Advice on buying a Mobile home on land needed.

[Yax]

So, I put in an offer on a mobile *uh hem* Manufactured home on 5 acres of land. The offer's about 150K. I want to get a mortgage to finance it. Its on a permanent foundation. I'm willing to down 20% and it'll be a second home (my primary residence is not a mobile home).

What loan rate can I expect from the banks? Which bank would do manufactured homes? What are my chances of getting financing? I'm new to this mobile home purchase biz so any advice would help.

Oh, and what's the procedure on getting a loan? Is it like a mortgage or are there more steps?

 

[rahvin]

The answers are going to depend on the age, anything built in the 90's in going to be decent, anything from the 70's has paper thin walls and poor construction (don't know about the 80's).

 

[iamwiz82]

Manufactured housing is different than a mobile home. A mobile home has a title, a manf. home has a deed. It sounds like you are referring to a manufactured home.

 

[Bryophyte]

It's very difficult to get a loan on a manufactured home lately. HUD changed some rules last year. One lender who is more friendly than others is Washington Mutual Home Loans. Countrywide will NOT lend on a manufactured home. Expect a slightly higher rate than with a conventional home, and you'll have to get slightly different homeowner's insurance (again, kind of hard to get for manufactured.) Foremost Insurance will insure manufactured homes.

It's good that it's already on a permanent foundation. That was one of the changes they made.

 

[FlyLice]

wtf...

 

[Bryophyte]

FlyLice, some people who want to live out in the country will buy land with a mobile home on it so they can get the biggest piece of property they can afford without the bulk of the money going into the home. Then, they can easily remove the current home later when they can afford to build. We are doing that. We had a choice between a tiny city lot with a big house, or a big place out in the country (11 acres) with a fairly large newer manufactured home. We chose the country place to raise our kids.

 

[Yax]

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
FlyLice, some people who want to live out in the country will buy land with a mobile home on it so they can get the biggest piece of property they can afford without the bulk of the money going into the home. Then, they can easily remove the current home later when they can afford to build. We are doing that. We had a choice between a tiny city lot with a big house, or a big place out in the country (11 acres) with a fairly large newer manufactured home. We chose the country place to raise our kids.

Did you pay cash? or finance it?

 

[Yax]

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
It's very difficult to get a loan on a manufactured home lately. HUD changed some rules last year. One lender who is more friendly than others is Washington Mutual Home Loans. Countrywide will NOT lend on a manufactured home. Expect a slightly higher rate than with a conventional home, and you'll have to get slightly different homeowner's insurance (again, kind of hard to get for manufactured.) Foremost Insurance will insure manufactured homes.

It's good that it's already on a permanent foundation. That was one of the changes they made.

Thanks, Bryophyte, I'll talk with WAMU soon as I get a chance.

 

[Mo0o]

Is it better to raise kids in the country? It seems like they wont have as much interaction with neighborhood kids and the rest of civilization

 

[Bryophyte]

Originally posted by: Yax

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
FlyLice, some people who want to live out in the country will buy land with a mobile home on it so they can get the biggest piece of property they can afford without the bulk of the money going into the home. Then, they can easily remove the current home later when they can afford to build. We are doing that. We had a choice between a tiny city lot with a big house, or a big place out in the country (11 acres) with a fairly large newer manufactured home. We chose the country place to raise our kids.

Did you pay cash? or finance it?

Financed. When we went to refi last year, WAMU was the only lender who would work with us. When we got the initial loan in 2002, we had our pick of lenders. We refinanced to drop our interest rate and to get rid of our PMI.

 

[Bryophyte]

Originally posted by: Mo0o
Is it better to raise kids in the country? It seems like they wont have as much interaction with neighborhood kids and the rest of civilization

Uhhh, most kids go to school, have activities like sports or church or whatever, have kids over to their house and vice versa, and have neighbors. What do you think? That country people never allow their kids to leave their property or to have company??? Give me a break.

 

[Vic]

The manufactured home will have to have been built in 1977 or later ("post-HUD"). It will have to be a double-wide or larger. It cannot have any attachments, additions, or major exterior alterations, except for a garage. The HUD #'s have to be known. The home must be on a permanent foundation (as determined by local county regulations) with wheels and hitch permanently removed, the DMV title must have been destroyed, and the home must have been converted to real property in the county records.
You will need to put at least 20% down (as you said you were) as mortgage insurance and secondary financing are almost impossible now on manufactured homes. Expect the interest rate to be at least 0.5% higher than prevailing for regular stick-frame construction in your area. Credit restrictions and qualifications are more difficult, and if your credit is even slightly less than perfect you will have to pay even that much more. Cash-out refinancing later on down the road will be almost impossible.

What happened was that in early 2003, Fannie Mae revised their underwriting guidelines for manufactured homes. Freddie Mac followed in Jan. 2004. They claimed that default rates were much higher on manufactured than on stick-built, all else being equal.
FHA/HUD/VA financing is still available for primary residence purchase, with no change to their guidelines, but those guidelines have always been horrendously strict.

edit: Bryophyte, you should have shot me a PM. I do manufactured all the time.

 

[laurenlex]

Originally posted by: Mo0o
Is it better to raise kids in the country? It seems like they wont have as much interaction with neighborhood kids and the rest of civilization

Playing soccer in a big field. Flying a kite without power lines. Your own private swingset. Leaving the car unlocked in the driveway. Room for pets to run free. Building a BMX track around the property. Yeah, 11 acres would suck to raise kids on.

 

[RossMAN]

There are these mobile home parks along SE 82nd Ave I've been considering.

Would that be a wise investment?

 

[Yax]

TX Vic.

And Rossman, buying a park sounds nice.

 

[preslove]

Wait, couldn't you pay cash for the mobile home (if you just wanted a dinky thing), but finance the property?

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: preslove
Wait, couldn't you pay cash for the mobile home (if you just wanted a dinky thing), but finance the property?

Sure, but bare land loans are even harder and more expensive than manufactured home loans. Most lenders don't even do them, just local banks.