Is my Tennessee mobile home worth moving?

The factors, roughly in order of weight

Work down this list about your own home. If most of the answers are on the good side, a move is usually viable.

• Year built: post-1995 is easy, 1976 to 1995 depends, pre-1976 is hard
• Single-wide or double-wide: a double is roughly two moves and two sets of setup
• Dimensions: anything over 16 feet wide brings escorts and route limits
• Distance: local moves are far cheaper than crossing the state
• Frame and running gear: a straight frame with usable axles saves real money
• Roof: a straight ridge and a dry deck is the difference between a move and a tear-down
• Floors: soft spots mean the floor may not survive the road
• HVAC and systems: replaceable, but they add to the all-in number
• Exterior: siding and windows that can take highway wind
• Additions: each one is removal, debris and a wall to close up
• Destination: an approved, prepared lot versus one still needing utilities and a pad

The comparison that actually decides it

Add up what the home would be worth once it is set up and livable at the destination. Then subtract disconnection, demolition of additions, transport, permits, set and level, anchoring, skirting, and utility reconnection. What is left is the most anyone can pay you for the home before they have taken any risk or made any profit.

For a lot of older single-wides, that leftover is small or negative. That is not a lowball tactic. It is the reason a home that can stay in place is worth so much more than the same home that cannot.

Quick seller checklist

If you can answer these six, we can usually give you a straight answer in one phone call.

• What year was the home built?
• What are the dimensions, and is it a single or a double?
• Where is it now, and does it have to leave? By when?
• Does the roof leak, and do the floors feel solid?
• Are there additions attached to it?
• Do you know where it would go, or would we need to place it?

When the answer is no

Sometimes the honest answer is that the home is not worth relocating, and the realistic options are selling it in place to somebody who will keep it there, selling it to be parted out, or having it demolished and removed.

We would rather tell you that on the first call than let you spend three months finding out. If the home can stay, we will say so, even when that means we are not the buyer.