Avoid These Costly Mobile Home Remodelling Mistakes

When we remodeled our first mobile home we made a lot of mistakes. We were actually coming from the single-family real estate world, and so we thought this was HGTV – we were going to rebuild this house from beginning to end.

But there was a major plumbing issue we just didn’t know about. It threw our numbers off. We didn’t have a plan or proper organization to handle that type of expense and the kind of repair that needed to be done. So we got into the deal like, ‘Yes, we’re so excited about it.’ But by the end of the deal we were just thanking God it was over with.

We were happy that we got paid and it was over, but we felt deflated at the end because all of these obstacles and things, when it came to the remodeling portion, got in our way.

So in this blog, we’re going to talk about a few mistakes that have cost us big time along the way when it comes to mobile home remodeling. Because we don’t want you guys to feel like that. We want you to be thrilled throughout the entire process of your first deal.

Mistake #1 Not Having A Plan

So you’re either going to fail to plan or plan to fail. Whenever you’re getting into your rehab or remodeling you want to have a complete detailed plan from beginning to the end of the process.

You want this to be detailed in phases guys, this is extremely important. You want to be in alignment with your handyman. That way if any surprises come up, it’s not going to be detrimental to your project. It’s not going to blow up the whole project. And it also makes you look a lot more professional. You’ll look like you know what you’re doing and you’ve done this before.

Because if you don’t have a plan, you’re just going to be reacting to whatever comes your way. And we don’t want to see you do that because that’s a plan for disaster.

Mistake #2 Over repairing the home

Again, this is not HGTV. We don’t have to make everything picture perfect. What you want to do is focus on the 5 major repair items. If you’re not sure what those are, they are:

• AC
• Electrical
• The plumbing
• The sub-floor
• And the roofing

After taking care of the big 5 you can also focus on some extra cosmetic repairs that cost less than $1000 which we’ve written about. But for the most part you just want to make sure that the house is structurally sound.

Guys do not get emotionally involved in these deals. You are not the market. Stick to your plan and you’ll be okay. With mobile homes and parks, it’s not always the case that more repairs equals more money. So stick to the script and you’ll be fine.

Mistake #3 Not doing the math

Guys in this niche we make money when we buy the home. The money is always made in the buy. So it’s really important that you understand the value of the home, as well as the repair and materials it’s going to cost you during your rehab.

And don’t forget the Lot Rent because time is money. However long those repairs are going to take, it’s going to cost you because you’re going to have to pay the Lot Rent while you’re fixing up the home.

What we like to do is we like to have a best-case scenario calculation and a worst-case scenario calculation. That way we can know both ends of the spectrum. And we’re never surprised.

Mistake #4 Ignoring security

This means failing to secure the entry of the home, as well as failing to secure the materials and tools left at the job site. There are squatters known to be in mobile home parks, and they’ll break into your home and make themselves comfortable, or even take your assets. So you want to make sure you’re protected

And that’s why it’s important to never leave materials or tools behind. If your handyman is working on the home, always have them store their materials and tools properly because this can cost you and your handyman a lot of time and money.

We’ve previously written about 5 cheap and easy security tips you can implement while doing your remodeling work.

Mistake #5 Stopping the marketing of the home

Sometimes you might stop marketing the home because you have an interested buyer. Guys, this is one of the worst decisions you can make. We never stop marketing the home until we have cash money in hand.

We’ve had buyers that walk through our rehabs and they’re like, ‘Yes, I want this home. I swear, I’m going to buy it.’ But then they turn around and don’t like the finished product when it’s done, or they buy another home in the community.

You want to make sure that you keep marketing the home until you have cash in hand, so you don’t have to worry about paying an extra month of Lot Rent. Or spending all this time trying to re-market the home because you failed to do it from the beginning.

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