Archive for November, 2007
Considering that a little more than 30% of single families are living in manufactured homes, how competitive are the mortgages that you can get? If you were looking at loans from the manufacturer, he would no doubt present you with mortgage options for you to choose from.
What you first need to decide is whether you would like to place the home in a plot of land that you own or whether you would like to go to a mobile home park. If you do own land, you should ensure that you will be within the regulations when you place your manufactured home there.
If you shop around, you will get low rates for your mortgages. What the agent will do is to fix an interest rate for you depending on your credit rating. A bad credit rating could mean a 20% interest rate.
However, do not take a decision till you have shopped around. Armed with the rates you have been given, shop around for other mortgages, do an online search and compare all the rates you get before taking a decision. It would help if against each rate you were to also put down the advantages and disadvantages so that it makes it easier for you to decide. Keep ticking off the ones you don’t want so that you can get the best deal as far as payments go – they should be easy for you to afford right through the whole repayment term.
All it takes is a little extra work and you’ll be glad you took that extra time to decide when you are able to hone in on a mortgage plan that you find easy to handle month after month.
November 30th, 2007
Manufactured or mobile homes are the mainstay of people who cannot afford the exorbitant costs of higher priced apartments and homes. They are also the only option very often of people who cannot qualify for loans that these more expensive homes entail. However, what happens when a manufactured home has a future that is not very sure? At least where location is concerned?
The recent years have seen a number of mobile home parks giving way to shopping centers and apartment blocks and one organization is determined to stop this. It feels that the residents should be notified and allowed to choose whether they want to buy the land their manufactured homes stand in or not.
It is a group that comprises many religious groups and the People Acting Together in Howard (PATH) has pushed for legislation for the right to have the option to buy the land that their manufactured homes stand on. Though the land that their manufactured homes stand on is not really threatened at the moment, they are preparing for future contingencies.
For so many who do not qualify for moderate-income housing programs, a mobile home is the only affordable option and the law today that gives the residents a year’s notice to move is just not on, feel the members. The group has proposed several options for affordable housing in Howard County like a housing initiative trust fund, the replacement of every affordable house lost being replaced by another affordable one and the new units being on the same site, not moved to another one.
November 27th, 2007
Manufactured home owners till now had to cope with high interest rates when it came to refinancing their loans. Considering that manufactured home loans have to be paid off in a very short period of time, home owners start looking around for refinancing very quickly.
FHA has pretty strict guidelines when it comes to manufactured home loan financing and refinancing but it is possible now for a manufactured home owner to get an FHA loan at the low mortgage rates prevalent. Like any other FHA loan, this one too comes with the usual advantages of building in the option for streamlining refinances later in case interest rates were to go up. As long as the manufactured home in question meets the requirements specified, the loan is like any other FHA loan.
What you would need to do if you are looking at an FHA loan to refinance is to first go look at the side of your manufactured home. Do you see an HUD tag there? The house has to be built according to the HUD standards to qualify and your tag should be on the house. If it isn’t, you will have to go find out to see if you do have a tag number or not. The next step is the foundation. You will have to check if this too was laid according to the detailed guidelines issued by HUD. This needs a structural engineer to tell you whether it was or not and this cost could go in with your new loan. All clear? Well, congratulations! You just qualified to being considered for the loan.
So if you do have problems with a short term balloon loan at your bank and you are looking for refinancing, FHA might be the way to go. You might not qualify for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage if the value of your property does not meet the minimum requirement norms but they could just have a scheme for you.
November 22nd, 2007
If this revolutionary proposal goes through in Milo, Maine, there will soon be brand new manufactured homes instead of the very old mobile homes that exist now. Most of these have really no value as they stand right now and the living conditions in these lots are pretty bad. This is all set to change if the Penquis proposal for upgrading these sees the light of day.
What Penquis has proposed is to set aside a part of the village area and sell the lots and new manufactured homes on them to the owners of the old homes at a very low mortgage rate. They aim to work with those interested to help them prepare the loan applications and through the Rural Development program, the homeowners would pay as little as $2.94 a month on every $1,000 that they borrow. Once they get feedback as to how many would like to participate in this endeavor, it could be determined how much of a market there could be for this new scheme.
This could augur well for the community as a whole by bettering the standard of living for the people in the old substandard homes. Also under consideration is whether these homes could have a lock-in value so the owners don’t have to grapple with increasing taxes. This would of course, require a town meeting vote so this area could be declared a Tax Increment Financing District. Considering most of the mobile homeowners are paying little or no taxes right now, there will be some property taxes coming in once the scheme is through. Looks like a win-win situation for all concerned.
November 20th, 2007
The fact is that there are fewer manufactured homes being built and shipped and set up. This is especially so in the cities. While in the rural areas, there is still a high percentage of manufactured homes being financed, the percentages in the more populated areas seem to be going down. So are lenders wary of giving loans for manufactured homes? Considering that it isn’t really the high-income folks who are about to invest in manufactured homes and who would be looking for a manufactured home loan, this does sound plausible.
The other reason that cities are seeing fewer manufactured homes coming up is because the older parks where these houses were situated sometimes had a stigma attached to them so there was a kind of resistance to new parks.
There is also the argument that manufactured homes tend to go down in value with time. This however does not hold water. A home appreciates or decreases in value depending on its location. Other homes depreciate in intrinsic value too. If a manufactured home is in a good location, rest assured its value will appreciate.
