You missed one fact. There is land separate from the the trailer. What is the land value worth. Can you get a low interest loan on the land value and a personal loan to cover the difference.
The land is only valued at $18000 on the public tax page I looked at, but it might be going up in value pretty quickly. There are a number of nice big new homes that have gone up in that area. It's right by a big lake, just across the street which apparently counts for something. I don't want it just as an investment though. I want to live in it and if I can pay it off while still able to work retire in it. The place was owned by the sellers' brother who died when a tire he was inflating exploded and killed him. The sellers have been making the mortgage payments. There is still $60K+ owed on it. They have paid about $3K in payments since his death, and just want to make that back when they sell the property if possible. They are friends of mine and want to give me first shot at it since I've been looking for a low priced home on its own property. There's more than just a mobile home there. It was added onto so it's more like a double wide or larger with a shingle roof in good shape. There's also another cinder block building that was used as a laundry room and a garage on the property. One person contacted the sellers and offered them $70K for it, but they said someone else has first shot at it (that's me). They told the person that the place needs a lot of work, which it does, and the person said he'd just tear it all down and put a nice house on the property, and he was surprised they'd take that little for it. Whether he was being honest or not, I believe it happened. I've contacted the company the mortgage is with telling them I want to get a mortgage for a home they're already covering a mortgage on, but they said they won't do any new mortgages outside of their "footprint". The person I talked to was in TX. But if the sellers will go along with it if I give them $3K cash or whatever to cover what they've paid in mortgage payments, is it reasonable to think I might be able to take over the old mortgage or something like that? And if so, how to make sure it's in my name so that if I live to pay it off I own it when everything is all paid up?
They can do a short sale on the property where you take over the payments and the existing mortgage. Pay the difference everyone is happy. You and the property owners would have to initiate it. I would offer to start paying the mortgage right away to take financial burden off them and seal the deal. ( you might loose on the short end if it all falls apart) if they are friends they will probably make it up to you. But on the long deal your would be in a much better place.