Bill of Sale for a Manufactured Home: What to Include, What to Skip, and What the State Actually Wants

The paperwork most sellers underestimate — and the one document a mobile home buyer will not close without. Written for the private-party sale, calibrated to the state office your county reports to.

A bill of sale for a manufactured home is the short legal document that records the private sale of a mobile, modular, or manufactured home between a seller and a buyer. It names both parties, describes the home by make, model, year, size, HUD label number, and VIN or serial number, states the sale price, and — in most states — has to be notarized to be accepted at the title office. It is the record that pairs with the title assignment to move ownership.

If you are selling a manufactured home in 2026, that one document is the piece the county or state office will physically examine. Get it right and the transfer takes a week. Get it wrong and the buyer is calling you six months later because the DMV rejected the title.

The short version

Every state accepts a manufactured home bill of sale that carries these ten items:

1. Full legal names of the buyer and seller (matching driver's license or ID)
2. Full mailing address for each party
3. Date of the sale
4. Sale price (in dollars, spelled out and in figures)
5. Home description — make, model, year built, dimensions, and any add-ons (deck, HVAC, shed)
6. HUD label or certification number (the red data plate)
7. VIN or serial number (usually stamped on the tongue for single-wides, or on the chassis)
8. Statement that the home is being sold "as-is" (or a defined warranty)
9. Signatures from both parties
10. Notary acknowledgment where the state requires it

Most private-party disputes trace back to a missing HUD label number or a serial number transcribed from the wrong plate. Copy those from the physical home, not from a Zillow listing.

Why the bill of sale matters more than the listing photos

The listing sells the home. The bill of sale transfers the ownership. A buyer can walk your home on a Saturday, wire the money on a Monday, and still not own the home two weeks later if the bill of sale is missing a signature or a serial number.

This is the document the title office (state DMV, state housing authority, or county tax collector, depending on where you are) will hold in their hand when they issue the new title in the buyer's name. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sets the federal HUD-code baseline for manufactured homes built after June 15, 1976; every state then layers its own title and transfer requirements on top. That is why the same one-page document that clears a sale in Georgia will get rejected in Texas without an additional TDHCA affidavit.

The other thing the bill of sale does — quietly — is protect the seller after the money clears. Your name stays on the title, the tax bill, and the county records until the buyer submits the transfer. A signed, dated, notarized bill of sale is the proof you sold the home on a specific day at a specific price, to a specific person. If the buyer never files, that piece of paper is what protects you from getting hit with next year's property tax notice.

What actually has to be on the document

The ten-item list above is the floor. States add on top of that. The additions worth knowing:

Odometer or hour-meter disclosure. Not for the home itself — for park-model RVs and tiny houses on wheels titled as RVs. Federal law requires an odometer statement on titled vehicles under 16,000 pounds gross weight.

Lien statement. If the home is being sold with a lien attached, the bill of sale must reference the lienholder and the lien payoff. Selling a home with an unreleased lien is the fastest way to get a title rejection and a lawsuit from the buyer.

Personal property inclusions. Appliances, sheds, decks, skirting, and HVAC that are staying with the home. List them by name. A buyer who assumed the fridge conveyed and finds an empty kitchen on move-in day is a buyer who leaves you a review.

As-is language. Manufactured homes are almost always sold as-is in private-party transactions. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is clear that manufactured home sales are governed by state contract law, not federal warranty statutes. Write the "as-is" language explicitly. If you are offering a limited warranty on a specific system (a new HVAC, a recent roof), spell out the terms and the duration.

Method of payment. Cash, cashier's check, wire transfer, or escrow. Note the method used and the date the funds cleared, not the date the check was handed over. There is a difference.

The state-by-state reality

The federal government sets the HUD building code. Every state controls the title. That means the office that accepts your bill of sale changes when you cross a state line. A partial map:

Texas — manufactured home titles go through the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, not the DMV. TDHCA requires the Statement of Ownership form (SOL) alongside the bill of sale. Notarization required.

Florida — mobile home titles route through the FLHSMV, the same office that titles cars. Once a mobile home is declared real property and the "RP" decal is issued, the title is retired and the home transfers as real estate via warranty deed. Sellers with an RP-decal home need a deed, not a bill of sale.

California — the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) handles titles for manufactured homes not converted to real property. HCD requires their own multi-part transfer form; the bill of sale is a supporting document, not the primary transfer.

Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina — most on-frame manufactured homes title through the state Department of Revenue or DMV. When the home is affixed to owned land with an axles-and-tongues-removed affidavit filed, it converts to real property and transfers via deed.

New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey — title process runs through the DMV. In New York, the manufactured home is titled as a vehicle until it is placed on a permanent foundation on owned land and a "certificate of permanent location" is filed with the county.

Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada — motor vehicle departments handle the titles. Arizona uses the Manufactured Housing Division at the Department of Housing.

The pattern: the more affixed the home, the more likely the transfer runs through real property law. The more portable the home, the more likely it runs through vehicle title law. Ask your county clerk or state housing office which side of that line your home sits on. That determines which office your bill of sale ends up in.

