All Forum Posts by: Edward Hamill

Add to this, the marketing cost, MLS fees, lockbox fees, continuing education fees, etc...the average agent is NOT rolling in the dough!

Did it... hated it!

Sold a number of 350sqft "homes" to Disney to put in Castaway Cay. Small homes, for their "cast members" to live in... Imagine small motel room. Bed, bathroom, kitchenette. The cost for shipping was huge. We had to build special crates to put the homes in so that a second home could be stacked on top... Logistical nightmare.

Also sold some single wides across the pond...but when the buyer did the math and found that we would be spending more to ship than the home cost, it was cancelled.

We do ship SIPanel homes to Haiti in a container and then put them together when we get down there (going again in 2 weeks). When we are done, we turn the container into a home as well... Just some friends and I - not a money making venture, just a way to help those in need.

Sure @Jon Klaus

Dont remember all of the numbers, but he paid $350K for the lot (which was around 7,000 sq ft). The home was around $170K and not counting the "finished Florida basement" was a bit over 3,000 sq ft. Had quartz countertops, high-end appliances, tile and bamboo floors. the works. Whole house sprinkler and alarm as well as an elevator. Setup and prep work (building stilts, etc) was another $150k due to some extra rules set out by the city inspector (made us WAY over build the stilts and breakaway walls). Carry costs, permits, etc ran another $120k due to the project being put on hold for 2 years before we got involved with it.

Had he come to us first, we would have built the project 2 years sooner and he could have made an extra 100K, but....who knows.

Start to finish took 4 months. Home sold within 3 months of being put on the market (was used as a model for some time before that...sold 3 or 4 more projects off of it)

This particular project netted the builder around $100,000 profit once he sold it for over a million dollars - majority of the cost was the land, which was on the intercoastal across from the Gulf of Mexico

Pic 1: Start of the day...moving in the first section

Pic 2: 4 Hours later - whole home together

Pic 3: sample of the finished guest bathroom

Manufactured Homes (which used to be called Mobile Homes) are more and more like Modular Homes, with a major difference...they are not considered "permanent" structures. They are generally placed on cement block piers and have tie-down straps that are put 4-6 ft into the ground. We built as small as 400 sq ft and as large as 3,800 sqft. They are built and governed by HUD standards. Installation costs are considered low (under $10,000) but quality of home can still be as high as you would like (granite countertops, tile floors, etc). The interior work to complete the home on site usually takes from 1 day to as long as 30 days depending on the features selected(ie, drywall closeup vs a board closeup where the sections meet.)

Modular Homes are deeded the same as a stick-built home. They are placed on a slab or on a cement stemwall/basement, depending on what part of the world you are in. As a result, they can be built as multiple levels (we built 2 or 3 story homes that could reach 7,000 square feet). They are built and governed by DCA standards. More expensive to set up due to the prep work required. Usually this is chosen over stick built due to timeframe involved (my team was able to put together a 3 story home in 1 day...basically, you leave home for work with no neighbor and a full fledged house is there when you get home) Onsite work to complete the inside usually takes 30-45 days in Florida.

I will post a few pics of some projects I sold

Sheena,

Stay away from the REITs (Hometown America, ELS, ARC and American Land Lease in your area). There are enough "mom and pop" communities in your area where you can work a deal with the owner to reduce rent in return for improving the value of their park... Owners like The Steiner family will work with people at times (they own quite a bit in your area)

In my experience, one of the biggest selling points in your area are putting in new tie-downs and vinyl siding.

If the home is in a "land lease" community, the homes remain a "mobile home" and would require you to get a license if you are buying as an LLC. Homes in resident owned parks or co-ops become real property and are considered a deeded home, requiring a Real Estate License. Sometimes you can get a better deal in these type of communities, but you will find working with the Community Board a hassle (imagine retired people with nothing better to do than enforce imaginary rules on you...)

Best of luck and dont give up... I made good money doing replacement homes in these communities for years! If not for all of the travel, I would still be doing it today.

I spent the prior 8 years in the manufactured and modular home industry, working for one of the largest MH builders in Florida... Made a TON of money!

If you are talking about TRUE modular homes, there is not a huge savings over conventional building... if you are looking at Manufactured homes, fix and flip can be lucrative as long as it is in the right area (avoid the rental parks, as you can find yourself eating up your profit, paying an extra $500+ each month in carrying costs in just lot rent.

@Mitchell L. - Hope it all works out... Still looking for "safe" $$$ at my end that meets my needs.

I assume you have already checked out

https://www.broward.realforeclose.com/index.cfm?resetcfcobjs=1

and maybe compared upcoming auctions to see if the site you listed really does have "exclusive" auctions.... Just a thought.