The Texas housing market is red-hot and shows no signs of slowing down. In an active market with high home prices, many buyers will be looking for a great home at a more affordable price, which is great news for anyone selling a mobile home in Texas.
To get the best price for your manufactured home, it’s important to have the right tools and knowledge at your disposal. In this quick guide, we’ll talk about the basics of how to sell a mobile home in Texas and how MHVillage’s tools for mobile home sellers can help make your sale a success.
Who’s Selling Your Home?
The first decision that most manufactured home sellers in Texas must make is whether to sell their home themselves (known as “for sale by owner,” or FSBO) or sell it through a mobile home real estate agent.
If you live in a manufactured home community, the community’s sales department will almost always handle the sale for you. If that’s the case, you’ll work with park sales representatives to make sure your home is ready to sell, coordinate showing times and find potential buyers.
Sellers who don’t live in a manufactured home community must decide whether to sell by owner or use a Texas real estate agent. A real estate agent will charge commission, but will do the work of connecting with buyers, showing the home and creating marketing materials.
Selling FSBO, meanwhile, can be a big potential cost-saver since you’ll be skipping commission fees for an agent, but the process involves more legwork for the seller. Make sure to avoid the many common for sale by owner mistakes such as negotiating too hard and going in without an inspection.
Appraisal and Inspection
A professional manufactured home appraisal and inspection are key steps in the process of selling a manufactured home. Anyone interested in selling a manufactured home in Texas should strongly consider having an appraisal and inspection.
Professional appraisers are trained to evaluate the key factors that determine a home’s value, including model, age and condition. Professional inspectors, meanwhile, give buyers confidence and help spot critical repairs that the seller may need to address.
A great first step is finding the book value of your manufactured home. That’s why MHVillage offers a free Datacomp book value for every manufactured home listed on our site. However, to truly ensure that your manufactured home is ready to sell and to establish a firm value, it’s a good idea to have a professional appraisal and inspection.
Marketing Your Mobile Home
Finding the right buyer for your manufactured home in Texas is easier when you advertise your home and know how to present it attractively–whether that’s through curb appeal or savvy marketing.
Curb appeal is a big part of successfully presenting your home and, fortunately, there are some easy techniques to boost manufactured home curb appeal. A new coat of paint can go a long way, as can replacing your manufactured home’s siding and doing some basic yard work.
MHVillage also gives manufactured home sellers a listing that’s packed with opportunities for marketing. See our guides to taking pictures of your manufactured home and writing a better home description for tips on practices that can help optimize your listing.
Texas Mobile Home Paperwork
In Texas, transactions involving manufactured homes are regulated and recorded by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA). The TDHCA sets standards for the sale and installation of manufactured homes.
The most important document for selling a mobile home in Texas is called the Statement of Ownership and Location, or SOL. These documents record all of the following:
- Sale, transfer and current ownership of a manufactured home
- Whether a home is titled as personal or real property
- The home’s physical location
- Outstanding liens
A revised SOL must be submitted to the TDHCA at least 60 days before the sale date. The full SOL can be tricky to fill out, so make sure to read the TDHCA’s SOL application instructions.
The seller must also provide the buyer with a written warranty and disclosure statement that describes the home’s physical condition and certifies its habitability. Other documents may also be required, so check with your local government to learn the specific requirements for your municipality.
If you’re wondering how to sell a mobile home in Texas, MHVillage provides the easiest and fastest way to do it, thanks to our easy-to-use interface and user base of over 25 million unique visitors annually. For more tips on how to sell a mobile home in Texas, be sure to look at our Mobile Home Seller’s Guide. It’s packed with useful resources for home sellers.
