Own a home but don't own the land it sits on advice/help please, California.?

Question

Hello, i recently built a home on property that is not owned by me. it is a family lot and we did not do any paperwork before we started to declare that the home was mine even though the land it sits on is not mine. i see this as somehting like what a mobile home park is, you lease the land and own the manufatured home. my question, can anyone advise me of what i need to do for paperwork. is this like a 99 year lease? i heard that there is another term in california, something like right to occupy? i just need something so that i can refianance and deduct the interest. Thanks.

Woah, time out.... this is not a big family squable or ordeal..... everything is 100% fine. I only want to have ownership of the home for legal reason and tax reasons. This is between my parents and my wife and I. I want to ensure that if they get sued, i dont loose my home. I want be able to borrow against the home if i need to, and i want to write off my interest paid. Other things posed, we split the property taxes between us. there are no family fighting or any scary nasty issues that some of you answering are concerned about (believe it or not :) Thanks for the fast answers so far, hope to hear more.

Answer 1

You can do three things (off the top of my head):
1. Do a land lease with your parents, which will allow you to borrow against your home and write off the loan interest.Just keep in mind that lenders want the lease term to be greater than the mortgage.
2. Have your parents break up a portion of their land (parcel) and either sell it to you or give it to you.
3. Put the land into a trust and have you as the residential beneficiary.

Regards...

Answer 2

Hmm..I need to think out loud here for a minute.

When you buy a home what you're really buying is the land and everything attached to it, the improvements to the land. A mobile home, is not considered attached to the land when it is in a mobile home park. As such it is personal property, not real property.

But what you have is a home which is your personal property attached to someone elses real property.

What you're looking for is a land lease. Basically the owners of the property are going to lease the property to you for a period of time. 99 years would be typical. However, you'll need to consult with a real estate attorney in regards to the taxes. I'm not sure if the property taxes will increase now that there is a house on the property but I think it will. You'll need to make payments or at least a payment every year. The lease should be drawn up so that at some future date you can sell the house to a new person who will then assume the land lease. (99 years is a long time).

This kind of arrangement may make it more difficult to get financing as well as sell the house. It may be a better arrangement to write up a lease w/option to buy the property.

Answer 3

You absolutely without exception need to consult a RE attorney. These family deals have ways of becoming ugly, if you build a shed and the land owner doesn't like the shed, there becomes issues. If you cut back a tree the owner wanted to stay as is, install a sidewalk, ANYTHING, stuff you wouldn't even suspect would be an issue can cause hard feelings and screaming matches.

In the perfect world, you would have signed an agreement and lease before you built. But now that the home is there, it is imperative that you have a rock solid agreement in place regarding leasing this land.

You can only refinance on your MH, and that will be very challenging since you don't own the land. The bank won't lend on leased property. And MH's depreciate, especially when they aren't on their own land.

You must get an attorney, ASAP.

Answer 4

2

Answer 5

You state that you want 'something' so you can refinance and deduct the interest, and that is where your problem may arise if you do not own the land upon which this manufactured home sits. Without owning the land, your only appraisable asset is the house itself. You own NOTHING else, including any landscaping, exterior utility hook ups, driveway or ANYTHING other than the actual structure.

Manufactured homes tend to decrease in value, and that's all you have. I suspect that you're going to run into a serious roadblock due to these issues if you attempt to refinance.

If all is well with the family relations, you are encouraged to obtain ownership of the land also.

Answer 6

Family owned?? where are the rest of your family members??

How many people are involved on this piece of property? It sound like you need to get a legal person to draw up some papers showing who has the rights to build/tear down on this land.
Who is paying the property taxes on this property?? Each year does your family get together and write checks to equal the total amount do to the state,county, etc.

Answer 7

This depends upon government regulations. Most places will not allow you to build your own house; you know, keep the status quo. They claim it is for the good of the people; you know, building codes and all that baloney. My builder used used lumber in my house; the cement floor in the basement was cracked before I moved in, etc., etc., etc. So, IF, I mean IF you would be allowed to build your own house (depending upon the costs in your region) $30,000 to $40,000 is all. (It could be built for far less if, for instance, you live in the woods of Oregon, California, Montana, Arkansas, where ever, and you fell the trees and built a log cabin; or, in those places with abundant rocks of usable size, use used rocks, etc.) Half to two thirds of the cost is for labor. Fees, permits, etc., take up hundreds to thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars.

Answer 8

I also asked this same question 3 times, and didn't get a good answer

Answer 9

I would consult an attorney.