How to Move your Mobile Home: Choosing a Transporter part 3

HAS AN ACCEPTABLE PRICE Moving a home is very costly. If you do not negotiate wisely, you may end up paying a lot more for the move than you have to. It is a good idea to get three written bids from movers who meet all of your criteria except for price, and see who the winner is. The price they bid should be turn-key, do not leave open for adjustments. These adjustments and add-on’s will include delays caused by you, rental of hitches, tires, axles and wheels. Some movers will charge you $100.00 or more to rent their axles or may charge $25.00 for every flat tire they encounter. I would rather pay up front for 1 or 2 flat tires rather than leave it open ended and have to pay for 7-8 flat tires that you cannot ever verify. Remember that moving a home is, for the most part, labor. And since it is based on labor, the price can be very negotiable. One mover might be 100% higher than the low bidder. HAS A ‘CAN-DO’ ATTITUDE Particularly if you have an older home or difficult property access, it is important that your mover have a positive attitude about the move. There are many obstacles that can come up, sometimes suddenly, when you move the home, and you want somebody who can overcome these obstacles, not someone who threatens to walk off the job. For example, if the axle breaks off the home while out on the highway, you don’t want a mover who says “this home is a piece of junk” and leaves it on the side of the road and drives off – that happens more than you think! We’ve found that you want a mover who has a sense of humor and fair play, and who you trust to get over any hurdles. TAKES AND RETURNS CALLS PROMPTLY There is nothing worse than the mover who doesn’t show up on the promised day and then won’t take or return your call for several days and leaves you hanging without any possible explanation. Someone who does not practice returning phone calls promptly won’t be timely on the move either. Get the mover’s cell number and, if he doesn’t have a cell phone, you may want to re-consider your choice. It is important, for you sanity, that you maintain the ability to reach the mover at all times. You will notice that we did not put the best price first or last in the list, because it is only one ingredient of the decision, and should not be the controlling factor. Often, the low bidder is the low bidder for a reason. Either he has no work due to a bad reputation, or he just started in business a week ago. Or maybe he has no insurance. Whatever the case may be, you only want to talk money once all the other factors have been satisfied. The low bidder will not be cheap if he wrecks your house! By Frank Rolfe Frank Rolfe is a mobile home park investor and owns over 100 parks with his partner Dave Reynolds. Frank also leads regular Mobile Home Park Investing Bootcamps through the MobileHomeUniversity.com.