USDA Rural Development’s Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program has options for lenders to help homebuyers finance homes across rural America. This includes manufactured homes, which can help boost the housing supply in rural America and bring homeownership within reach for millions of people.
Through the Combination Construction-to-Permanent Loan Program (PDF, 158 KB), USDA and its lending partners are making sure the dreams for millions to achieve homeownership come true by requiring no money down.
Under this program, USDA guarantees 100% of the appraised value of the home and land. The program also helps lenders finance land costs, closing costs, site development, installation and setup costs for the home. It also allows lenders to obtain the loan note guarantee up front, creating more flexibility for both the lender and borrower.
For example, USDA’s lending partner Metroplex Mortgage Services Inc. is working with the agency to ensure people in rural Florida, Texas, Tennessee and Alabama have a place to call home.
Metroplex Mortgage Services Inc. President Sean Stephens said the company recently helped a single mother buy a new manufactured home with the Combination Construction-to-Permanent Loan Program. She was able to qualify due to the no-money-down requirement and the flexibility of the program.
Guild Mortgage, based in San Diego, California, is financing four manufactured homes through the Single-Family Housing Guarantee Loan Program to help people in the Paradise community hit by wildfires access affordable housing as soon as possible. The homes are a construction type known as CrossMod. These types of homes blend the features of site-built homes with the innovative and efficient methods of factory construction and result in a product that appears as a conventional stick-built home.
Checklist for Lenders
If you’re a lender who is interested in financing new manufactured home construction through USDA’s Combination Construction-to-Permanent Loan Program, here are some tips to keep in mind. In order to receive USDA Rural Development financing, the unit must be new and:
- Transported directly from the manufacturer to the site where it will be financed.
- Have a floor area of no less than 400 square feet.
- Installed on a permanent foundation built according to FHA guidelines.
- Meet the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standard.
- Certified by its builder that thermal requirements have been met.
For more information, visit Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program | Rural Development (usda.gov).