Let’s face it, a manufactured home is an affordable home and if you were to take a look around, most of them have doubled in the last few years. So to say lenders don’t want to give out loans for manufactured homes would perhaps be stretching it a bit. Not when a new home could sell upwards of $60,000 plus the rent and the price of the land. Thanks to fewer manufactured homes coming up within the city limits, it could just be a perception. All things considered, manufactured homes still appreciate in value at the end of the day.
November 16th, 2007
These days, the cost of living is constantly increasing and is now reaching all time high levels. Because of this fact, many people are now unable to afford getting a home. If you are one of these people, then your best choice in home ownership is by purchasing a mobile home.
This type of home is a lot cheaper than conventional homes. However, when it comes to taking a mortgage for mobile homes, you will see that it will be somewhat difficult to do as not all lenders will be interested in financing a mortgage for a mobile home.
The reason for this is that mobile homes tend to depreciate in value over time. This means that it is much riskier to approve a mortgage with the mobile home as collateral.
If you are having difficulties in finding a mortgage lender, then a mortgage broker that specializes in mobile homes can be your best choice.
The great thing about a mortgage broker is that they will be able to provide you with a wide range of mortgage programs. With their services, you will be able to choose the loan program that will suit your needs. However, before you rush off and hire a mortgage broker to find a mortgage loan program for your mobile home, it is important that you need to know how to pick the right mortgage broker for you.
First of all, a mortgage broker is not affiliated or is working for a particular lender. They are independent professionals who can shop different mortgage loan programs for you. You need to consider the fact that mobile home mortgages are quite hard to come by. So, if you exhausted all your resources in just finding a mortgage loan for your mobile home, you will see that a mortgage broker will be of big help.
Using a mortgage broker is like having a group of car dealers that will be able to give you their offers. This means that you will have a wider variety of loan programs to choose from. So, if you are tired of chasing around lenders to help you get your much needed mortgage loan for your mobile home, you will need a mortgage broker.
First of all, the right type of mortgage broker will not give you only one particular loan and force or persuade you to take it. You need to look for a mortgage broker that will be able to present you with different types of mortgage loan programs available for a mobile home.
Adding to this fact is that the mortgage broker should also be able to explain to you the difference between each of the mortgage programs being offered to you. They should have knowledge about the technicalities of mortgages and should be able to explain them to you in lay man’s terms.
Also, the right mortgage broker should never give up until they get the good type of mortgage that you can benefit from. They should provide you with the best deals possible for a mobile home mortgage. If they don’t, then this means that they are lazy or inexperienced and you shouldn’t stick with this type of mortgage broker.
These are the things that you should look for in a mortgage broker that specializes in mobile home mortgages. Although mobile home mortgages will naturally have high interest rate, the mortgage broker you hire should be able to find the best type of offer for this type of mortgage.
November 13th, 2007
Today, mobile homes are now getting more and more popular in the United States. Even in the Golden State or in California, mobile homes are now very popular for many people. There are quite a lot of reasons why mobile homes are now the preferred homes of people living in California. First, it is way more affordable than conventional homes, and second, it can be moved when necessary.
In California, you will find it hard to get a mobile home financed by large financial institutions. So, how will you be able to get a mobile home if you can’t even get a loan to help you buy the mobile home of your choice?
If you need to get a mortgage loan for a mobile home in California, it is recommended that you should find a lender that specializes in this type of mortgage loan. Mobile home lenders are individuals or businesses that will be able to offer you mortgage loans to finance the purchase of mobile homes if you are a qualified buyer.
However, since mobile homes depreciate in value far quicker than a conventional home, you will find that the majority of mortgage loans for mobile homes have higher interest rates than conventional home mortgages. The reason for this is the risk factor in mobile homes as collateral for the loan. Besides, try to be in the shoes of the lender. You wouldn’t want to loan someone that will give you a collateral that depreciates quickly, would you? What if they haven’t been able to pay off the loan? That leaves you to repossess the collateral that you agreed upon and sell it in order to get your money back. If the collateral depreciates quickly, you will be forced to sell it at a much lower price.
Another reason that mortgage loans for mobile homes have such high interest rates is that it is not regulated by the US government.
These are the reason why interest rates are high for mortgage in mobile homes.
However, even though the loans will be high in interest, this may work in your favor, especially if you have bad credit rating. This type of loan will give you a chance to own a mobile home and also give you a chance to fix your credit score. Just keep in mind to pay your monthly dues on time in order for you to decrease the risk of getting your home repossessed by the lender and also get your credit rating to become worse than it already is.
Also, because mobile homes tend to be much cheaper than traditional homes, high interest rates will not matter as you will be able to afford it because of the relatively low price that the home is worth.
Mobile homes today are quite different in the past. If you picture it as a home with cramped spaces, then you can never be more wrong. Mobile homes today are stylish in design and are also very spacious. Although it may not be the dream home you pictured, it will definitely make your dream of owning a home a reality.
These are the reasons why you should purchase a mobile home in California. If you are unable to finance the purchase alone, you might want to consider getting a mobile home mortgage loan from the lenders available. Be sure to shop around in order to get the best deals possible in a loan program for mobile homes.
November 3rd, 2007