Pre-1976 mobile homes are less valuable because they were built according to different standards.
Appraisers are licensed professionals who compare a subject property to similar properties in order to estimate the subject property's value. The estimate of value is called an appraisal. Although the appraisal itself is subjective -- it's actually an opinion of value -- the criteria an appraiser uses are objective. For mobile homes appraisals, they take into account location, the age of the home, structural features, whether it's on a leased or owned lot and recent sale prices of similar homes, called comparables. Only a professionally trained and licensed appraiser can perform a true appraisal. However, a mobile home owner can arrive at an approximation of his own mobile home's likely value and resale price. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Determine whether your mobile home is real estate or real property. If you own the land on which your home is located and you intend to sell the land with the home, the home is real estate. If the home is on a leased lot or you'll sell it separately from land you own, it's real property, like a car.
2. Research your mobile home using an online valuation guide if it's personal property. Input the information the guide asks for, including the age of your home, its condition, features, and other items. Purchase the guide's valuation report to determine its value.
3. Assess conditions that affect your buyer's ability to finance the purchase of your home if it's real estate. Note its age and whether or not it's on a permanent foundation. Look for the HUD label, also called the HUD tag, on your home's exterior. The home is eligible for mortgage financing if it was manufactured after 1976 and sits on a permanent foundation and has the HUD label.
4. Contact a local real estate agent to request comparable listings of closed mobile-home sales from the last several months.
5. Examine the listings to find the mobile homes that are most like yours and that are in the nearest and most similar locations to yours. Look for homes in your park if your home is located in a park, for example, or look for homes in a park that's similar to yours if there were no recent sales in your park. Use listings for homes on leased lots if your lot is leased; use listings for owned lots if you own yours.
6. Divide the sale price of each comparable by its square footage. For example, for a 1,000-square-foot mobile home that sold for $30,000, divide $30,000 by 1,000. The answer -- in this case, $30 -- is the price-per-square-foot.
7. Figure out the average price-per-square-foot of all the comparables. Add all the homes' prices per-square-foot together and then divide by the number of comparables you're using. If you have five comparables, two of which sold for $30-per-square-foot, two of which sold for $20-per-square-foot and one of which sold for $10, you'd add $30 + $30 + $20 + $20 + $10 for a sum of $110. The amount of $110 divided by five comparables equals $25. The average price-per-square-foot, then, is $25.
8. Use the average price-per-square-foot as a baseline in determining your home's value. If your home is substantially better than the comparables, your value may be a little higher. Alternately, if the comparables are substantially better, your value will lower. If your home is eligible for financing, it's likely worth more than an otherwise identical home that is ineligible, as personal-property loans are harder to find and they tend to have higher interest rates.
9. Compare that figure to the guide report's if your home is personal property. Adjust your value further, if necessary. The figure at which you arrive after adjustments is an approximation of your home's value.
Tags: your home, mobile home, real estate, average price-per-square-foot, home real
