Selling your manufactured home is one of the most exciting things you can do. It often means moving into a new home while using money from your listing towards your next home journey. As you sell your mobile home, you’ll want to know the steps involved before getting things kicked off to ensure that your mobile home sale is as smooth as possible.
Decide Who Will Sell It
Believe it or not, the first step in your manufactured home sale journey is not to decide how you will sell your home, but who you will use to sell it. There are two main ways to sell your home as the owner, either on your own via a For Sale By Owner (FSBO) transaction, or via a dealer.
In a FSBO mobile home sale, you are empowered as the seller to take charge of the selling process and save some money along the way. The Mobile Home Sellers Guide is a great resource that covers every step of the process in addition to this article, and ensures that you as an individual seller are best prepared for the sale.
Many home sellers choose to hire a dealer to list and sell their home, too. With this option, the paperwork is left to a professional, though there are dealer fees associated.
Other ways to sell your mobile home include back to the community, if you live in one, or to a company that may buy homes for cash. Some communities, in fact, require you to sell your home back to that community if you move out. If you own your home on your own land, you may also use a realtor.
There is no wrong way to sell your home between a FSBO sale and going through a dealer. However, do your due diligence and make a decision that’s best for you for your home selling journey.
Appraisal and Inspection
Before you publish your manufactured home listing, you’ll need to hire an appraiser to correctly determine the home’s value. You should also consider a third-party inspection to see if you’ll need to make any repairs or upgrades before you sell your home.
While that may sound daunting, in reality you’re investing in your mobile home sale as a repair or upgrade will increase the value. For instance, a furnace upgrade can go a long way when it comes to adding to your mobile home’s resale value.
This is also a good opportunity to make any additional cosmetic changes that you feel may increase your home’s resale value. For instance, if you decide to replace your mobile home’s skirting, that can give your home a fresh look while still increasing the price.
Listing and Marketing Your Mobile Home
When you’re ready to publish your mobile home listing, MHVillage offers multiple FSBO listing options for manufactured homes with each offering different tiers of features to get your home in front of as many people as possible. These FSBO listing options ensure that your mobile home will shine while getting your home sold as fast as possible.
For those selling with a dealer, they will typically list your home for you and ensure its visibility.
If you’re selling your home the FSBO way, keep the following tips in mind:
- Make sure your listing pops with unique, high-quality photos of your home that show off everything it has to offer.
- Use descriptive language in your listing to appeal to home buyers and upsell your home’s features. Does your kitchen have an open concept, or does your home feature a sliding back door that opens out to a deck? If so, play features like those up in your listing to make it more attention-grabbing.
- Take a look at other listings in your area to see what features they tout, or how they describe your home, and see what works and what doesn’t when it comes to home listings that you really like.
Filing the State Paperwork
Once your mobile home has sold, take time after you’ve celebrated to start on your post-sale paperwork. This will vary state by state, so your best option will be to brush up on your state’s requirements for what paperwork needs to be filed, and when.
Generally, you’ll need to acquire some kind of titling certificate for your home, and each state will have their own process for managing the transaction of your home from the seller to the owner. There may also be local jurisdictions at play that affect whether a home sold with the land would require additional paperwork. If you sell your mobile home through a dealer, they can usually help process this paperwork for you.
Ready to sell? Start with MHVillage to get your listing live today. Simply visit mhvillage.com and fill out the online form to start your mobile home listing.
