Dealers License
My husband and I are struggling to get started. We want to buy a repo mh for ourselves and would like to know if it is worth the effort to get a dealers license and go to the auctions in order to cut the repo man out . Around here we have come across snakes and feel like we are buying at their mercy and they are jacking the prices up way too high. Sorry if there are any of you who are repomen. We just like to know what we are getting into before we buy. 
[addsig]
dandl, I was a mobile home salesman for 2 1/2 years.Here are a few reasons you should NOT buy a repo. 1st ,8 out of ten times a mh is repo'd there are serious problems with it that the owner couldn't get repaired by the dealer or factory(structural,plumbing or electrical or a combination of all three).2nd, now that it is a repo there is no longer a factory warranty on it,which means any and all repairs are out of your pocket no matter what the dealer says,he is not going to want to do any thing to it,because it will be at his expense.As for buying an extended warranty,save your money,its not worth the paper its written on. 3rd, Most of the time the % rate on a used mobile home is so much higher than on a new one your pymts are going to be as much or MORE than if you buy new.4th,I've seen repo's that the original owner has completely trashed because they are angry about losing their home,then when the dealer gets it they refurb it,as cheaply as possible then dump it on some poor unsuspecting sole.Have you ever heard the saying Buyer beware?? be very careful you could get way more than you ever expected,and then your stuck with a mh thats a hunk of junk you can't or don't want to live in either. Hope this helps,Gary
Dandl,also try looking for mobile homes in your area that are for sale by owner,if they are living in it it will be easier to inspect for problems and you can also find out why the owner is selling it and you may beable to save the expense of moving it and having it reset up.Also the credit requirements and down pymt won't be as tough to meet.
Thanks for the reply.We have cash not loan for the mhand the structural damage would be from moving it countless times? Oh yeah, my husband is a contractor and he does remodeling, plumbing , and house additions. And could he spot this kind of damage with a good flashlight and a crawl space and of course his great mind? Does any of this change the senario or is it still a bad idea?
I would say to buy a repo before buying an occupied home. The person living in the MH currently is usually upside down on their payments and owes way more than the home is worth. Do some google searches to find the names and phone numbers of some bank remarketing departments. No dealers license needed to buy their homes, just cash only. However, to get the best deal you need to buy at least two homes. You could look at this as two for the price of one. Live in one, and fixup and sell the other. You will get your home for about .50 cents on the dollar and maybe make enough to pay for your home when it is all said and done.
Good luck,
Ken