Buying or selling a manufactured home?

A place for people buying or selling a manufactured or mobile home. The guides explain the parts of these sales that work differently from a site-built house, such as title, park approval and value, and BuyMyHome.Now works with dealers and home buyers nationwide. Use the form at the top of the page to tell us what you need.

Manufactured homes are often called mobile homes, though most are moved exactly once, from the factory to the lot. The date that matters is June 15, 1976, when the federal HUD Code took effect. A home built after that date carries a HUD certification label. A home built before it carries none, and communities, lenders and insurers frequently turn those homes down.

No. Many manufactured homes sit on a rented lot in a community, and many sit on land the owner holds. Which one it is changes the deal for both sides. On a rented lot, the community has to approve the buyer as a resident, and the home usually stays titled as personal property. On land the owner holds, the home can usually be converted to real property under that state's rules.

Mostly it depends on whether the home is real property or titled personal property. A home converted to real property on owned land can be bought with a mortgage. A titled home, which includes most homes on rented lots, is usually bought with cash, a chattel loan secured by the home but not the land, or owner financing. Chattel loans generally carry higher interest rates than mortgages. Lenders also look at the home's age, foundation and condition.