Financing a manufactured home

What lenders need the home to be

For most mortgage programs, a manufactured home has to meet a few conditions before it can be financed like a house:

• Built after June 15, 1976, when the HUD code took effect, with the red HUD certification tag on the outside and the data plate inside
• Set on a permanent foundation that meets HUD's foundation standards, usually confirmed by an engineer's certificate
• Titled as real property along with the land, not as a vehicle. In Texas that means a Statement of Ownership from the state with the home elected as real property. Arkansas has its own process for retiring the title and recording the home with the land. I walk you through either one.
• In most cases, moved only once, from the dealer to the site where it sits
• For some lenders and programs, restrictions on single-wide homes

Programs that work

Once the home meets those conditions, most of the major programs are available:

• FHA, which is the most common choice, with its low down payment and flexible credit
• VA, with no down payment for eligible veterans
• USDA, for new manufactured homes in eligible rural areas, with stricter rules on existing ones
• Conventional loans through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including programs for newer manufactured homes that treat them more like site-built houses

Home and land together

A mortgage on a manufactured home finances the home and the land as one piece of real estate. If you already own the land, its value can count toward your down payment. If you are buying a new home and a lot at the same time, or having a home set on family land, that can often be done in one loan.

If the home sits on rented land or in a park where you do not own the lot, that is usually a chattel loan, which is a personal property loan with different terms. I can point you in the right direction, but the programs on this page are for a home and land together.

What to bring

Beyond the standard income and asset paperwork:

• The HUD tag numbers and the data plate information, or the serial number if you are buying new
• The Statement of Ownership or title documents for an existing home
• A survey or deed for the land
• For a new home, the purchase agreement from the dealer and the site plan
• The foundation engineer's certificate if one has already been done

What happens next

Tell me about the home first, before the contract, because the title status and foundation decide which programs are open. If the home is not yet titled as real property, converting it is usually possible and I will tell you what it involves. From there the loan runs like any other purchase: pre-approval, appraisal by an appraiser who knows manufactured housing, and closing. I finance manufactured homes on land in Texas and Arkansas only.

All loans are subject to credit approval, and program terms vary by lender.