Deals On Wheels

Why Used Mobile Homes?

When I first started out in this business, I didn't really know what to expect. I was simply looking for a way to create some notes that would provide good cash flow each month. I had already bought a number of notes and mortgages and realized how nice it was to get a check each month without any additional work. And I had gotten spoiled.

Working on rental properties and putting up with tenants just didn't seem like fun any more. So now the same question kept running through my mind, "How could I obligate somebody to send me a check each month with no tenants, no management and no maintenance problems?" It was my lucky day when I stumbled into the used mobile home business.

I usually get up around 7 o'clock, wake up around 8 o'clock, and get moving around 9 o'clock. One of the first things I do is to check the classified ads in the local papers. From force of habit I cover the business section and classified ads thoroughly. I'm especially interested in articles about investment opportunities and new business ideas. Even if I'm not really interested in a particular article, or business venture, I still like to read and learn about them in case it might be something I can get a new idea from, or a different technique that I could use.

For several weeks I kept seeing this column that listed mobile homes for sale. I kept looking at these ads until it finally hit me that hardly anyone was offering to finance the sale of the used homes. The only financing being offered was on the new homes being sold by dealers. And that usually meant that the buyer for that new home would have to qualify for a bank loan. So the dealer really wasn't financing anything. The dealer only did the paper work and hoped that a bank would provide financing for their buyer. There was very little, or no financing being offered on the older homes.

BINGO! After several weeks of reading those ads, the light popped on! Did you ever wonder why it sometimes takes so long for some of us to find the switch and turn on the light? I think maybe we're all born with a light bulb in our head, but most of us just need someone to show us where the switch is located so we can turn the light on.

It was then I started thinking, "I'll just bet there are people who want to buy these older mobile homes, but don't have the money and can't get financing to buy them." So I decided to run a test ad. My ad was worded like this, "If you need financing to buy or sell your used mobile home, call me." And my phone number.

I had my ad placed in the same column that listed mobile homes for sale, because I wanted not only the people that had homes for sale to see my ad, but also the people wanting to buy homes. I figured that if I could reach the people that wanted to buy homes, but were having trouble getting financing, I could generate some business. My idea paid off.

Lonnie Scruggs

$34.95