Manufactured home loans
in Northern Michigan.
Most lenders either will not touch these or do them badly. We finance manufactured homes on owned land through FHA, VA, USDA, and conventional, single-section and multi-section, purchase and refinance. Here is everything that actually decides whether a manufactured home is financeable, written plainly.
Yes, you can get a mortgage on a manufactured home in Michigan when it sits on land you own. Four things decide it: the home was built on or after June 15, 1976, it is on a permanent foundation meeting HUD standards, it is titled as real property rather than personal property, and the appraisal supports the value. Meet those and FHA, VA, USDA, and conventional may all be available. Homes in parks or on leased land are not eligible.
Four gates, in this order
Almost every manufactured home deal that falls apart falls apart on one of four things, and none of them is credit. Check these in order and you will know where a property stands in about ten minutes.
One, the build date. June 15, 1976 is the line. Homes built on or after it are manufactured homes, built to the federal HUD Code. Homes built before it are mobile homes and are not eligible for any standard mortgage program, regardless of condition. A 1975 home in beautiful shape is out. A 1977 home in rough shape may not be. Read the data plate, not the listing. What to do with a pre-1976 home.
Two, the title. Michigan issues manufactured homes a certificate of title, the same way it does a vehicle. Until that title is cancelled and the home is legally joined to the land, a mortgage cannot attach to it. The filing that fixes this is called an affidavit of affixture, and it involves a state approval plus a county recording. People find out it exists about four days before closing. How affixture works in Michigan.
Three, the foundation. Every program requires a permanent foundation meeting HUD standards, certified by an engineer licensed in Michigan. Ground anchors do not satisfy it. Vinyl skirting as the only enclosure does not satisfy it. And up here footings have to go below frost depth, which is deeper than almost anywhere these homes were originally designed for. What passes and what fails.
Four, the appraisal. Manufactured homes use a different appraisal form and require at least two comparable sales that are also manufactured homes. For a single-wide, one comp has to be another single-wide. In counties that see a handful of manufactured sales a year, that is the condition that quietly changes outcomes late in a file. Why appraisals are harder up north.
Where we do not go. We do not finance manufactured homes located in mobile home parks or on leased land. A mortgage is a lien against real estate, and a home on a rented lot is personal property on land somebody else owns. Owning the land is what makes the rest of this possible. The full explanation.
Single-wide homes, and why that matters here
A lot of lenders will only look at multi-section manufactured homes. That is a policy choice, not a rule, and it leaves a meaningful share of Northern Michigan inventory without a lender.
We finance both. FHA, VA, and USDA have no multi-section requirement at all. FHA's only size test is 400 square feet of floor area, which many single-wides clear comfortably.
Conventional is where it tightens. Fannie Mae requires at least 12 feet of width, which older narrow single-wides often miss, and conventional cash-out is not available on a single-wide at all. So on a single-section home the program conversation usually starts with FHA rather than conventional.
If you have been told your single-wide is unfinanceable, it is worth a second look before you accept that.
The four programs, and how they differ
These are not interchangeable. The same manufactured home can be eligible under one and ineligible under another, and the differences are not small.
FHA
No width requirement, no age limit beyond 1976, 400 square foot minimum, and the most forgiving credit standards. Also the highest cash-out ceiling short of VA, at 80 percent. Usually the first program we check on an older or narrower home.
FHA requirements →VA
No down payment for eligible Veterans with available entitlement, and the highest cash-out ceiling of the four. Watch the size rule: VA requires 400 square feet on a single-wide but 700 on a double-wide, which no other program does.
VA requirements →USDA
No down payment in eligible rural areas, which covers much of Northern Michigan. Existing manufactured homes became eligible under a rule effective May 2025. Two hard gates: a 20 year age limit and Michigan's Thermal Zone 3 standard.
USDA requirements →Conventional
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac write different rules for manufactured homes. Better on mortgage insurance, which can come off with equity. Stricter on width at 12 feet, and the lowest cash-out ceiling of the four at 65 percent.
