Manufactured Home Loan Program Comparison

The right loan program for your manufactured home depends on whether you’re a veteran, where the home is located, your credit score, and how much down payment you have. Here’s a head-to-head comparison of the five programs we offer:

Feature	Conventional	FHA	VA	USDA	Non-QM
Min Down (Primary)	5%	3.5%	$0	$0	20%+
Min Down (Second Home)	10% (doublewide+)	Not allowed	Not applicable	Not allowed	20%+
Min Down (Investment)	Not allowed	Not allowed	Not allowed	Not allowed	35%
Cash-Out Max LTV	65%	80%	Up to 100%	Not typical	Varies
Engineer Report	Only if porches/roofline changes	Always required	Not required	Required	Lender-dependent
Singlewide Eligible	Primary only	Primary only	Yes	Yes	Limited
Moved Home OK?	No	No	Yes — once	No	Yes (max 65% LTV)
Min Loan Term	30 yrs	30 yrs	30 yrs	30 yrs	30 yrs
Loan Limit	Conventional limit	FHA county limit	No limit	USDA limit	Up to ~$3M
Min FICO	620	500s possible	580	640	660+
Income Limits?	No	No	No	Yes — by county	No

Quick read: VA is the most flexible — $0 down, no engineer report, moved homes allowed. FHA goes the lowest on credit and offers the best cash-out at 80% LTV. USDA is your $0-down option if you’re under 20 years old on the home and within USDA county/income limits. Conventional is the strictest on condition but most flexible on second-home use. Non-QM is the only path to investment property on a manufactured home.

Mobile Home vs. Manufactured Home — What’s the Difference?

First thing’s first: technically a mobile home is a factory-built home that was constructed prior to June 15, 1976 and does not have HUD plates. Even so, people still today call newer manufactured homes mobile homes. The terms people use can change depending on where you live, but in Florida people often use the term mobile home for manufactured homes constructed after June 15, 1976.

A manufactured home is a factory-built home constructed to the HUD (Housing & Urban Development) Title 6 construction standards that took effect after June 15, 1976. If it is a manufactured home built to HUD code, there will be two forms of verification: a certification label and a data plate. The data plate will be located somewhere inside the home, often near an electrical box. Its placement is supposed to be easily visible.

You can find the certification label on the tail end of each transportable section of the manufactured home. You may be missing a certification label, or you may not be able to find the data plates — but one of those items is needed to verify the home is built to HUD code.

Whether you want to purchase or refinance a manufactured home, there are some nuances to financing that you need to understand. We do not finance homes on leased land or in co-ops (cooperatives). On leased land, it’s considered a chattel loan — much like a motor vehicle loan. If you plan on owning the land, then we can help you. A homeowners association is fine; condo associations are okay as long as there are no singlewides in the community.

Does My Manufactured Home’s Title Need to Be Retired?

The title to your manufactured home (which is much like a motor vehicle title) must be retired. This means the home becomes part of the land it sits on — it essentially becomes one with the title of the land. Some lenders require this to be done before closing. We only require the process to be initiated at closing.

Counties can take a while to process these — don’t let it hold up your closing. Reach out to us today if you’re waiting to close because your lender is requiring the title to be retired fully before closing.

Do I Need an Engineer Report?

Most likely yes — unless you’re using VA financing, or you’re using a conventional loan and the home has no porches and no changes to the roofline (just steps going into the house). If using FHA, USDA, or conventional financing on a home that has porches or roofline adjustments, you’ll need an engineer report. If the property has changed hands since 2008 and the purchaser used financing, then it’s likely the tie downs have been updated. Sometimes even newly set-up homes are anchored incorrectly.

The engineer will also inspect the siding around the bottom of the home making sure there are no holes larger than an inch. Preparing for this inspection beforehand is always smart because a hole in the siding is easily remedied with spray foam. It’s always best when the listing agent for a manufactured home prepares the seller for the possibility that they may need to pay for the home to be retrofitted if it was anchored before October 20, 2008.

An engineer report costs between $350-$400 to inspect the tie-downs. The cost of retrofitting can range anywhere from $1,200 to $3,000 depending on the size of the manufactured home. It’s important to remember that an escrow holdback is not allowed for the cost of retrofitting — meaning the home must be corrected before the loan can close. If a borrower is using FHA financing, an engineer report is always required.

Loan Programs for Manufactured Homes

Conventional Financing

You can use conventional financing to purchase a manufactured home with as little as 5% down with PMI (private mortgage insurance). You can also use conventional financing for a second home with as little as 10% down — the home must be a doublewide or larger as a second home. Cash out is allowed up to 65% of the value of the manufactured home with a max term of 30 years. If you’re concerned about property condition, conventional financing is the most lenient on condition requirements.