Notarization — when you need it, when you don't

Most states require the signatures on the bill of sale to be notarized. A handful accept two witness signatures instead. A short summary:

• Notary required for both parties: Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Nevada, Kentucky, Ohio
• Notary required for seller only: California (on the HCD form), Georgia (on the title assignment)
• Two witnesses accepted in lieu of notary: some rural counties in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi — verify with the county clerk before relying on it
• Nothing required beyond signatures: rare, and even where it is technically permitted, the buyer's lender will almost always require notarization anyway

Manufactured Housing Institute publishes a state-by-state manufactured housing snapshot that names the regulating authority in each state. Use it as a starting point. Then call the office.

Cost for notarization is usually $5 to $15 per signature. Banks, UPS Stores, county clerk offices, and many real estate offices offer walk-in notary services.

Portable vs stationary — the piece nobody explains

Here is the strategic reality that changes how a manufactured home actually sells: whether the home can be moved determines who can buy it.

A single-wide, park-model, or tiny house on wheels can be delivered anywhere in the country. That means the buyer pool is national. A seller in North Carolina can list to a buyer in Colorado, and the sale is a delivery problem, not a geography problem.

A double-wide or triple-wide affixed to a foundation is a local sale. Moving a foundation-affixed home costs $10,000 to $25,000 minimum, and the destination lot needs permitting. Most buyers do not do that math. Most buyers buy the home where it sits. That is a much smaller buyer pool — usually the county the home is in, plus a two-county radius.

The bill of sale itself does not change. But the marketing and the price do. A transportable home priced at the national midpoint moves. A stationary home priced above the local comp sits. Know which one you are selling before you set the number.

The other implication: transportable homes need a delivery-and-setup clause in the bill of sale or a separate rider. Who pays for transport? Who owns the home during transit? Who is liable if it arrives damaged? Most private-party sales get this wrong because most private-party sales are stationary. If your home is being trucked, name the terms.

The moment the sale clears

The bill of sale is signed. The money moves. The title is assigned. When is the sale actually done?

The federal answer is straightforward: the sale is complete when the seller delivers the title, the buyer delivers the payment, and both are recorded with the appropriate state office. The practical answer has three checkpoints:

1. Funds cleared — cashier's check verified with the issuing bank, wire confirmed in the seller's account, or escrow disbursement confirmed. Cash-in-hand does not mean cleared until it is deposited and the deposit holds.
2. Title assigned and delivered — seller signs the title over on the reverse (or files the state's equivalent transfer form) and hands the physical title to the buyer or to the title office.
3. Recording — the state office records the transfer and issues a new title in the buyer's name. This step is where sellers often disengage; do not. Confirm the transfer was recorded before you delete the file.

For higher-dollar transactions, an escrow account is the safer path. Escrow holds the buyer's funds until the title transfer is recorded, then disburses to the seller. That protects both sides. PERCH sellers who list on the marketplace close through a licensed escrow service — the funds are held, the title clears, and the release is automatic. No cashier's check games. No "the wire is coming Monday" excuses that turn into a Friday.

Common mistakes that get the paperwork rejected

• Wrong serial number. Copied from a listing, a title that had been re-issued once already, or the wrong plate on a double-wide. Always transcribe from the physical HUD data plate on the home.
• Sale price mismatch. The number in figures ($47,500) not matching the number in words ("Forty-seven thousand, five hundred dollars"). Match them.
• Missing signatures on a double-wide. A double-wide has two HUD labels and two serial numbers. Some states require the bill of sale to reference both. A seller who only lists one gets the title issued for half the home.
• No notary on a state that requires one. The bill of sale is signed, the money moves, the buyer walks in to record — and the clerk rejects it. Do the notary at signing, not later.
• Skipping the lien check. If you are not the outright owner, your lienholder must be involved. The lien has to be released before the title can transfer.
• Selling on a title copy instead of the original. Photocopies are not accepted. If the original is lost, apply for a duplicate through the state office before listing.

What PERCH does with this paperwork

PERCH is the marketplace for modular, manufactured, container, tiny, and small-format homes — the ones the industry stopped counting. Sellers who list on PERCH get pre-qualified buyers routed to their listing, escrow settlement through licensed escrow's licensed rails, and a notarizable bill of sale template calibrated to the seller's state — provided at the point of listing so it is ready when the offer clears.

Listing is free right now.

When you are ready — we will feature your home to pre-qualified buyers, handle every inquiry, and settle through licensed escrow. List your home →

Or get the Seller's Field Guide — free PDF, twenty pages, everything you need to price and list. Send me the guide →

Sources

• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Manufactured Housing Programs
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Manufactured Home Loans guidance
• Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, Manufactured Housing Division
• Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Mobile Home Titles
• California Department of Housing and Community Development
• Manufactured Housing Institute, State Fact Sheets
• licensed escrow, licensed money-transmitter framework (all 50 states)

Related on PERCH

• The PERCH Yield Index — Q3 2026
• Homes that don't belong in a subdivision — the Field Guide (PDF, free)
• Financing Finder — modular-friendly lenders in every state