Thinking of selling - don't know how

**ependydad** · 05-26-2021, 02:49 PM

I've only ever sold one vehicle in my life and that was a pop-up camper to a step-brother of mine. It was an all cash deal (I had paid cash the year before, he paid cash to me). Otherwise, I've just traded everything else I've owned and took a bath for convenience sake.

With the crazy hot market right now, I'm debating selling our fifth wheel toy hauler and our truck to pull in. Both have loans on them.

Can anyone give me the idiots guide to selling vehicles that have loans?

To make it more interesting/difficult, each of the banks that are involved are far away from me. One is our credit union in Maryland and the other is an online credit union that was friendly to fulltimers.

I see that Escrow.com has a "Lein Holder Payoff Service" that I wonder if I'd be able to use:

https://www.escrow.com/cars/essentia...off-service-60

**ependydad** · 05-27-2021, 12:53 PM

Anyone?

**Iwritecode** · 05-27-2021, 01:19 PM

I wish I could be more help but I've totaled more vehicles that I've actually sold in my lifetime.

Everything else I've either sold after they were already paid for or traded them in to a dealer. Both cars and trailers.

Normally I would say to just meet the buyer at the bank but in your situation I'm not sure how that would work.

sleepybadger · 05-28-2021, 07:56 AM

I'm in the same boat ependydad. Few choices:

- Sell to a dealer like you've been doing instead of trading in for a new and take a fraction of what you could possibly get. They'll handle the split between you, the truck load, and the rv loan to clear the titles. Pro - all you do is haggle and they handle the rest. Con - you get a fraction of the $ for a fraction of the work.

- Have a dealer consign it. Not sure what the typical cut is, but they keep it on their lot and keep a commission for selling it for you. Perhaps someone here that's tried this method can comment on typical fee. I'm assuming they would also handle clearing the titles as part of the transaction as part of their commission but be sure to ask.

- Sell on rvtrader, craigslist, etc. More likely to get closer to what the rv is worth but then you are responsible for sending checks to the truck & rv loan companies to clear title and then send to buyer. Can go quicker if you wire them the $ after selling the rv & truck but there are posts here about some companies taking over a month. You also need to be careful that the funds are actually valid and clear before handing over the rv. I'm considering getting a local title company to handle the $ side of things, not sure if they only do land titles or would do it for this type of transaction too.

Good luck.

NJKris · 05-28-2021, 08:08 AM

Now I'm gladder than hell I bought trailer and truck with cash. I too, have never sold a vehicle that was still under a loan. Certainly seems to complicate things when you do a private sale.

asr524 · 05-28-2021, 08:17 AM

I sold our camper last year but luckily I was dealing with a local bank franchise. New owners got a loan from their bank and a certified check from their bank which was written to me. I deposited their check into my bank to pay off my loan. Had to wait 10 business days for the funds to clear and have my lean released. I then provided the new owners with a copy of the lien release letter and the title.

kenandterry · 05-28-2021, 08:17 AM

I’m not even going to hazard a guess how it works in the USA, but here in Ontario Canada, you need to pay off completely with whatever financial institutions that have a lien on your vehicle. Until there’s no money owing on a vehicle, it’s not yours to sell.....it’s the bank’s. It’s not up to you to just offer that the purchaser assume your loan payment. You need to show clear title to the vehicle(s) in question. You don’t know if the buyer is even in a financial position to successfully pay the loan out. The bank has the right to establish a credit rating for their money......not you.

That’s how it is here.

**ependydad** · 05-28-2021, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleepybadger

Have a dealer consign it. Not sure what the typical cut is, but they keep it on their lot and keep a commission for selling it for you. Perhaps someone here that's tried this method can comment on typical fee. I'm assuming they would also handle clearing the titles as part of the transaction as part of their commission but be sure to ask.

Yeah, friend’s did it. 10% was the cut.

**dcheatwood** · 05-28-2021, 08:22 AM

My best thought would be for buyer and seller meet at the buyers bank so the banks could communicate. Not always easily done though.

**ependydad** · 05-28-2021, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenandterry

I’m not even going to hazard a guess how it works in the USA, but here in Ontario Canada, you need to pay off completely with whatever financial institutions that have a lien on your vehicle. Until there’s no money owing on a vehicle, it’s not yours to sell.....it’s the bank’s. It’s not up to you to just offer that the purchaser assume your loan payment. You need to show clear title to the vehicle(s) in question. You don’t know if the buyer is even in a financial position to successfully pay the loan out. The bank has the right to establish a credit rating for their money......not you.

