Value & Pricing
Cash Offer vs. Listing a Mobile Home in Virginia
We buy homes for cash, and we still think a good number of Virginia sellers should list instead. Here is how to tell which group you are in.
When listing is probably better
The home has been converted to real property and sits on a permanent foundation on land you own.
It is in good, financeable condition and built well after 1976.
It is in a market with real buyer demand. The Shenandoah Valley, the Roanoke Valley, the Hampton Roads fringe.
You are not under time pressure and can accommodate showings, inspections and an appraisal.
In that situation a conventional listing usually nets more than any cash offer, ours included.
When a cash sale usually makes more sense
The home cannot be financed: pre-1976, on a rented lot, or in condition no lender will accept.
It needs repairs worth more than the local market will return.
It is vacant, full of belongings, or you live out of state.
The estate, divorce or lien situation makes a conventional buyer's timeline impractical.
There is simply no local buyer pool, which is the ordinary situation in parts of Southwest and Southside Virginia.
The real comparison is net, not price
A listing price is not what you receive. Subtract commissions, repairs a buyer's lender requires, months of taxes, insurance and lot rent while it sits, and the risk of a financing fall-through.
A cash offer is a lower gross number with far fewer subtractions. Compare the two nets, not the two headlines.
How to get a fair comparison
Ask a local agent for a realistic listing opinion and expected time on market. Ask a cash buyer for a number and what it is based on. Then decide.
Any buyer who resists you doing that is telling you something about the offer.