How Roger Calculates a Cash Offer on a Mobile Home on Land

Sellers ask me all the time: "How did you come up with that number?" Fair question. Most cash buyers won’t tell you. They want the offer to feel like it came from a black box so you can’t argue with it.

That’s not how I work. Here’s the actual framework I use to value a manufactured home on owned land, walked through the same way I’d explain it standing on your property.

The Six Factors

Every offer is built from six pieces. Some matter more on rural properties (land), others matter more on near-metro properties (home condition). All six get weighed every time.

1. Land Value

This is usually the biggest single piece, especially on rural acreage. Land valuation factors:

• Acreage — the first acre carries developed-lot value (utilities, septic, well, driveway already in place). Additional acres add land at the rural-land rate per acre, which is much lower than the first-acre rate.
• Location — proximity to Louisville metro, I-65, or jobs centers. Land in Clark/Floyd County is worth more than land in Crawford/Orange County.
• Road frontage and access — paved-road frontage beats gravel; gravel beats easement; easement beats landlocked. Access affects buildability, which affects value.
• Utilities — public water/sewer (top), well + septic (mid), nothing (entry).
• Topography — flat buildable land > hilly > floodplain > landlocked steep.
• Recent comparable sales in the same county and similar acreage tier.

I pull comps from the county recorder/PVA data, plus what I’ve been seeing in actual closings — not what land is listed for, what it sells for.

2. Home Condition

A 20-minute walk-through tells me most of what I need:

• Roof — age, visible leaks, ceiling stains, sagging.
• Floors — soft spots near bathrooms/kitchens (water damage to subfloor), level, condition of covering.
• HVAC — age of unit, manufacturer/model (some brands are problematic), running condition.
• Plumbing — polybutylene (PB) supply lines (1978-1995-ish era) need replacement; copper or PEX is fine; check for leaks at fixtures.
• Electrical — panel brand (Federal Pacific or Zinsco panels are insurance problems), GFCI in wet areas, outlet condition.
• Foundation/skirting — settled blocks, missing skirting, moisture under home, vapor barrier intact.
• Kitchen + bathrooms — condition of cabinets, counters, fixtures, ventilation.
• Exterior — siding condition, windows, decks, outbuildings.

I’m not looking to nitpick — I’m estimating what repairs cost to make the property something I can resell or rent. That number gets subtracted from the after-repair value to figure out what I can pay.

3. Title and Deed Status

This affects the offer indirectly — clean title doesn’t increase the offer, but problem title decreases it because of:

• Time cost — if your mobile-home title is missing and I need to wait 4-6 weeks for a duplicate from the Indiana BMV or a Kentucky county clerk, my money is tied up that long.
• Process cost — bonded titles, probate filings, lien releases all cost real money in fees and attorney time.
• Risk cost — some title problems can’t be solved, and the deal collapses. I price in that risk on harder situations.

If your title is clean and in your name, that piece of the offer is at full value. If it’s a mess, expect a discount that reflects what I’ll pay to clean it up plus the time-value of waiting.

4. Property Taxes and Liens

Outstanding taxes and liens come out of the sale proceeds at closing — they don’t reduce my offer, they reduce your net check. Math:

• Offer: $45,000
• Back taxes: $3,200
• Mortgage payoff: $12,000
• Net to you at closing: $29,800

I don’t lower the offer because of the taxes — I just need to know about them up front so we don’t hit a surprise at closing. If liens exceed the offer (rare, but possible), I tell you before contracts are signed and we work through options together.

5. Occupancy and Access

Vacant property + clear road access is the easiest. Anything that adds complexity reduces speed-to-close and may reduce the offer:

• Vacant, keys/lockbox — easiest, full value.
• Owner-occupied, will move at closing — fine, normal.
• Tenant occupied — need to plan around lease term and move-out logistics.
• Family member living there — same as tenant, sometimes more complex.
• Squatter/unauthorized occupant — significantly reduces offer because legal eviction takes time and money.
• Property full of belongings — cleanout cost (we handle it but it’s real money).
• Access only via easement or rough road — harder for repair contractors to access, may reduce offer.

6. Repairs and Resale Plan

The final piece: what I plan to do with the property after I buy it. Three typical paths:

• Light refresh, resell to retail buyer — cosmetic updates, paint, flooring. Takes 60-90 days. Best return per dollar.
• Full remodel, resell — gut kitchen and baths, new HVAC, new roof, etc. Takes 4-6 months and $30-60K in work. Higher resale price but slower.
• Remove home, sell or develop land — if the home is too rough to save, demolish/remove it, sell or build new on the land.
• Hold and rent — lighter refresh, then rent monthly. Slower payback but predictable cash flow.

The path determines how much I can spend buying it. If I’m remodeling and reselling, I need to net 20-25% over my all-in costs to make the deal worth doing. If I’m removing the home and selling the land, the land value alone has to support the deal.

The Formula (Simplified)

Resale value after repairs (ARV)
  − estimated repair / remodel cost
  − holding costs (taxes, insurance, utilities during work)
  − closing costs (both my side at purchase and resale)
  − my margin (20-25% of all-in to make the deal viable)
  − title resolution costs (if any)
  − title-issue time-value discount (if applicable)
  = What I can offer you

That’s it. No black box. No "we paid the wrong people for our valuation software." Just numbers I can show you on a notepad.

Why It’s Less Than Retail

The biggest objection: "Couldn’t I get more if I just listed it?" Maybe. We did a full net-sheet article on this — short version: list price isn’t net. After 5-6% commission, 1-2% closing costs, repair credits, holding costs during 4-9 months on market, and the risk of the deal collapsing during financing, listing often nets close to or only slightly more than a cash offer. Sometimes it nets less.

What I Don’t Do

• I don’t make sight-unseen offers. Anyone giving you a number without visiting the property is using your land value as anchor and lowballing for safety. I see the property first.
• I don’t retrade. Once we agree on price and the property is materially as represented, we close at the agreed number. No mysterious "new findings" two days before closing.
• I don’t use pressure tactics. The offer is the offer. You can take a week, get other offers, talk to family, talk to an attorney. No countdown timers.
• I don’t sell your information. If we don’t do a deal, your contact info doesn’t end up in some lead-broker database. We’re a direct buyer, not a lead-generation business.

How to Compare Offers

If you have offers from multiple cash buyers, compare them on these factors — not just the dollar amount:

• Did they visit the property? Sight-unseen offers are usually lowballs designed to lock you in before they actually look.
• Did they put it in writing? Verbal offers don’t mean anything.
• Will they show you their math? If they won’t explain the number, expect a retrade.
• Who actually buys it? Are they the buyer, or are they assigning the contract to someone else (a wholesaler)? Wholesalers can’t guarantee they’ll find an end-buyer.
• What’s their close timeline and contingencies? Cash with no contingencies and a 14-day close is real. "Cash" with financing contingencies is just a regular financed offer dressed up.
• What’s their reputation? Google their company name, read reviews, look for retrade complaints.

Ready for an Offer?

Call or text Roger at (502) 528-7273. We’ll set a time to walk the property within 24-48 hours and you’ll have a written offer the same day or next morning. No fee, no obligation, no pressure.