Selling a Manufactured Home in Texas

People say mobile home, manufactured home and trailer as if they were one thing. For a sale, the question is whether the home is still personal property or whether the owner has elected to treat it as real property, and whether you own the land under it.

The statement of ownership is the title

The Texas Manufactured Housing Standards Act is Occupations Code Chapter 1201, administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. Section 1201.205 lists what a statement of ownership must show, including the seller, the new owner, the home's identification, the county where it sits, recorded liens, and whether the owner has elected to treat the home as real property. Section 1201.206 says ownership of a manufactured home does not pass at a sale until a completed application for a statement of ownership is filed with the department. On a sale to a consumer, the seller files that application not later than the 60th day after the sale. If the seller misses that, the buyer may file, and the department may assess a fee of at least $100 against the late seller. TDHCA publishes the act, as amended through the 89th Legislature, as a PDF, and its manufactured-housing division is at tdhca.texas.gov/manufactured-housing.

A warranty deed for the lot does not, by itself, put the home in the buyer's name when the home is still personal property. Pull the current statement of ownership before you agree to a price. It will show liens that a tax certificate on the land will not.

Real property is an election, not an assumption

Section 1201.205 requires the statement to say whether the owner elected to treat the home as real property. Section 1201.2075 covers conversion from personal property to real property, and Section 1201.2076 covers the reverse. If the election was completed and the home is part of the land, the sale looks more like a house sale and the title company will want both the land records and the TDHCA record to match. If the election was never made, you are selling a titled chattel that happens to be sitting on ground. Say which one it is at the first conversation. Guessing is how closings get postponed.

The lot can belong to someone else

In a park, you may own the home and rent the pad. The park's lease, rules and any required approval of a buyer are a contract with the park, not a term TDHCA writes for you. Read the lease before you promise a buyer they can stay. If you own the acreage, the land and the home can be sold together or, less often, separately. A buyer who wants only the home has to have somewhere to move it, and moving it is a licensed installation, not a weekend project. We buy homes that stay in place more often than homes that must be transported. Tell us which you have.

Taxes and liens sit on the home even when the land is clear

Section 1201.205 includes a tax-lien statement: on January 1 a tax lien arises for the taxing units where the home was actually located that day. Section 1201.208 ties issuance of a statement of ownership to payment of taxes in the situations the section describes. A free-and-clear lot does not prove a free-and-clear home. Bring the tax statement for the home and any landlord or park balance.

Condition still matters, and so does age

HUD-code homes and older mobile homes are not inspected under the same label. We will ask the label or serial numbers, the year, whether the tongue and axles are still attached, and whether the roof and floors are soft. You can sell as-is, without repairs. A buyer using a mortgage may not be able to finance an older home in a park at all. That is a financing limit, not a comment on whether you can transfer title. The house-repair discussion on our repairs page is about site-built houses and lender minimums; use it only as a comparison, not as the rule for a manufactured home.

Selling the home to Cash Home Advisors

We pay all closing costs on the transaction we sign, and we can close in 7–14 days once the statement of ownership and the land position are clear. There is no agent commission. Asking is free and carries no obligation, and a real person calls you back. Send the statement of ownership, or say you cannot find it, when you request a number. The steps are on how it works. North Texas addresses start at Dallas and the city list.

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