Start'n from scratch: selling MHs & land

[Thumper]

Hi'a folks. My first post. Hope I'm in the right spot.

My little brother and his family needed lots of help the last 18 months. And I was able to help them. So things were going okay...

But then a relative offered my brother a job helping the man buy 5 to 10 acres, split it into 5 to 10 lots, toss on cheap mobile homes (total investment $80K per home) and sell each for $120,000 (for a net profit of around $20,000).

Last year the man did 8 homes (his first year in real estate). This year he plans to sell 12, and guaranteed my brother $40K for 2005.

So off my brother went, with his wife and my baby nieces, to a far away state where I (and most of the family) will rarely get to see them again. Maybe once a year.

And I am so mad. > And jealous I guess. Not about the money. That is great. But about our family breaking up because there's not enough money here when I have tried so hard to help already. I have decided to set my furrowed brow toward buying one lot and throwing on one mobile home to see what happens and see if I can sell it. Then repeat, repeat, repeat!!

I hope that maybe they will come back someday soon if I can prove there's gold in these hills too.

But where do I start? What will my first 'how-to' book or video be?? I have no idea. But I do have good credit, decent savings, a good job history, and very little debt.

Sadly, no real estate experience though... and NO CLUE how to set up these deals fast enough to get the babies back while they are still... babies.  :

Any advice at all would be absolutely terrific.

[WilsonTaylor]

My suggestion would not be to look for books, but look for information at every source you can think of.  Start with realtors that might know about lots that could be used for MHs. how much you can expect  to get for a property. and how long it will probably take to sell.  Talk to the city/county inspectors that deal with sewer/septic systems.  Talk to MH dealers to find out what you can get and how much they would cost you.  In short, find out how much you can make after you take out all of your expenses.  Be sure to calculate your carrying costs into the equation and also add some for unexpected expenses.  Your brother may be able to help you with some of the unknowns in your equation.  

Wilson

[Thumper]

Thanks Wilson. I'm actually kind of glad you said 'don't look for a book'. Can't recall the number of how-to books gathering dust on my shelves. They don't all seem bad but... for some reason I've rarely been able to use them to inch my position from A... all the way to Z.

Do my own research? Okay. I think I can handle that. It sounds kind of like a homework assignment. Don't read a book and simply spit out what the author wrote. Dig up your own facts, answers, and conclusions that apply to your area and your situation.