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Understanding how the FHA and Banks define a Manufactured Home, and what that means to Mortgage-ability is an important step to knowing whether you qualify for a First time buyers home loan, or a Refinance of your Mobile/Manufactured Home.
Manufactured Home
Mobile homes built in the United States since June 1976, legally referred to as manufactured homes, are required to meet FHA certification requirements, and come with attached metal certification tags. Non-FHA Mobile homes permanently installed on owned land are rarely mortgageable, whereas FHA code-compliant manufactured homes are mortgageable through VA, FHA, and Fannie Mae
Many people who could not afford a traditional site-built home or did not desire to commit to spending a large sum of money on housing, began to see factory-built homes as a viable alternative for long-term housing needs. The units were often marketed as an alternative to apartment rental. However, the tendency of the units of this era to depreciate rapidly in resale value made using them as collateral for loans much riskier than traditional home loans. Terms were usually limited to less than the thirty-year term typical of the general home-loan market, and interest rates were considerably higher. In this way, mobile home loans resembled motor vehicle loans more than traditional home mortgage loans.