I am looking into buying a manufactured home.

I would like to know if anyone has purchased from a private investor, or straight from original owner, as opposed to going thru the normal options of scanning the real estate agencies? Pros and or cons, on either? I have a friend in the Foreclosure business, that works on his own time, etc, and he advised me to kind of look around, talk to the owners selling directly, and or talk with a private investor, as opposed to the opposite.

I have a negative and a positive. The negative, being I filed for bankruptcy 2 years ago. The positive is that I have a very sizeable (larger than normal) amount to put down on a manufactured home. What would be my best option. To deal with some of the private investors I have found, advertising the homes, or find a realty agency?