Deals on Wheels
Table of Contents
Dedication
Introduction
Learning To Be Successful
Invest In Yourself
Foreword
Chapter 1
Why Used Mobile Homes?
My First Deal
Working With Park Owners/Managers
How To Make 75%
Will Finance
Buyers Two Biggest Concerns
Chapter 2
Which Homes Offer The Best Profits?
Avoid Moving The Home
Two $2,500 Homes
One $5,000 Home
Chapter 3
How Much Should You Pay?
How Much Should You Sell For?
NADA Book
A Quick “Flip”
Test Your Market
Chapter 4
How To Find That First Mobile Home
Park Owners/Managers
Classified Ads
Buy From Private Sellers
Run Your Own Ads
Private Publications
Bulletin Boards
Mobile Home Movers
Mail Carriers & Park Workers
Best Source Of Leads
A Trip Into The Twilight Zone
Ask Questions
Non Performing Assets
Include A Deadline In Your Offer
Ride Through The Parks
Knock On Doors
Business Cards
Trade Something For A Mobile Home
Look In Bad Parks
Working With Dealers
New Homes vs Used Homes
Chapter 5
What To Look For
Floors
Plumbing
Ceiling
Windows
Appliances
Wheels And Axles
Electric Service
Aluminum Wiring
Chapter 6
Negotiating The Purchase Price
Blue Jeans & A Pick-up Truck
Sometimes You Can “Smell” A Deal
The Squirrel Dog Technique
My Favorite Question
Let The Seller Name The Price
Get A Trade-Off
Check The Title
Chapter 7
Making Repairs
Floors
Disconnecting The Commode
Floor Vinyl
Bath Tub
Shower Stalls
Faucets
Ceilings
Carpets
Chapter 8
Finding A Buyer
Wording Your Ad
How Much Down & How Much A Month?
Is 0% Better Than 12.75%?
Keep A List Of Potential Buyers
Put The Seller To Work For You
Everything Has Two Prices
Negotiating The Sale
Make The Payments Affordable
Give Your Buyer A Choice
Add Something With The Mobile Home
Negotiable & Reasonable
The More, The Merrier
A Word Of Caution
Check With The Park Manager First
Chapter 10
Sales Contract
Selling “As Is”
Truth In Lending Statement
Chapter 11
Promissory Note
What To Put In The Note
Late Charges
Train Your Buyer
Note Can Be Paid Off, But Not Assumed
Chapter 12
Insurance & Personal Property Taxes
Have Proper Insurance On The Home
Personal Property Taxes
Chapter 13
Title Transfer
Dealer Regulations
Non-Dealer Regulations
Chapter 14
Dealer Tax Ramifications
How To Stay In A Zero Tax Bracket
We Have A Choice
Chapter 15
Lease/Options
Lease/Option vs Selling
Follow The Rules
Minimize Trouble Calls
Chapter 16
What To Do If They Don’t Pay
Why People Stay Broke
Small Claims Court
Keep Copies Of All Documents
Free Mobile Home
Chapter 17
How To Get Started
Starting With $3,500
How To Recover Our Cost
Setting Goals
What Does TV Really Cost You?
A “Deal A Month”
Sell The Front End Of The Note
Power Of Compounding
$60,000 Yearly
Chapter 18
Ideas For Park Owners
Renting vs Selling
Lease With Option
Lease Several Lots
Chapter 19
Christmas Shopping
Original Version
Keep A File Of Sellers Ads
Written Offers Get Results
How Did We Come Out On This Deal?
Any Change Will Be For The Better
Chapter 20
Lack Of Knowledge Can Be Expensive
Penalty For Early Withdrawal
What Is Education?
Your Attitude Will Make, Or Break You
Chapter 21
What’s Wrong With Our Schools?
TV Takes More Time Than School
How To Stay Broke
What A Difference
Compounding Power
The Perfect Cure
10-10-10 Rule
Learn The Concept
Invest In Yourself
The Man Who Sold Hot Dogs
Buy A Hot Dog Mister?
Time Value of “Time”
We Have Such A Bank, Its Name Is...TIME.
