January 19, 2011
FHA home loans are available for mobile homes, manufactured homes and/or modular homes. How does the FHA define a manufactured home and how is it different than a new construction or existing construction suburban home? Much depends on the status of the manufactured home and how it is assembled.
According to the FHA official site, a manufactured home differs from a new construction project in one very important way. Where a new construction property is built “on-site”, the FHA definition of a manufactured home states it is “a structure that is transportable in one or more sections. In traveling mode, the home is eight feet or more in width and forty feet or more in length.”
These homes must be built and assembled according to the requirements of the Federal Manufactured Construction and Safety Standards and must be labeled accordingly.
FHA rules also say that in order to be eligible for FHA mortgage insurance, the manufactured home must be built after June 15, 1976 and there must be a certification label listing the date of construction. Manufactured home floor space can not be smaller than 400 square feet and must be classified as real estate.
In order to be classified as real estate, a manufactured home must have a permanent foundation built to FHA standards and must be considered a “permanent dwelling”. Otherwise it is considered personal property and is ineligible for an 30-year FHA mortgage.
According to FHA requirements, “the mortgage must cover both the manufactured unit and its site and shall have a term of not more than 30 years from the date amortization begins…”
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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