Conventional Mortgages for Mobile Homes

[Toni Annis]

I was wondering if anyone has had any luck getting a single wide mobile home to qualify for a conventional mortgage and if so what lender you found that would do it. I currently have an older mobile home that I am using as a rental. I know that I am looking at needing some pretty major repairs (new roof & windows) in the near future that are going to be large out of pocket expenses that won't actually increase the properties value at all. With interest rates so low right now I would really love to take advantage and just replace the house. I wish I could do a double wide but unfortunately the lot is too narrow to allow it. I have a quote from a local mobile home dealer that to get a new 3/2 single wide installed on a engineered pier foundation (the same foundation they use to get a double wide to qualify for conventional mortgages) would run me around $84,000. With this type of home I could increase my rents by $300/mo and I know that if I put the property on the market for sale it would list for around $130,000 not to mention it would significantly increase my buyer pool. Anyone know how I might be able to make this happen? So far the banks I talked to will only do a personal loan at high interest out to around 20 years which would put my payments higher than my rent would be.