Conventional requirements →| Requirement | Conventional | FHA | VA | USDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum width | 12 ft (Fannie) | No requirement | No requirement | No requirement |
| Minimum size | 400 sq ft | 400 sq ft | 400 single / 700 double | 400 sq ft |
| Age limit beyond 1976 | None | None | None | 20 years |
| Down payment | From 5% | From 3.5% | None required | None required |
| Max cash-out LTV | 65% | 80% | Up to 100% | Not available |
| Single-wide cash-out | Not allowed | Allowed | Allowed | Not available |
| Occupancy | Primary or second home | Primary only | Primary only | Primary only |
| Park or leased land | Not financed | Not financed | Not financed | Not financed |
Summary only, current as of publication. Agency guidelines change and individual lenders may apply requirements beyond agency minimums. VA cash-out above 90 percent is commonly restricted by lender policy. We confirm against current agency guides on every file rather than working from a table.
Check a property in five minutes
Do this at the showing, before anyone writes an offer. It is the difference between knowing and finding out.
Find the data plate
Usually inside a kitchen cabinet door, near the electrical panel, or in a bedroom closet. It lists the manufacture date, the manufacturer, the serial number, and the wind and thermal zones the home was built for. This one document answers most eligibility questions.
What the build date decides →Look for the red HUD label outside
A small red metal plate near the rear corner of each section. A double-wide has two. If it is missing, that is not a verdict. A label verification letter from the Institute for Building Technology and Safety is generally accepted in its place.
Confirm who owns the land
Get a document, not an answer. Park owned, individually owned, and long term recorded ground lease are three different situations with three different outcomes. If it is a rented park lot, we are not the right lender for it.
Why parks do not work →Ask whether the home is already affixed
Michigan keeps searchable records of issued affidavits by serial number. Plenty of homes were affixed decades ago and the current owner has no idea. Checking first saves a filing that may not be needed, or surfaces one that is.
How to check and how to file →Send it to us before you write
Address, build date, single or double-wide, and whether the land is owned. That is enough for us to tell you which programs are realistic and what the property will need. Takes about ten minutes and costs nothing.
Free consultation →Manufactured homes in Northern Michigan
This is not a sideline for us. It is a meaningful share of what this market actually trades.
Wexford, Missaukee, Osceola, Roscommon, Crawford, and Otsego counties have substantial manufactured home inventory. Homes on five and ten acre parcels, homes that have been in a family for thirty years, homes that represent the most attainable path to ownership in a market where that is getting harder.
A lot of that inventory gets written off by lenders who do not work these counties. Single-wide, rural parcel, older home, thin comp data. Any one of those is a reason for a national shop to pass without looking closely.
They are not automatic disqualifiers. Some of them are genuinely fatal, and we will tell you that fast. Many are not, and the difference is knowing which is which before you spend three weeks finding out.
What we see most often is a buyer who was told no somewhere else, on a property that was fine, by a lender who simply does not do these. That second opinion is free and it takes one phone call.
Common questions
Everything on manufactured homes
Ten pages covering the programs, the property requirements, and the Michigan specifics.
Send us the address before you write the offer.
Build date, single or double-wide, and whether the land is owned. That is enough for us to tell you which programs are realistic and what the property will need. Ten minutes, no cost, straight answer.
Equal Housing Lender. All loans subject to credit approval and underwriting. Program eligibility, rates, terms, and loan-to-value limits are subject to change without notice. This is not a commitment to lend. Requirements described here reflect HUD Handbook 4000.1, the Permanent Foundations Guide for Manufactured Housing (HUD-7584), VA Pamphlet 26-7, USDA HB-1-3555, the Fannie Mae Selling Guide, and the Freddie Mac Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide, and are provided for general education. Agency guidelines change, and individual lenders may apply requirements beyond agency minimums. Michigan affixture requirements reflect the Michigan Mobile Home Commission Act, 1987 PA 96, and are not legal advice. Kirby and Angie do not finance manufactured homes located in mobile home parks or on leased land, do not originate chattel or home only lending, and do not finance relocating a manufactured home. Angie Anderson NMLS #1999286 | Kirby Slocum NMLS #680817 | Union Home Mortgage NMLS #2229229. Licensed in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana.
