Manufactured Home Loans in Michigan

### Step 1: Know what kind of home it is

Three words get used as if they mean the same thing. To a lender they are three different properties.

If the house you are looking at is modular, the rules on this page do not apply to it. Our guide to the benefits of modular homes covers how those are financed.

### Step 2: Real property or personal property

A manufactured home starts out titled as personal property. In Michigan, the Department of State issues a Certificate of Manufactured Home Ownership, which looks like a vehicle title and works the same way.

Every mortgage route below needs the home and the land to be real property:

• Fannie Mae: the loan must be secured by the home and the borrower's interest in the land, and both must be legally classified as real property under state law. (B5-2-02)
• FHA: the mortgage must cover the home and the site, and the property must be classified and taxed as real estate. (24 CFR 203.43f)
• VA: the home, once permanently affixed to the lot, must be considered real property under the law of the state where the lot is. (38 U.S.C. 3710(f)(2))

Owning the land is the first piece. A permanent foundation is the second. The legal conversion is the third, and in Michigan it has its own filing, covered below.

### Step 3: Match the home to a loan route

These are each agency's rules as it publishes them, not Align's terms. Lenders can add requirements of their own.

• Fannie Mae, standard manufactured housing. The home must be built to the HUD Code, carry its data plate or certification labels, be at least 12 feet wide with at least 400 square feet of finished area above grade, sit on a permanent foundation that meets the manufacturer's requirements and local codes, and be permanently connected to utilities. Principal residences can be single- or multi-width; second homes must be multi-width. (B2-3-02, B5-2-02)
• Fannie Mae MH Advantage. For manufactured homes built to construction, design and energy standards closer to a site-built house, such as a higher-pitched roof with eaves, a masonry or poured concrete perimeter foundation, and a covered porch. The manufacturer applies an MH Advantage sticker near the data plate at the factory, and the lender also checks site features such as the foundation. (B2-3-02)
• Freddie Mac, standard and CHOICEHome. Freddie Mac buys mortgages on HUD Code homes titled as real property and permanently affixed to a foundation. A multi-wide home can be a primary residence or second home; a single-wide must be a primary residence. CHOICEHome covers homes with features comparable to site-built homes, an engineered foundation certified by an architect or engineer with a masonry or poured concrete perimeter wall, and a CHOICEHome notice near the data plate. Its appraisal compares the home with CHOICEHome or site-built sales. (Freddie Mac Guide 5703.2, 5703.3, 5703.12)
• FHA Title II. The regular FHA mortgage. The home needs at least 400 square feet of floor space, a HUD certification label, and a mortgage that covers the home and the site as real estate. A home that has not been on its site for more than a year needs a site-built permanent foundation that meets HUD's Minimum Property Standards, the hitch and running gear removed, and a finished grade at or above the 100-year flood elevation. (24 CFR 203.43f) See our FHA loans page.
• FHA Title I. A separate HUD program that insures loans for a manufactured home, a lot, or both together. Its maximum terms are set by regulation and are shorter than a typical mortgage, and HUD updates its loan limits by notice. (24 CFR 201.10, 201.11)
• VA. VA's home loan program can be used to buy a manufactured home that will be permanently affixed to a lot the veteran owns, or a home and lot together, when state law treats the affixed home as real property. (38 U.S.C. 3710(a)(9) and (f)(2)) See our VA loans page.
• USDA. When one real estate mortgage covers both the home and the site, a USDA loan can pay for a new home, its transport, permanent foundation and installation, and the site if you do not already own it. An existing home generally needs its HUD label and data plate, a certified permanent foundation, no previous installation elsewhere, and a build date on or after one USDA sets. (7 CFR 3555.208) See our USDA loans page.
• Chattel loans. A loan secured by the home alone, as personal property. It is the common route for a home on a rented lot. The CFPB found that chattel borrowers face higher denial rates, pay higher interest rates than manufactured home mortgage borrowers, and are less likely to refinance. If the home can become real property, compare that path first, and ask Samantha which of these routes fits your home before you choose.

### In Michigan

• Affixing the home to the land. When a home is affixed to land its owner holds, Michigan law requires the owner to deliver an affidavit of affixture to the state, with the title and a fee, and to record the affidavit with the county register of deeds. "Affixed" means the wheels, towing hitches and running gear are removed and the home is attached to a foundation or other support system. "Holds" means owning the land, or a ground lease that runs at least 20 years after the affidavit is recorded. Once the state receives the affidavit, it cancels the home's title, the home is part of the real property, and it can be sold only together with the land. (MCL 125.2330i; Michigan's statute calls these homes "mobile homes")
• Homes in licensed communities. A home in a licensed park carries a specific tax of $3.00 a month, collected by the park, in place of property tax on the home itself. (MCL 125.1041)
• Property taxes after you buy. Once the home is part of the real property, plan the taxes as you would for any Michigan home purchase. The year after a Michigan home sells, its taxable value resets to half of the assessor's market value, so the seller's tax bill is not your tax bill. A rough rule for planning: after uncapping, the annual tax runs about half the purchase price times the millage, divided by 1,000. The Michigan property tax calculator uses the published millage for an address, and our taxable value guide explains the reset.