Every moorage has it’s own set of rules.  Most moorages don’t allow short-term or long-term rentals, subleases, etc.  And some floating home owners may not even be aware that their moorage prohibits them from renting out their own homes.  If a floating home owner rents our their home and that is against the rules, your landlord could be evicted themselves which would result in your eviction as well.  Due your own due diligence.  DO contact the moorage owner to verify that rentals allowed at the moorage.

Half of all moorages are moorages in which the floating home owner owns the home but has a lease to rent the slip to which the home is moored.   This means that your potential landlord also has a landlord.  Moorage owners can evict your landlord for nonpayment of rent, committing certain crimes or for breaking the moorage rules.  For example, if you sign a lease with a floating home owner who is several months behind on their rent, the moorage owners could already be in the process of evicting the floating home owner.  This would result in the termination of your lease with the evicted floating home owner.  DO contact the moorage manager to verify that your landlord is in good standing and in no current danger of loosing their lease at the moorage.

We say this NOT to scare you into using our services.  We say this with a sincere warning with only your interests in mind because we’ve seen the scenario happen too many times where renters end up losing upwards of $50,000 in the transaction.

This is typically how it has happened.  A tenant had been renting a floating home from a landlord for a while and then the landlord offered the tenant the chance to purchase the home from them before the landlord takes the listing public.  The landlord had even offered to “generously” carry the contract for them (which means that the landlord offered to loan the tenant the money to purchase the house from them, and the tenant is expected to make monthly floating home loan payments to them instead of rent).  Sounds great, huh?

No.  Do not become a statistic.  Get help – someone to represent your interests.  Even if it isn’t us, engage an experienced floating home real estate broker to help guide you through the process.  This transaction is NOT like the sale of a home on land.

Unfortunately, what we’ve seen happen is that the tenant trusts the landlord because, after all they have had a good relationship for the past few months or even years without problems.  Oftentimes, the landlord isn’t even aware of the actual value of their home or the extent to which major repairs must be completed and the tenant ends up paying too much for a house that needs upwards of $50,000 in repairs even though the house looks great and is updated.  We can protect you from this because we know what to look out for and we will have your best interests in mind.

If your landlord says that they won’t sell the house to you if you retain the services of a floating home expert broker, then chances are they have something they don’t want you to know about it.  Let us help represent you throughout the purchase process.  Our services typically will not cost you anything, but they could save you tens of thousands of dollars.

But, even if you don’t choose us, PLEASE, choose a real estate broker who has bought and sold at least 15 floating homes and knows what they are doing. DO seek help from an expert floating home real estate broker if and when your landlord offers to sell you their floating home.