Last spring we did a mobile home estate cleanout in a double-wide on the edge of Caldwell. The family had three weeks to empty it, and the park manager had already taped two polite notes to the door.
Nobody warns you about that part. A manufactured home in a park runs on a different clock than a house on its own lot. Lot rent keeps coming, and the park has rules about what has to happen before the home can be sold or moved.
We do a lot of these in Nampa, Caldwell, Meridian, Boise and the rest of the Treasure Valley. Here's what we've learned along the way.
Why a mobile home estate cleanout runs on a tighter clock
When someone passes in a regular house, the family usually gets some breathing room. The mortgage may be paid off. Nobody's knocking.
A park is different. Lot rent comes due every month whether anyone lives there or not. Plenty of parks in Canyon County and around Boise also have their own rules about how long a home can sit empty and what shape it has to be in before it's listed.
So honestly, your first call shouldn't be to us. It should be to the park office.
Ask how long you've got. Find out whether the park has to approve a buyer, and whether they expect the home emptied and the lot cleaned up before anyone can come look.
Once you know those answers, you're not guessing anymore.
Find the paperwork before anything leaves
It's easy to throw out a manufactured home's paperwork by accident. In Idaho, a lot of these homes are titled more like a vehicle than a house, so you'll want that title in hand before you try to sell.
It's almost never in a filing cabinet. We've found titles in kitchen drawers, in a coffee can in the hall closet, and once taped inside a cabinet door.
While you're at it, watch for the park lease, recent lot rent receipts and anything from the county about property taxes on the home. If your mom or dad was on a payment plan with the park, hang on to those records too.
Tip: Before any crew shows up, walk the home once with a laundry basket and grab every folder, envelope and loose stack of papers. Don't sort anything in there. Take it all to a kitchen table somewhere else and go through it later. It takes about an hour and can save you weeks of headaches.
We set aside any paperwork we find instead of bagging it. Still, you know your parent's habits better than we ever will, so that quick sweep is your best insurance.
What's different about the work itself
Mobile homes are compact, and that's mostly good news. A lightly furnished single-wide can often be cleared in a day. A full double-wide usually takes one to two days, or a little longer if the family wants to sort as we go.
There are a few quirks, though.
Hallways and doors are narrow. A recliner or a big dresser that went in before the walls were finished sometimes won't come out in one piece. We'd rather take it apart than force it and gouge the paneling.
Floors in older units can be soft in spots. The usual suspects are near the water heater, by the washer and under the bathroom sink, so we step carefully there and never stack heavy loads on them.
Then there's the outside. Almost every one we've cleared had a storage shed, and a lot of them had a carport or covered porch with years of stuff under it. Parks usually want the whole lot cleaned up, not just the rooms. Figure the shed will take about as long as a bedroom.
In summer we do the outdoor work first thing. July in Nampa and Caldwell is no joke, and a metal shed turns into an oven by early afternoon.
What a mobile home estate cleanout usually costs
It's usually the first thing people ask, and that's fair. We can't give you a firm number without seeing the place, but here's a rough idea.
A single-wide with average furniture and a small shed often runs anywhere from a few hundred dollars to around a thousand. A packed double-wide with a full shed, a loaded porch and some help sorting can get into the low thousands.
The price mostly depends on volume, how much sorting you want us to do and whether anything needs special handling. Old paint, pesticides and propane tanks tucked under the skirting show up more than you'd think. None of that can go in a regular load to the Ada County landfill or the one out in Canyon County.
Sometimes a home got pretty full over the years. That's more common than people realize, and it's nothing to be embarrassed about. It just means more hours.
Should you just do it yourself?
Sometimes, yes. If the place is mostly tidy and you've got a couple of strong relatives and a free weekend, you can get a lot done on your own.
Families tend to call us when the deadline's tight, they live out of state, or they started and hit a wall. That wall is usually emotional. Going through a parent's closet is hard, and it's okay to hand off the heavy part.
Yes, we'd love the work. But we'd rather you call us for the part that really needs help than pay us for something you could easily handle.
The bottom line: with a mobile home, the park's timeline runs the show. Call the park office first, find the title and the paperwork, and plan for the shed and the lot, not just the rooms inside.
If you'd like someone to walk through it with you and give you an honest estimate, call us at (208) 943-5231. No pressure. We're happy to just answer questions.