USDA Financing

Effective March 4, 2025, the USDA is allowing the financing of existing manufactured homes in all 50 states. The home cannot be more than 20 years old. This means you can buy an existing manufactured home with zero down. See our dedicated USDA manufactured home page for full eligibility, income limits, and county map.

FHA Financing

We offer FHA financing for manufactured homes. The minimum down payment is 3.5%, and you must occupy the home as your primary residence. The tie downs must be up to current HUD guidelines. There are also rules for the distance of the septic, well, and drain field from the property line: the well must be 10 feet from the property line, 50 feet from the septic tank, and 100 feet from the septic tank drain field.

This can be reduced to 75 feet if allowed by local authority. If the subject property line is adjacent to residential property, then local well distance requirements prevail over the guidelines. If the property is adjacent to non-residential property, the minimum is 10 feet still. Cash out is allowed up to 80% of the value with FHA, and a 30-year term is allowed.

VA Financing

Veterans can use their VA entitlement to purchase a manufactured home with no money down. Keep in mind that when purchasing any home with a well, the VA requires both a bacteria water test and a lead water test. The veteran is now allowed to pay for those inspections instead of the seller. We do not require an engineer to inspect the property like with FHA or conventional financing to verify HUD guidelines.

Most importantly, the Veterans Administration will allow a veteran to purchase a manufactured home if it has been moved — but only moved one time. This makes VA financing the most flexible when it comes to financing manufactured homes. A great benefit for veterans.

Insurance Requirements for Manufactured Homes

The cost of homeowners insurance has certainly risen over time for manufactured homes, and getting insurance can sometimes be difficult. We’ve partnered with excellent insurance agents who specialize in coverage for manufactured homes. There are a few different routes to meet the minimum coverage standard for financing — whether conventional, FHA, VA, or USDA.

One option is to make sure the policy has what’s called a “replacement cost endorsement.” This can be phrased different ways, but the meaning should be clear and it will be listed on the endorsements for the policy. As an alternative, the insurance agent can provide a replacement cost estimator for the property — the dwelling coverage just needs to meet or exceed the replacement cost estimator. If the insurer won’t provide a replacement cost estimate, written confirmation from the agent that coverage meets the replacement cost suffices. The least popular option is to get coverage at 80% of the loan amount; most of the time that’s impossible unless the buyer is doing a very large down payment.

Manufactured Homes and Polybutylene Pipes

Another issue on older manufactured homes when it comes to acquiring homeowners insurance is polybutylene pipes. These were used in the construction of manufactured homes between the late 1970s until the mid 1990s. They are prone to bursting and breaking down easily. Most insurers will not bind a policy as long as the home has polybutylene pipes. Depending on the location, some insurers might let you bind the policy as long as the pipes are replaced within 30 days. The safe assumption is that the home will need to be re-piped before closing — for purchase or refinance — if the pipes are polybutylene.

Singlewide, Moved Homes & Investment Property

Do You Finance Singlewide Manufactured Homes?

We finance singlewides, doublewides, and triplewide homes. Some lenders do not finance singlewides, but we gladly finance them with conventional, FHA, or VA financing. We also allow cash out on singlewide homes using FHA. Except for VA financing, the home cannot have been moved from its original installation — meaning the home went from the dealer or factory straight to the property it now sits on. Fannie Mae, VA, and FHA require a singlewide to be at least 400 square feet. Freddie Mac requires at least 600 square feet. Fannie once required a singlewide to be 10 years old or newer, but they have since removed that requirement and go back to June 15, 1976 for singlewide homes as well. See our dedicated singlewide page for the full breakdown.

What If My Manufactured Home Is Titled Separate from the Land?

If you bought your land first or were given land and then bought your manufactured home, it’s possible the title of the manufactured home has not been retired. When you retire the title on a manufactured home, it essentially combines the home and the land — making your home considered real property. If you’re buying a home and the title has not been retired, the process will need to be started at closing. If you’re refinancing your home and the title is not retired, it will need to be retired before closing. We require the paperwork to be completed at closing to retire the title, but we do not require it to be processed before closing — some lenders do.

Can I Buy a Manufactured Home as an Investment Property?

Neither Fannie Mae nor Freddie Mac (the two entities backing all conventional mortgages) allow conventional financing for a manufactured home as an investment property. So you’re left needing to use alternative financing. There are very few alternative or Non-QM (non-qualified mortgage) lenders who will finance manufactured homes as investment properties. The minimum down is 35%, interest rates are higher, and closing costs are higher. We can use tax returns to qualify, or bank statements for self-employed borrowers — and a DSCR loan is also an option.

Important In-House Manufactured Home Tips

Manufactured Home FAQ

Get a No-Hassle Manufactured Home Pre-Approval

We’d be glad to assist with any questions. If you’re ready to apply for a pre-approval, use the link below — gathering your details gives us a head start on making your purchase or refinance possible. We’ll reach out with any questions. On weekdays we review applications within 24 hours or less.