Questions to Ask When Buying a Used Mobile Home
These are the questions to ask when buying a used mobile home, split between the seller, the park office and the county or state titling office. They open with the ones that can rule a home out over the phone (its year and HUD tag, the title, whether the land comes with it), then cover the park and lot rent, the structure, the plumbing, wiring and heating, the paperwork and the money. The note under each says what to look at yourself and who can confirm what you were told.
Want questions from the whole vault instead? Try the random question generator.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
First questions
What year was the home built, and can I see the HUD tag outside and the data plate inside?
Why ask it
The red metal tag riveted to the outside of each section shows the home was built to the federal code that began on June 15, 1976. The data plate, a paper sheet usually found in a kitchen cabinet, a bedroom closet or beside the electrical panel, lists the wind, roof load and heating zones it was built for. Lenders and insurers want both, so a missing tag or an earlier year can settle things before you drive out.
Does the price include the land, or does the home sit on a rented lot?
Why ask it
Everything else on this page hangs on the answer. With the land you are buying real estate that has a home on it. On a rented lot you are buying the home alone, a monthly rent comes with it, and the park usually has to accept you as a resident before the seller can hand over the keys.
Do you have the title in hand and in your name, and is the home titled as a vehicle or as real estate?
Why ask it
A seller holding a clean title in their own name can transfer the home without delay. A lost title, a late relative's name or a lender still listed means a slow trip through the state titling office first. If the home is titled as personal property instead of as real estate with its land, ask a lender what kind of loan that allows before you go any further.
Why are you selling, and how long has the home been for sale?
Why ask it
Listen for reasons that stay behind with the home: a rent increase, a new park owner, a letter from the office about its condition. A job in another town leaves with the seller, and those do not. Months on the market in a park where other homes sell quickly usually come down to the price, the park's approval process, or a rule about older homes.
Has the home always been on this lot, or was it moved here?
Why ask it
A home still on its first site has been spared the flexing that every trip puts into the frame. If it was moved, ask who did it and whether a permit and a setup inspection went with the job, then look for doors that no longer latch and long cracks in the ceiling panels.
Does the home have to be moved off this lot, or can it stay where it is?
Why ask it
Very cheap listings are often cheap because the buyer must haul the home away, and transport, permits and a new setup can cost more than the asking price. If it has to go, get the deadline and find out what the park or landowner does if you miss it.
Who made the home, what size is it, and is it a single wide or a double wide?
Why ask it
The maker and model let you look up the original floor plan and find out whether doors, tubs and windows in its sizes are still sold. Measure it yourself too, because an advertised length sometimes counts the hitch. A double wide adds a center seam to inspect and, in some states, a separate title for each half.
How long have you owned it, and did you live in it yourself or rent it out?
Why ask it
An owner who spent ten winters there knows which bedroom runs cold and where the roof once dripped. A landlord or a reseller who bought it last spring may honestly not know, which means your own inspection has to carry more of the weight.
Can I bring an inspector and look underneath before I put down a deposit?
Why ask it
Somebody with nothing to hide under the floor says yes and offers you a flashlight. Stalling, or pressure to pay something first to hold the home, is reason enough to slow down, so raise this early and watch how it lands.
Has anyone smoked in the home or kept pets indoors?
Why ask it
For a buyer with asthma or allergies this one can end the call. Smoke settles into paneling, carpet and ducts and outlasts a coat of paint, so judge it on a warm day with the windows shut. Pet accidents soak through to the subfloor, the layer in these homes least able to take them.
Park and lot
How much is the lot rent, and what is included in it?
Why ask it
Go item by item: water, sewer, trash, road upkeep, mowing. A low rent with everything billed on top can cost more than a higher one with everything in it, so compare totals. Get the figure from the office too, since a new resident's rent is not always what the seller pays.
What was the lot rent five years ago, and when is the next increase due?
Why ask it
Past increases are the only forecast you can check; a manager's reassurance about next year is not one. Find out as well whether your state or town limits how often or how far lot rent can rise, because many places set no limit at all.
Who bills the water, sewer, and electricity: the utility, or the park through its own meters?
