Owner-Occupied Hard Money Manufactured Home Loans

Over the past decade, we’ve received at least one or two financing requests per month for owner-occupied hard money manufactured home loans. During this time, FCTD has never originated a private loan secured by a borrower's manufactured home primary residence. These loans are simply not a fit for what we do. 

Below, I’ll detail why we have not —and cannot — facilitate this type of loan.

Why we don’t originate owner-occupied hard money manufactured homes

There are two main reasons FCTD doesn’t originate owner-occupied hard money manufactured home loans. 

Owner-Occupied Loans Are Consumer Purpose Loans

Owner-occupied hard money loans are considered consumer purpose loans — intended for a consumer’s personal use. Though FCTD is licensed in eight states for consumer purpose loans, we rarely originate them. Our clients are real estate investors, builders and developers who use business purpose hard money and private money loans. 

Very few hard money lenders provide consumer purpose loans. They stick with business purpose lending. I estimate about 1 in 10 offer consumer purpose loans — or even less depending on the state. 

To learn more about these two types of loans, read our article Hard Money Loans: Business Purpose Versus Consumer Purpose. 

Hard Money Lenders Often Look at Manufactured Homes as Land Value Only

It's one thing to find a hard money lender or trust deed investor that would consider a consumer purpose loan, another challenge entirely to find one who would lend against a manufactured home. Most hard money lenders look only at the land value of a manufactured home, even if the structure is on a permanent foundation. 

Hard money lenders are fickle and lack experience lending on manufactured homes, so they avoid the asset class altogether.  

Where You Should Look For Owner-Occupied Manufactured Home Financing

Though we can't do owner-occupied hard money manufactured home loans, I do have a few recommendations where you could look, also covered on our Manufactured Home Hard Money Loans page. 

Manufactured Home Dealer Trade Association

Each state has a trade association of dealers and other manufactured home services providers. You could ask the trade group to refer a few finance companies that might be able to help. 

Manufactured Home Dealer in Your Area

Dealers arrange financing when they sell manufactured homes. You can ask to speak to the finance manager and request a referral as well. 

Seller Financing

Some sellers who own the property free and clear may consider selling the manufactured home and “carry the paper” or “carry a note” on the property. The seller would become your lender. There are some compliance advantages to seller financing that don’t exist with bank or institutional loans, which might be helpful to you. 

Community Bank or Credit Union

Local banks and credit unions may have mortgage programs to finance a manufactured home.

Real Estate Agent Referrals of Conventional Mortgage Lenders   

Ask real estate agents for mortgage lender referrals. Most of their referrals will be with conventional mortgage lenders, which may help you land the right lender for your situation. 

Conclusion

FCTD is not a good fit for owner-occupied hard money manufactured home loans — they’re consumer purpose loans and our investor base doesn’t like that asset class. However, there are better options that you can explore to finance your home. It may take several phone calls, but hopefully, you’ll connect with the right lender for your unique set of circumstances.