That’s how it is here.

Oh yeah, I wouldn’t be expecting someone to assume my loan. They would need to get their own and cut me a check.

But, the whole ownership thing is the sticky wicket. I don’t have the cash to pay off the loan without selling the vehicles.

007matman · 05-28-2021, 08:22 AM

So.. not saying this is the right way to do things.. I'm no expert.

When I bought my camper I too wanted to pay cash but the stars were not aligned and I knew I had money in a month but not when the opportunity showed up.

I pulled the money to buy it out of my retirement account as a loan, purchased the camper and then paid it back the next month. This was a few years ago when the market was more flat though.. I think I might have paid a small fee and there was no tax impact because I paid it off in the same year.

Just thinking that might be a way to get your title quickly.

Facebook was crazy when I sold my last one. It was pulling out of the drive the day after I posted it. Would have been same day but it was a Sunday and the banks were closed.

**ependydad** · 05-28-2021, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asr524

I sold our camper last year but luckily I was dealing with a local bank franchise. New owners got a loan from their bank and a certified check from their bank which was written to me. I deposited their check into my bank to pay off my loan. Had to wait 10 business days for the funds to clear and have my lean released. I then provided the new owners with a copy of the lien release letter and the title.

Who held onto the camper during that 10 days?

asr524 · 05-28-2021, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ependydad

Who held onto the camper during that 10 days?

They were an older couple that was local so I let them take it since they provided the check from their local bank.
I was confident in their banks check since it was a well known local credit union.
Risk of scam was ultra low in my opinion so I was ok with it. A personal check would be a different story.

shadows4 · 05-28-2021, 01:13 PM

When we bought our present 5er, the seller/owner let me know upfront that he still owed money on it. He was about 150 miles or so from me. I paid him with a personal check and he provided me with a bill of sale. He then went to his bank, paid off the loan and mailed me the title and lien release when his bank provided them to him. (About a week later.)

The wife and I both got a good feeling from the guy or else we wouldn't have done it this way. In fact the whole deal was done with an initial hand shake. No money was exchanged and the transaction was done a week later. Good luck.

bplantcjf · 05-28-2021, 02:25 PM

It should be possible for the purchaser to have his bank wire the lien holders the amount due on the lien and a bank check to you or your bank account.

mgas · 05-28-2021, 02:52 PM

I think I would start by calling each credit union and asking them what their process is to release the lien. It may be different for each one.

A second quick thought is to talk to a tag service that you may use to do the transfer. They transfer titles and submit paperwork for encumberances, at least in PA. People sell stuff all the time while still owing. I'm sure the tag and title service could take care of all of the transactions (for a fee), but it should be a few bucks, not 10%. Good luck.

llr · 05-28-2021, 02:54 PM

I am not sure how it typically works but I just sold my TT and the buyers bank was willing to do it with or without clear title. I had just paid it off so it was not an issue and we didn't go into details.

I would try to talk to a loan officer at a local bank and see how they handle this. This would not need to be at the banks with the loans. I suspect they will have a process for this.

TexasWing · 05-28-2021, 05:00 PM

We did a consignment with a local RV dealer when we were downsizing from our toyhauler. He merely asked what we expected to get from the sale then did his markup from there. We obviously asked what would be above the expected trade-in value but below retail vaiue. We got considerably more than we would have with a trade and we never asked what it sold for. I know it sold quickly and it seems buyers are more comfortable buying from a dealer and willing to pay more too.

FrankG · 05-28-2021, 06:51 PM

I will not sell direct, it is too risky and you may have to deal with a financial transaction gone bad, and not having a clear title doesn't help.

Sell the trailer to a local dealer, get multiple quotes, forget the national brands as they usually will not offer the best price.

In April we sold our fifth wheel, to a dealer. We were 1078 miles apart, the trailer was in Ohio and we live in Florida. Easy transaction. Got way more than we expected.

Get a price on your truck from Carvana, or other online buyers. That is your base price, then go to a local dealer, they are all short of inventory, work out your best deal. They will take care of the payoff and give you the difference. They do it every day.

Good Luck

rsdata · 05-28-2021, 07:06 PM

Quote:

To make it more interesting/difficult, each of the banks that are involved are far away from me. One is our credit union in Maryland and the other is an online credit union that was friendly to fulltimers.

Have you reached out to these banks for guidance?

Certainly they have a method for dealing with this type of transactions.

I would bet they would assign a human to your account to deal with you. Much is done with electronic transactions and paperwork.

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