Why ask it
With park meters, the park passes the charge through and there is nobody else to buy from. Three recent bills will show you the real monthly figure. The other thing to pin down is who repairs the line between the meter and the home, because that stretch is where the arguments happen.
What does the park need to approve me as a buyer, and how long does that take?
Why ask it
Parks commonly run a credit and background check and want proof of income, and the seller cannot waive any of it. Pick up the application before you settle on a price and make your offer depend on written approval. Without it you could own a home you are not allowed to live in.
Does the park charge an application fee, a transfer fee, or a new deposit when a home changes hands?
Why ask it
These land on the buyer after the price is already agreed. Take the amounts from the office instead of the seller, then add them to what the home is really costing you.
Will the park want repairs or upgrades done before it approves the sale?
Why ask it
Managers sometimes treat a sale as the moment to require new skirting, steps with handrails, fresh paint or the removal of an old shed. Find out before you settle a price, and agree with the seller which of you pays for the list.
Will the park let a home of this age be sold again and stay on its lot?
Why ask it
Some parks want homes past a certain age removed when they change hands. That may not stop your purchase and still decide your sale ten years from now, so get the rule in writing. State law limits such rules in some places, which makes it worth a call to the state office that oversees manufactured home parks if the answer worries you.
Is this an all ages park or a 55 and over community?
Why ask it
An age restricted park narrows who may live with you now and who may buy from you later. The details to press on are a younger spouse, an adult child and a live in caregiver, because parks write those exceptions differently.
What are the park's rules on pets, vehicles, sheds, and renting the home out?
Why ask it
Read the printed rules with your own household in mind: the dog's breed and weight, the work truck, the boat, the relative who may need to stay a while. A ban on renting the home out matters even if you never plan to, because it removes one way of keeping the home when you cannot live in it.
How long is the lot lease, and what happens when it runs out?
Why ask it
Read the lease you would sign, not the seller's, because new residents are often put on different terms. On a month to month arrangement, the thing to learn is how much notice the park must give before it changes the rent or the rules. State law sets that, and it varies a good deal.
Has the park changed owners lately, and is there any talk of it being sold or redeveloped?
Why ask it
A park is a business on land that might be worth more as something else. When one closes, residents are typically told to remove their homes, and the notice period and any relocation help differ by state. Put this one to the manager, then to two neighbors, and compare.
What is it like to live in this park day to day?
Why ask it
A seller who is leaving can afford to be frank about noise, speeding and how the office handles a complaint. Come back on a Friday night to hear it for yourself, and count the for sale signs on the way in: a lot of them at once is worth a question at the office.
Where does rainwater run on this lot, and has it ever pooled under the home?
Why ask it
Standing water rots the floor framing from below and rusts the anchors, so look for ground that falls away from the home and a dry crawl space. Check too whether the lot sits in a mapped flood zone, which can change both the insurance bill and what a lender demands.
Structure
If you were keeping the home, what repair would you do next?
Why ask it
Put this way, the seller gets to answer as an owner instead of as a defendant, and it tends to draw out more than a direct question about problems. Whatever they name, follow up with how long it has been like that.
What is the home sitting on, and have the piers and tie downs been inspected or certified?
Why ask it
Block piers settle and steel straps rust, and many lenders and insurers want an engineer's letter saying the anchoring suits the home's wind zone. Buckled skirting and a floor that dips toward the middle point at piers that have moved, which is a different repair from a worn floor.
When was the home last leveled, and who did the work?
Why ask it
Releveling is routine upkeep on a pier set home, so a receipt for it is a good sign, not a confession. If the answer is never, set a marble on the kitchen floor and see which way it rolls.
Is the roof the original metal, a roof over, or shingles, and when was it last sealed or replaced?
Why ask it
Each kind fails in its own place: flat metal at the seams and around vents, a roof over wherever water gets trapped between the old layer and the new, shingles along the edges of a low pitch. Get the receipt, then look inside at the ceiling around every vent and along the outside walls.
Are there soft spots in the floor near the toilet, the tub, the water heater, or the outside doors?
Why ask it
Many of these homes have a pressed wood subfloor that goes like wet cardboard after a leak while the vinyl on top still looks fine. Shift your weight from foot to foot beside each fixture and doorway. A floor that gives is a section to cut out and replace, and the leak behind it may still be running.