Realizing Value
Make Every Week National Friendship Week
Make A Commitment
THE SAFE ACT
Bonus Chapter:Create Your Own Economy
Appendix
Lonnie’s Other Kindle Books
DEALS ON WHEELS
How to Buy, Sell & Finance Used Mobile Homes for Big Profit$ and Ca$h Flow
Learn How to Put Your Money to Work Earning
50%-75%-100% and More
This Book Teaches Proven Facts, Not Fiction
by Lonnie Scruggs
BONUS
FREE Online Seminar
PLUS
$100 Discount for
www.CashFlowDepot.com
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information regarding the subject matter covered. It’s sold with the understanding that neither the author, nor the publisher, is engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If legal advice, or other expert advice is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.
Anyone considering doing business in buying and selling mobile homes is advised to check with your city and state business license departments to find out exactly what’s required for this type business. Most likely, you will need a dealer license and a local business license, the same as you would need
for any type business.
All rights to this publication and its material is reserved by the author. No part of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form, by any kind of duplicating equipment, or any other means, without express written consent of the author.
ISBN-13: 978-1481999588
ISBN-10: 1481999583
Copyrighted © 2013
Lonnie Scruggs
All Rights Reserved
Published By DOW Enterprises
1236 Smokey Mountain Trail
Chesapeake, VA 23320
Dedication
Just about every book I’ve ever read was dedicated to a special person...a spouse, friend, business partner, family member, or someone who was instrumental and had a great positive influence on the writer’s life. I’ve been very fortunate to have such a person in my life...my wife, Joanne. Aside from being a loving wife, my best friend and my partner, she’s always there when I need support, inspiration and encouragement.
So this book is dedicated to my wonderful and understanding wife. And I not only want to express my thanks and appreciation for her support and patience, but also for not divorcing me during this ordeal. You wouldn’t believe how many problems I’ve been able to create getting this book to you. I’ve promised her that if I should ever write another book, I will let her share in that experience. After all, why I should I have all the fun while she slaves in her flower garden?
This book was my first experience (and almost my last) working with computers and word processors. So far, I have managed to “blow” two computers completely out of existence.
Those computers were replaced with one’s that had all the latest whistles, bells and flashing lights. They could even talk to me. (I’m still trying to decide if I want a machine that talks back to me.) It had stuff that could do every thing from drawing pictures to reminding you of your next dentist appointment.
However, there’s still one big problem with this fancy and sophisticated machine...the operator. I couldn’t figure out which buttons to push to do any particular thing that I wanted to do. (If you look up the definition for the world’s dumbest computer operator, you will get a picture of me.)
After many hours punching the keys and getting the words pretty much the way I had attempted, I was able, without any help at all, to figure out exactly which key strokes would wipe out everything that I had managed to put there, and leave me with a clean and empty disk to start over.
Thankfully, a good friend, who is a computer expert, together with the local computer shop, has been able to keep me going. But it hasn’t been easy. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had computer problems and heard my friend, or the person at the computer store say, “Gee, I’ve never seen that happen before.” So the only logical explanation must be that I’m a human computer virus. It’s become a known fact that I can contaminate a computer by simply touching the keyboard.
I have no idea how many hours I spent punching keys to get Deals On Wheels to the printer. Joanne says if I can only manage to sell about four million copies, I might wind up making a minimum wage salary. She says she’s heard of football widows, fishing widows, golf widows, and lots of other “widows,” but she considers herself the first known computer widow. I think I’m beginning to understand why she won’t get near a computer.
Introduction
If you ask 10 different people for their definition of success, you would probably get 10 different answers. Many would probably say that being rich is the answer. I would disagree with that answer, because I think it takes more than money to make you successful, or happy. Having financial security is important, but equally important is to have the financial freedom. What good is 10 million dollars if you can’t take time to enjoy life?
I know people who already have more money than they could possibly ever spend, but they still won’t slow down and enjoy the simple things of life. It seems impossible for them to imagine that the world won’t end if they get away from the office and take a nice vacation. That office is like a prison to them, and their only priority seems to be to make another super deal. And they never know when enough, is enough.
Learning To Be Successful
I believe in order to be successful, you should first decide what it is you want to do. Once you decide what you want to do, then you should learn from the most successful people that have either done, or are doing, what you want to do. If you can’t associate with those people directly, then buy and study any books, tapes or courses they have available. If they give seminars, make plans to attend. And be willing to pay for your education.
It doesn’t make sense to take advice from your barber, or hairdresser unless you want to learn how to cut hair. But that’s exactly what some people will do. There’s always plenty of free advice, but most of it comes from the very people that are the least qualified to give advice. I’m a firm believer that advice should be measured by the success of the person giving the advice. If the person giving the advice hasn’t accomplished much for themselves, then why would you want to take advice from that person?
