The main thing to keep in mind when buying a resale mobile/park home is that you are buying it from the seller, not from Costa Difference.
A “Sales Agreement by Private Arrangement (SAPA)” contract between the seller and the buyer forms the sale process.
The SAPA agreement itself protects both the buyer and the seller concerning the transfer of the mobile/park home and park contract requirements.
The sale is always completed under the terms of the signed contract. The buyer pays a deposit, the seller hands over the home to Costa Difference, and then the buyer pays for the home. The home then changes hands.
In the contract, Costa Difference ensures that the seller complies with all the legal requirements before selling the home.
The procedure is relatively straightforward because we are holding the 10% deposit in a client account as security.
What is not so straightforward is how everything in the home is functioning at the point of sale; for that reason, the SAPA agreement addresses it by stating that the home is to be sold as seen.
To make sure no home under 15 years old changes hands with a known defective boiler or air-conditioning unit, the park conducts a complimentary “seen working” inspection before the sale.
Anything failing the “seen working” inspection is then reported to the seller, who then has the duty to put it right under the terms of the contract.
The contract also makes provision for the buyer to oversee the inspection, or to undertake a separate inspection of the home as well, if they so wish.
The seen working inspection is just that. In the case of air-conditioning units, a re-gas might be advised if the unit is actually working but slow to cool.
The seller pays for the re-gas. The unit is then confirmed as working once the engineer issues an invoice.
The check carried out by the park is complimentary, however, and as such carries no guarantee as to the quality of the units checked or the reliability.
The seen working checks act as a useful tool to prevent a faulty unit (that the seller knows about) from being passed on to a buyer.