On a double wide, has the seam between the two halves ever leaked, cracked, or been resealed?
Why ask it
The halves are bolted together on site, and the join is only as good as the crew that made it. A ridge underfoot in the hallway, a crack running the length of the ceiling or daylight inside a closet says the sections have drifted apart.
What is the siding made of, and is any of it swollen, loose, or patched?
Why ask it
Hardboard soaks up water along its bottom edge and swells, metal dents and works loose at the seams, and vinyl hides whatever is behind it. Study the corners and the wall below each window, where a neat patch often marks a leak that was covered up without being cured.
Are the windows original, and do all of them and the outside doors open, seal, and latch?
Why ask it
Original single pane aluminum windows sweat in cold weather and run water into the wall below, which shows up later as soft trim and stained paneling. A door or window that sticks can also mean the frame or the piers have shifted. Replacements in the factory sizes often have to be ordered, so count how many need doing.
When did someone last crawl under the home, and what shape were the belly wrap and insulation in?
Why ask it
A torn belly wrap drops insulation onto the ground and lets rodents into the floor cavity, and the underside is the part of a showing most often skipped. A seller who can describe what is under there has looked; one who cannot has not.
Have you had leaks, mold, or rodents, and where exactly?
Why ask it
Sellers tend to describe the repair and skip the cause, so push for where the water came in and what was opened up to fix it. Open closets and cabinets and smell as much as look: a musty cabinet under a sink says more than a freshly painted ceiling.
Has the home been through a fire, a flood, or a bad storm, and was an insurance claim made?
Why ask it
A claim leaves paperwork you can read, including what the adjuster listed and what was actually repaired with the money. Flood water in the belly ruins insulation and ductwork even when the rooms above looked fine once they dried.
What has been remodeled, and what did you find when the floors or walls were opened up?
Why ask it
New vinyl plank laid over a soft subfloor is a familiar quick flip, and it can feel solid on the day you visit. Photos taken during the job are the proof; people who repaired the layer underneath usually have them and enjoy showing them.
Did the deck, carport, awning, or any added room get a permit?
Why ask it
Additions to manufactured homes are often built without one, and an unpermitted structure can be left out of an insurance policy, questioned by a lender, or ordered down by the park or county. Ask for the permit number. Then see whether the addition stands on its own posts or hangs its weight on the wall of the home, which an inspector will want to look at.
Systems
Will the water, power, and gas be on so I can test everything while I am there?
Why ask it
With the utilities off you cannot try a single faucet, outlet or burner, and a vacant home that sat disconnected through a winter may have split pipes nobody has found. Have service restored before a second visit, and read a refusal as an answer.
Is the plumbing original, and is any of it grey polybutylene pipe?
Why ask it
Polybutylene, a grey plastic supply pipe, went into many homes built from the late 1970s to the mid 1990s and has a poor record for leaks, and some insurers ask about it by name. Look where the lines come up under the sinks and behind the water heater door for the pipe color and for clamps or splices left by earlier repairs.
Do the drains run freely, and has the drain line under the home ever sagged or backed up?
Why ask it
The drain pipe hangs from straps beneath the floor and loses its slope when one lets go, which you notice as a slow tub or a toilet that gurgles. Drain the tub while the washer empties and listen.
Is the water line under the home protected from freezing, and has it ever frozen?
Why ask it
The supply pipe crosses open air between the ground and the floor, usually wrapped in electric heat tape that wears out and only works while it is plugged in. Find the outlet it uses and ask when the tape was last replaced. In a cold climate, an owner who looks blank at the words heat tape has had mild winters or good luck.
How many amps is the electrical service, and does the home have any aluminum wiring?
Why ask it
A small service limits what you can add later, from central air to an electric dryer, and the main breaker is normally marked with its rating. Aluminum branch wiring turns up in some older homes and insurers ask about it, so have an electrician say what it would take to make it acceptable. Open the panel door to look for scorch marks, and leave everything behind the cover to the electrician.
Are the furnace and water heater models made for manufactured homes, and how old is each?
