adult, married difficult child daughters and their six grandkids) they 'sold' their house on a kinda rent-to-own contract whereby the new buyers ('friends' of theirs) would assume their loan (which stayed in my brother/wife's name) make the payments, and if they pay it off, it's theirs.

60k for a decent 3br, 1ba house, on 10 acres with a pond! What a deal! Not for my brother, of course.

And my brother's wife is in FINANCE! Did the contract herself.

Then they embarked on a totally unworkable plan to tour the country in an old RV, living only on brother's disability (most of which is already earmarked toward beer and cigs. Beer for him, Cigs for both) With no other source of income or savings.

Well, of course, it didn't work out, but the wife found a job quickly (she's really good at her work) has been working, and now the want to go back and get their house back. Except, of course, they can't. Unless the new owners stop making payments. Which they are now counting on.

Can't make this stuff up.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
AppleCori, well, that's just plain "dumb", if you'll pardon the expression. And it would figure the "buyer" is being responsible about making the payments.

To add to my misery, I just got a letter today from my insurance company telling me that the ins co found defects in my roof and that I have until Sept. 21st to replace it or they'll drop me.

I called my lawyer who informed me that I cannot sell the house with a defect that makes it uninsurable, so guess who gets to blow whatever profits I might make on this place, and then some, on putting on a new roof.

My lawyer also informed me that if one is dropped by a homeowner's ins company, one goes on a list of sorts that makes it very difficult (and expensive) to get ins in the future.

I have the first estimator coming on Monday.

I could just scream.
 

Tanya M

Living with an attitude of gratitude
Staff member
What a bummer. I am so sorry you have that to deal with.

Go ahead and scream!! (just don't scare the cats)

pain-pain-ache-headache-smiley-emoticon-000336-large.gif
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Insurance companies are a total pain.
If it wasn't a worse pain to not be insured, I would choose to not be insured.

Sending a cyber bandaid for your pocketbook.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Insurance companies are a total pain.
If it wasn't a worse pain to not be insured, I would choose to not be insured.

Sending a cyber bandaid for your pocketbook.
I need a cyber bandaid for my head where I've been banging it against the wall all afternoon.

My attorney is in general practice, not real estate law, which is rather arcane up here, especially as regards mobile homes.

I spoke Occupational Therapist (OT) a paralegal in a real estate law office this afternoon who told me that she is pretty sure that I can sell the house as is so long as I discolose the fact that the roof needs replacing and that the price reflects that.

I will speak to a couple of attorneys on Monday, find out what if anything I need to legally cover my arse, and edited my ad on Craigslist to note that the roof will need "repair/replacement" and lowered the price by a grand. (the price is already very low)

Meanwhile, the first buyers called back yet again to ask if *I* knew of anywhere to get a loan with a FICO score of 521. Needless to say, I don't as mine wasn't that low immediately after my bankruptcy and foreclosure. They then asked if I would take a 500 down payment and carry the financing on the place.

I had to say "no".

Someone else called a couple of hours ago got the details, and will call back after she talks to her husband...FWIW.

I have to the beginning of Sept before I have to sweat the roof, assuming nothing springs a leak before then.

Just got another call...want to know if I'll do a land contract...sigh...I never knew it would be so hard to get a few grand out of people even when that's a really good deal for a home that's got a lot going for it even with the roof issue.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
If you do a land contract or a rent to own MAKE SURE IT IS IN WRITING and take it to court. Do it with an attorney. Some landloard gave us a rent-to-own contract and we were actually ahead of paying. We lived t here six years. IOne day he called to say he needed his house back and to sell it outright and he hung up. His house?

We called a lawyer and he asked if we had registered the agreement with the city and courts and we had just all signed it, which was absolutely idiotic of us now that I think about it. Anyhow, because of that, we were considered tenants and had to move out unless we could buy the house.

DO EVERYTHING THROUGH THE COURTS AND WITH A LAWYER.

If you don't, anyone can just take off and not be responsible because the house is still in YOUR name. I'm sure you are smarter than we were, but just in case...:)
 

susiestar

Roll With It
Do not EVER sell property or get into a contract for sale on a property without an attorney of YOUR OWN. I have a friend who's husband got them into a house on a 'lease to own'. Well, the marriage went south and they wanted to sell, only to find out that the lawyer who 'advised' her husband was the other guy's shady atty. the guy was a 'friend' of her husband that she barely knew, but her husband shut her out of their finances as much as possible unless the lights were being shut off because he didn't pay the bills. So they had zero equity and couldn't even get back what they spent in upgrades AND the guy tried to sue them for damages!!! He claimed their upgrades were 'damages' until the judge pointed out that damages do NOT increase the value of a home.

Here in my state you cannot legally enter into a contract for land or a house without an attorney and the courts being involved. Most of the time you are required to have your own attorney and cannot use the same one as the seller is using. I was surprised by this when we bought a house. The courts here will not enforce a contract for 'real property', meaning land/house/physical structure, if each party did not have representation of some kind AND if it isn't registered with the court. It sure adds legal fees to home prices, but it is usually worth it.

We spent about 6 weeks renting from a friend of husband's a few summers ago. The property was on the market and I was shocked at what happened during showings. Not a single real estate agent gave us more than four hours notice and they got upset when we insisted on the 24 hours in the contracts. We thought it was the prospective buyers causing problems but it was the agents. Two of them left cigarette butts in the bedrooms and ground some butts into the carpets just for fun! One agent went into the bathroom and peed all over the counter and floor. Not just missing the toilet or having an accident - it was clearly intentional, and a woman did it. She had to take her pants totally off to get it everywhere with-o being soaked in it herself - ICK! Then we busted ourselves cleaning as we moved out (we had enough of the nonsense so we left) and got a really UGLY email from husband's friend. My poor husband was so upset and heartbroken by the things he said that he couldn't even respond. I sent photos of how we left it. An agent went through after we left and punched some walls, burned some carpet, overflowed a toilet and yanked a curtain rod out of the wall.

We got an apologetic email a few days later. It seems this agent did this to 2 other properties in order to get the price down for a buyer who couldn't afford it anyway. She was caught using a hammer to put holes in walls and she had torn the pipe under a sink out just before she was caught. She got so ugly with her boss that she was arrested. husband barely talks to his friends now (I never really knew them well but husband had worked with them for a while.) and he doesn't trust them after the way they handled it all.

Real estate is a bizarre, bizarre world. I don't know who is crazier, agents or buyers/sellers!

I wish you luck. You should put on your ad that you absolutely will not do land contracts or financing, and that buyers should have financing arranged up front.

Good Luck!
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
I have my general attorney that I've used for various things for 12 years. He's admitted he's out of his league when it comes to the arcania of selling mobile homes, so has recommended a real estate attorney who will be phoning me back tomorrow.

The problem is that mobile homes are titled through the DMV as if they were vehicles, and sales of them are regulated by a strange combination of vehicle and real estate laws.

You really need a specialist.

To totally brighten may day. I got a TEXT inquiry about the place wanting "details" at about 7:45AM today. I texted back with "phone for details AFTER 20AM.
 
Top