Refinance a Mobile Home

Mobile homes offer an affordable way to ownership for many people. Mobile homes are often much less expensive then a standard built house but that price difference does come with some disadvantages. When trying to buy or refinance a mobile home you will need a down payment or substantial equity in order to secure you loan. When you refinance a mobile home you will generally be capped at 80% of the homes value and a purchase will require 5-10% down payment. Those requirements all to often make it hard for people to finance their mobile homes.

There are many things to consider when you decide you need to refinance a mobile home. The first is your credit. Lenders will require a higher credit score to finance a mobile home versus a standard home. A credit score of at least 620 will be required by many lenders to approve the loan. However FHA does offer programs to refinance a mobile home and their credit requirements are based more on the overall credit profile then on just credit score. You will also want to make sure that your mobile home was built after 1976. Pre 1976 mobile homes do not meet current HUD guidelines and financing will be extremely hard to acquire for a pre 1976 mobile home. You will also want the land that the mobile home is on to be owned by you. If you do not own the land when you refinance a mobile home you will be given what is called a chattel mortgage. A chattel mortgage refers to a property that is not a piece of real estate but rather a piece of property. All of these criteria will be taken into consideration for your loan approval and interest rate.

With the recent housing crash more lenders may start to offer programs to refinance a mobile home as a way to increase business and profitability. By keeping your credit clean and your property in good condition you should have no trouble when it comes time to refinance mobile home built after 1976