Why ask it
Both are sold in versions approved for manufactured homes, and the rating plate on each unit says whether it is one. An ordinary household unit swapped in is something an inspector and an insurer will both pick up on, so read the plates and note the dates while you are standing there.
What fuel heats the home, and if there is a propane or oil tank, do you own it or lease it?
Why ask it
A leased tank can tie you to one supplier and may not transfer with the sale at all, so phone the company named on its side. With electric heat, see last January's bill before deciding the home is cheap to run.
Do all the rooms heat evenly, and has anyone checked the ducts under the floor?
Why ask it
The main duct usually runs through the belly, where a move, a rodent or a plumber's shortcut can open it up and leave you heating the crawl space. Stand at the register farthest from the furnace with the fan on; weak airflow there points at the duct, not the furnace.
Is the air conditioning central or window units, and does it keep up in the hottest month?
Why ask it
A thin roof and walls take on heat fast, so a tired or undersized unit shows itself in July and never at a spring showing. If central air was added after the home was built, the follow up is who matched it to the existing furnace and ducts.
Is the home on city water and sewer or on a well and septic tank, and when was the tank last pumped?
Why ask it
A private well and septic system put water testing, pumping and eventual replacement on your side of the ledger, and a failed drain field on a small lot can be hard to solve. The latest water test and the pumping receipt are the papers to see. In a park, find out whether the system is shared and who pays when it fails.
Do the smoke alarms work, and will every bedroom window open wide enough to climb out?
Why ask it
Fire can move fast through the light paneling of an older home, which is why these two cheap things deserve a minute of your visit. Try the windows yourself: painted shut, screwed shut or blocked by an air conditioner all count as a no.
Paperwork
Can we check that the serial number on the title matches the data plate and the frame?
Why ask it
The frame number is normally stamped into the steel cross member at the hitch end, and it is the one a sheet of paper cannot change. A mismatch may be a clerk's typo or a title that belongs to another home, and either one holds up a transfer until the state titling office sorts it out.
Is there a lien on the home, and can you show me the lender's release if a loan was paid off?
Why ask it
Paid off loans often sit on a title for years because nobody filed the release. Have the agency that issues titles in your state check the record before you pay, since a lien can stay with the home after the seller has gone.
Is your lot rent paid up, and does the park have any claim against the home?
Why ask it
Unpaid rent can end up attached to the home and not only to the person who owed it. Depending on where you are, a park may be able to hold up a sale or claim a lien until the balance is cleared, so have the office confirm in writing that the account stands at zero.
Are the taxes on the home paid to date, and is a tax clearance needed to transfer the title?
Why ask it
Some states and counties will not issue a new title until back taxes are settled, and unpaid years can stay with the home when the seller moves on. Call the county treasurer or tax office, read out the serial number, and find out what is owed; the seller's memory is not a receipt.
Are you selling it as is, and will you put what you know about its condition in writing?
Why ask it
Private sales of homes on rented lots often come with no disclosure form, and what a seller must tell you depends on the state and on how the home is titled. Where nothing is required, a dated, signed note of what they told you about the roof, the floors and past leaks still gives the words as is something definite to mean.
Which appliances, sheds, steps, and window units stay with the home, and do they all work?
Why ask it
Window air conditioners, sheds, steps and carports leave with sellers more often than buyers expect. Name each item in the bill of sale, and run the ones with a plug or a burner before you sign.
Would the county let me set up a home of this age and wind zone on my own land?
Why ask it
The maps on the data plate show the wind and roof load zones the home was built for, and one built for a mild zone may not get a permit where the snow is heavier or the wind stronger. Some counties also limit the age of homes brought in, so phone the permit office before you pay for a mover's quote.
How do you want to close: a bill of sale between us, a title company, or through the park office?
Why ask it
Park sales are often done in a driveway with a handwritten bill of sale and a signed title, and nobody checks for liens or taxes. An escrow or title service adds a fee and releases the money only when a clean title changes hands. Your state's titling agency can tell you what the transfer requires, since some states want a notary or a licensed dealer involved.
Money
How did you settle on the price, and what have other homes in this park sold for?
Why ask it
Sales of homes on rented lots often leave no public record, so the nearest thing to comparables is the manager's memory and what the neighbors say. Published value guides for manufactured homes exist, and a lender or insurer may consult one, which hands you a second number to set beside the seller's.