Invest In Yourself
We have always been willing to invest first in ourselves. And we’ve spent a lot of money, a lot of time, and a lot of effort doing so. We’ve attended many, many seminars over the years in order to learn from the people that are successful doing the things we wanted to do. And it’s been well worth the effort and expense. Without the knowledge that we were able to obtain from those seminars and teachers, we might still be working a job instead of enjoying financial security, and financial freedom.
It was at one of those seminars, while sitting around enjoying a “cool one” after class, that I got to talking about the used mobile home business. I was explaining to several people how we were buying, selling, and financing older used mobile homes, and creating some very high yield notes.
This happened on several different occasions, and I couldn’t help noticing the interest and excitement from some of the group when I was running some of my deals by them. I was a little puzzled and couldn’t understand why they were getting so excited. It was no big deal to me...I simply bought a used mobile home at a good price, sold it for a better price and financed the sale. When the deal was done, I had a good high yield note, and had obligated someone to send me a check each month.
Several of the folks asked me to write a book, or make some tapes on what I was doing in order to teach them. I said, “I just told you how...buy a used mobile home, wholesale for cash, sell retail on credit, and carry the note.” It seemed so simple to me, why would they need any more information? But then I realized that most things are not so simple to the person who has never done it. It only gets simple after you’ve learned how, and have actually done some deals.
On my way home from that seminar I kept thinking about what some of them had said about wanting me to teach them how to get into the mobile home business. And it was then that I started to realize that maybe some people needed written material, or an audio tape, as learning tools. So the idea for this book was born. Until then, I never dreamed I had a book in me. I’m just glad I didn’t die with this book still in me.
Now, I have to confess that up until then the idea that I would ever be writing a book seemed about as remote as becoming an astronaut. But after some encouragement from several people, and especially from one very special person, I decided “Why not?” After thinking it over, I realized that all I needed to do was put in writing what I had been doing all along.
So Bill, thanks for joining us at breakfast that morning and giving me the encouragement, inspiration and confidence that I needed to write this book. Sometimes all it takes to realize that you can accomplish something you never though possible, is for just one person to give you that little push you need. And that person was my good friend, Bill Roche.
So for whatever it’s worth, here’s the book
that I never dreamed I would write. Even with all the problems I’ve encountered, I’ve really enjoying writing it. And I sincerely hope you enjoy reading it. But more than that, I hope it will inspire you to get into the mobile home business and make money. It’s a great business.
Before I go any further, let me explain that I know nothing about writing a book, I’ve always had trouble writing a letter. I’m sure you will find errors in spelling, grammar and all the things that make for a well-written book. But, I want you to realize that not all the mistakes are there by accident. Some have been placed there on purpose and for a reason. Realizing that some people in this world are always looking for something to complain about, or find fault with, I have tried to satisfy those people.
What I have attempted to do with this book is explain in complete detail just how you can make high returns on your money by buying and selling older, inexpensive mobile homes. By financing the sales of those homes, you can create some very good notes that will provide you an excellent cash flow with a minimum amount of work.
I would like to add also, that this concept will work on anything that you’re willing to loan money on and accept as collateral. So if you don’t like mobile homes, find something you do like and use this same concept. It’s a proven system that works. And it will work where you live.
Foreword
Let me begin by giving you a brief history of our background and how we got started in the mobile home business. For almost 30 years, Joanne and I were real estate investors. We bought, rented, and managed our own houses and apartments on a full time basis. You might say that we were two people without a “job.”
We did all of our business as private investors, and never had a real estate license. Since we never intended to list and sell property and deal with the public, I didn’t feel that a real estate license would be of any benefit. On the contrary, a license would probably have been a hindrance. Having a real estate license would have required us to reveal that we were real estate agents every time we did a deal. And some buyers and sellers seem to have the opinion that if you are a licensed agent, you’re a trained killer. In many cases, buyers and sellers seem to be more comfortable dealing with a private party, rather than a licensed broker.
We’ve bought some properties that were listed with Realtors, but never used an agent to sell a property. And there’s a reason for that. My experience has shown that the two biggest deal killers are attorneys and real estate agents. Also, I felt we were just as experienced, or more so, than most of the agents and brokers.