Does a manufactured home that has been moved more than once qualify for a loan?

If you plan on purchasing a property that is a manufactured home using financing, find out if the unit has been placed there from the manufacturer/dealer or if it was moved after previously being located at another location. In order to qualify for most lender financing, a manufactured home can only be moved ONE time- from the factory or dealer to its original location and permanently attached to an approved foundation system. If a manufactured home is moved a 2nd time, it is ineligible for ANY type of financing other than owner carry or a VA loan. Even then, it would require a special approval from the VA in order to do the loan.

Fannie Mae guidelines state that the unit must not have been previously installed or occupied at any other site or location, except from the manufacturer or the dealer's lot as a new unit. Moving it would mean it wasn't attached to a permanent foundation and therefore, is viewed more as personal property and not real property. Additionally, the manufactured home must be a one-unit dwelling that is legally classified as real property and cannot include an accessory dwelling unit.

This becomes important from a value standpoint because a buyer’s purchasing power affects the value of a property in a market where the predominance of financing a property is through a lending institution. When a property disqualifies a buyer from obtaining mortgage financing, it requires the buyer to purchase using cash. In short, relocating a manufactured home can reduce the value of the property simply for the reason that it would limit the buyer pool to those who have cash.