What did the electric and gas bills run last winter and last summer?
Why ask it
Real bills from the current occupant beat any estimate, and the coldest month is the one that surprises buyers of older homes. Find out how warm they kept the place and whether anyone was home all day, since a low bill from a half empty home tells you little.
Is this a cash only sale, or will you wait for a buyer's loan to close?
Why ask it
Loans on older homes on rented lots are hard to find, and plenty of sellers have stopped waiting for them. Before you accept that it is a cash deal, ring one lender with the year, the size and the park's name. The answer also tells you who will be able to buy the home from you one day.
Have any buyers backed out, and was it over the loan, the inspection, or the park?
Why ask it
Sellers usually know exactly why the last deal died. Whatever stopped that buyer, whether a lender's age limit, a soft floor or a park rule, is probably still there, so find out whether it was dealt with or the home was simply relisted.
Would you consider owner financing, and whose name is on the title while I am paying?
Why ask it
Sellers of older homes that banks decline sometimes carry the loan themselves. If the title stays in the seller's name until the last payment, find out what happens to the money you have paid if you miss one, and have the contract read by someone who handles these sales in your state before you sign.
Who insures the home now, and have you ever been turned down or dropped?
Why ask it
The seller's insurer is the fastest call to make, because it already has the home on file. If a company dropped the home, the reason matters: a roof, wiring or anchoring problem follows the home to its next owner. Either way, have your own written quote before you commit.
What would it cost to move this home, and has a transporter looked at it?
Why ask it
Only a licensed mover who has seen the frame, the axles and the route can give a real figure, and some will turn down an older home that may not survive the trip. Get the quote in writing along with what it leaves out, since teardown, permits, setup, skirting and utility hookups are often separate lines.
Are the axles, wheels, and hitch still with the home?
Why ask it
They are often taken off and sold once a home is set up, and replacing them becomes part of the bill if it ever has to travel. Look behind the skirting at the hitch end, since sellers frequently do not know.
Would you rather fix what the inspection finds or take it off the price?
Why ask it
Ask before the inspection, while the answer is still a matter of principle. A credit lets you choose who does the work and watch it done. A seller's repair is finished before you own the home, so if you accept one, agree in writing what finished means.
Would you take less from a buyer who can close this month and asks for no repairs?
Why ask it
Someone paying lot rent on an empty home loses money each month it sits, so speed is worth something real to them. Make the offer after the inspection, and put a figure on each defect instead of asking for a round discount.
Looking at a Used Manufactured Home
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Who to Ask, and When
Five answers to get by phone
The year and the HUD tag, who holds the title, whether the land is included, whether the home has to be moved, and whether you may bring an inspector. Each of the five is able to end the search for that home on its own, so get them before you give up a Saturday to the visit.
The seller, the park office and the county each know a different part
The seller knows the home's history. The park office knows the rent, the rules, the fees and whether the seller's account is paid. The county and the state titling agency know about taxes and liens. Take the park and paperwork questions to those offices yourself, and fewer of them get answered by a guess at the kitchen counter.
Keep what you were told beside what you saw
Two columns on one sheet will do. A roof described as sealed last year with water ponding on it, or a floor described as solid that gives beside the tub, does more for you in a negotiation than a general feeling that the home needs work.
Inspect It as a Manufactured Home, Not a House
Find the data plate and the HUD tag before anything else
The data plate is a paper sheet inside a kitchen cabinet, a closet or the electrical panel door. It names the manufacturer, the serial number, the wind and roof load zones, and the appliances the home shipped with. The metal tag is on the outside of each section, usually at the end away from the hitch. Photograph both: a lender, an insurer and an appraiser will want them, and they let you check what the seller says about age and specification.
Ask the inspector how many of these they do
A general home inspector may not look at tie downs, pier spacing, belly wrap, the seals along a double wide's center seam, or whether the furnace is a manufactured home unit. Ask each candidate how many manufactured homes they inspect in a year and whether they go underneath. One who will not crawl under the home is not much use here.
