There are several different loan options available to you if you cannot obtain conventional mortgage financing for a mobile home. Most lending institutions will not provide regular mortgages for individuals who are looking to buy a mobile home. If you attempt to obtain a conventional mortgage for the purchase of a mobile home, your loan officer is likely to say a 30-year mortgage is not an option.
Most conventional lenders will not lend you a mortgage to purchase a mobile home, but there are other options for getting mobile home loans. If all else fails, personal loans are an option for financing a manufactured or mobile home as well.
Lenders may be able to provide Title I loans for manufactured homes, even if the purchaser does not own, or does not intend to buy, the land upon which the manufactured home will sit. Traditional mortgages may cover land purchases where a manufactured home would sit as well, so make sure you compare your options before signing a loan for manufactured housing. Even if you do not own the land that the home will sit on, you may still be able to get financing through a chattel loan.
A chattel loan is designed for financing expensive vehicles such as airplanes, boats, mobile homes, or farm equipment, with ownership collateralizing the loan. Many borrowers get a chattel loan for the most expensive vehicles when they would be eligible for another loan with better terms.
Mortgage loans also carry far lower interest rates than chattel loans, which typically start at 59.99% for well-qualified borrowers. Interest rates on loans for mobile home vehicles are higher than those on a mortgage, as loans on mobile properties are more risky to lenders. Interest rates are fixed throughout the life of the loan, and loan amounts are limited by whether you are financing a house purchase, buying land to build on, or both.
This loan program guarantees loans borrowers can use to finance qualified manufactured homes, as well as land, if they fit the requirements. This is a type of mortgage that is secured against a personal movable asset, meaning that borrowers may use vehicles, equipment, or their mobile home as collateral for the loan. This is a loan against a piece of personal property, which is also an option if you already own the land on which it is located, and you need to borrow to purchase a physical house.
A personal property loan can be used to finance a manufactured home, much like you would finance a car. Personal loans do not have the same kind of restrictions as a loan for the way the house is built, so it is possible you could qualify for a personal loan even if your house is a completely mobile house that is not attached to a permanent foundation. If you see a lender offering a personal loan big enough to fund a mobile home, that could be a great way to get the cash you need.
Keep in mind, not every lender will finance manufactured or mobile homes, but Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do both offer loan options for qualifying properties. Like Fannie Mae, the Home Possible loans from Freddie Mac provide fixed-rate mortgages of 15, 20, and 30 years, adjustable-rate mortgages, and 3 percent down payments. Fannie Mae mortgages are financed for 30-years, and you can probably qualify for one with as little as a 3% down payment.
Borrowers may be able to obtain mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) or ones backed by Fannie Mae, which also backs loans for manufactured housing. Traditional lending options such as loans from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), loans from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and loans from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) are all available for manufactured homes, provided that the house is attached to land you either own or purchase concurrently. USDA loans are backed by USDA and typically do not require down payments, meaning that you can get a loan that finances 100% of your homes value. You can obtain an FHA loan to purchase a manufactured or modular home and place it on land you already own, purchase both a home and land at the same time, or refinance a home that you intend to move onto land you own.
To qualify for a VA loan on a manufactured home, your home needs to be on permanent foundation, must follow HUD guidelines, and it needs to be purchased with land under it; mobile homes do not qualify. You will be in a position to qualify for the financing depending on your credit situation and if you are purchasing a home along with land, you already own the land, or if you just want a house alone. The loan is based on you, not the property, so the mobile home may not be in great condition or may be too old to be funded, but you may still get approved based on your credit history and your debt-to-income ratio. Unless the house qualifies as a manufactured property, you cannot finance a house purchase through conventional mortgage programs or government-backed ones.
If you wish to buy land and a newly built home simultaneously, one popular option is the one-time closing Construction-to-Permanent Loan, which combines construction of your newly manufactured home with land purchases and a permanent mortgage in a single closing, saving you fees. If the borrower cannot obtain a conventional mortgage, he or she either may be able to find financing through the manufacturer of the house–an option not historically available–or will need to obtain a chattel mortgage from a specialty lender. A retail installment agreement means the seller of a mobile home will make the loan and set up a payment plan, instead of having to work with a third-party lender. Under Fannie Maes Advantage program for MHs, homes are required to meet specific building, architectural, and energy-efficiency standards, similar to stick-builtA traditional house that is built directly on a site, as opposed to manufactured homes, which are built in factories and shipped to a site. Stick-builtA traditional house that is built directly on a site, as opposed to manufactured homes, which are built in factories and shipped to a site.