Is My Mobile Home Too Old To Sell? + Other Selling Questions

Greener pastures are on the horizon and you’re looking to sell your mobile home. But you have a few reservations about its state. You pause and wonder, “Is my mobile home too old to sell?”

Sure, your mobile home is host to a myriad of fond, happy memories. It’s part of your story through the good times and the bad times. Still, sometimes you’re ready to move on and get a change of scenery. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But how do you know if your mobile home’s age puts you past the point of no return?

A mobile home may not be worth your time in your attempts to market it to buyers. But just how do you know when it’s past the saleable point?

Mobile home age and other selling questions

Is my mobile home too old to sell? That’s a great question, and we’re glad to help you along with it. Let’s walk together and explore the answer to this and other selling questions for your mobile home. 

First, we’ll explore the question that brought you here. 

Is my mobile home too old to sell?

To answer that question, you’ll need to know the manufacturing date of your mobile home. Once you know that, you’ll be able to assess whether or not it’s too old. 

If it’s over 20 years old, you’ll find that some mobile home companies will refuse to provide service. Others will simply require that the integrity of the structure is examined first to ensure it’s “road-worthy.” Keep that in mind if you’re looking to relocate your mobile home.

So based on age, if it’s about 20 years old or older, you need to take a good hard look to gauge whether or not the home is in any condition for tenants to live in or for you to repair and place on the market. 

But even if it’s not in a state that you’d want to repair, you could still make some money off it. (More on that later.)

At the moment, let’s just assume that your mobile home is structurally sound, has some life left in it, and could be worth some money to a buyer.

How do I spruce up my mobile home?

If your mobile home is structurally sound, you can take some basic measures to increase curb appeal for a potential buyer. 

To start with, clean up the yard and wash the home’s exterior. Does the door need to be repainted? Tackle that.

Now on the inside, fill in any holes in the walls and toss on a fresh coat of paint. New paint can work a miracle in the visuals department. Also, we recommend updating lighting and plumbing fixtures and adding new switch and outlet plates. If applicable, that’ll take your mobile home from the ’80s into the 2020s in a flash! 

In the end, you need to be alert to anything that makes your mobile home look dated or dingy. Tackle those things and get that mobile home prepped for the market.

Are there alternatives to selling?

As an alternative to fixing it up and selling, you can sell your mobile home to a reputable company that buys mobile homes. But if your mobile home is in great disrepair with little life left in it, there are other ways to make a buck. You can sell a mobile home to someone willing to scrap (it if there’s enough value in scrapping it). Or you can sell the parts of yourself (that’s quite the undertaking though, so beware!).

You never know who may be willing to spend a few hundred dollars on a dilapidated mobile home. Put out a notice. A buyer may save you from having to spend thousands to haul it away.

Donate your mobile home

Finally, you may wish to consider donating your mobile home. The fire department, for example, might want to use it for training if other factors make it useful for such a cause. Alternatively, you can reach out to non-profits and see if they want to breathe some new life into it for those in your community who are homeless or low-income (if the structure is sound, that is). 

Selling a home doesn’t have to be a pain

We hope you’re now better equipped to figure out whether your mobile home has life left in it. If you’re daunted by the thought of selling, have you considered working with a trusted mobile home buyer? There are companies out there like ours that specialize in a streamlined process for buying mobile homes. 

But if you’re keen on learning more about being a seller, and you’re not ready to seek out a buying company, feel free to explore our other articles such as Putting Your Mobile Home On the Market: Everything You Need to Know.