Test everything on one visit
Turn on the kitchen and bathroom taps together and see whether the flow holds. Fill the tub and let it drain while the toilet flushes. Start the furnace and the air conditioning whatever the season, and work each window and outside door. Finish with your shoes off, feeling for give along the edges of every room and around each fixture.
Look along the home from ground level
Get down low at one end and sight along each long wall, then step back and do the same with the roof line. Waves in the siding, a sagging ridge or a wall that bows out say the frame or the piers have moved. Compare the gap between the siding and the skirting along the length of the home; it should stay roughly even.
If the Home Sits in a Park
You are signing two agreements, not one
One buys the structure and the other rents the ground under it. The second is where the ongoing risk sits, since rent, rules and utility billing can all change after you move in. Get the current park rules, the lease you would sign and the rent history in writing before you make an offer.
Knock on two or three doors
The neighbors are the only people in the deal with no stake in it. Ask what the rent was three years ago, how quickly a broken water line or a pothole gets fixed, and whether the park has changed hands. If it has a new owner, ask what was different about the next rent notice.
Ask what happens when you want out
Find out whether you may sell the home where it stands, whether your buyer must be approved, whether the park charges a transfer or entry fee, and whether an age limit would apply to your home by then. If the home cannot stay, your way out is a move, and only a mover's quote tells you what that costs.
Financing, Insurance, and Owning Costs
Talk to a lender before you talk price
A home titled as personal property is usually financed with a chattel loan, a personal property loan that tends to run for fewer years at a higher rate than a home mortgage. Many lenders also set an age limit or will not lend on a home built before the 1976 code. Ask for a written pre approval that names the year and size of the home, and ask whether it changes if the lot is rented.
Have an agent quote this exact home
Call an agent with the year, size, serial number, roof type, wiring type and anchoring details. A quote can come back far higher than you expected, or be declined, over aluminum wiring, polybutylene plumbing, an uncertified setup or an unpermitted addition. That is better learned before you sign than after.
Budget the first two years
Price the repairs your inspection turns up, then list what still works but is near the end of its life: roof coating, water heater, furnace, skirting, steps and decks, and tires and axles if the home will be moved. Put a figure beside each one, from a contractor's quote where you can, and add the total to the asking price before you decide what the home is worth to you.
Check three things before any money moves
Before you pay, confirm three things with someone other than the seller: that the serial number on the title is the one on the home, that the titling agency shows no open lien, and that the taxes and the lot rent are paid to date. Then pay by a method you can trace, through an escrow or title service where one is offered, and ask the titling agency what your state needs signed, notarized or filed for the transfer to count.
Where Buyers Get Caught
Buying a nice interior over a bad structure
Fresh paint, plank flooring and a new kitchen are what a seller can get done in a month. The roof, the subfloor, the piers and the anchoring are what they could not, so spend your visit on those and treat the finishes as a bonus.
Assuming the move is an option
A move means transport, permits, a new setup, utility hookups and skirting, and an older home may not be permitted to travel or be accepted at another park at all. Treat the home as staying where it is unless a mover and the destination have both said yes in writing.
Paying before the park approves you
A deposit handed over before the park has approved your application leaves you in a weak position if the answer is no. Make any offer on a park home conditional on written approval of your tenancy.
Skipping the underside
The belly, ducts, piers, straps and plumbing all live under the home, and that is where the expensive problems are. If nobody has been under there on your behalf, the home has not been inspected.
Paperwork to Ask For
- Photographs of the data plate and of the HUD tag on the outside of each section
- The title, showing the current owner and any liens, plus a lien release if one was paid off
- Any setup, anchoring, or engineer's certification for the current installation
- Roof work receipts, and receipts for furnace, water heater, and plumbing repairs
- The park's written rules, the lease you would sign, the rent history, and the buyer application
- Permits for decks, carports, awnings, and any room additions
- The latest water test and septic pumping records if the home is on well and septic
- Twelve months of utility bills from the current occupant
- A written insurance quote on this specific home
- The lien record for the home from the agency that issues titles in your state
- Proof that taxes on the home are paid to date, or the tax clearance your state requires
- A written statement from the park office that the seller's lot rent account is at zero
- A signed list of the defects the seller knows about
- A transporter's written quote, if the home has to be moved
- A bill of sale listing every appliance, shed, and structure included