Mfg home vs. mobile...how 2 tell?

[Margie Hays]

We're total newbies at this...so our apologies first. My military hubby is retiring and we need 2-6 acres or more in north central Fla. with a home and zoned for horses. We're finding precious few cb/frame homes, so we're considering manufactured homes. Problem is, our mortgage broker (we're pre-approved for a VA loan) and our buyer-broker (real estate agent) advised us that MH's depreciate, not appreciate, and that we would have to meet extremely stringent inspections to pass VA with a conventional home, and probably could not pass with a mobile/mfr. home. But for every cb/frame home on acreage in our area (Marion/Levy Counties) there are 10-25 MH's on the market. So....

Our questions are:
1) What's the difference (legally and aesthetically) between a "manufactured" home and a "mobile" home?

2) Does anyone else have a VA loan on a MH?

3) How "near impossible" is it really to get VA $$ for a MH loan? (We're pre approved well enough over $100k to get a really nice one, so we don't want to be penny-wise and pound-foolish).

The best news is that my hubby is a Seabee, equivalent to a general construction/homebuilder contractor, and can spot a defect in construction in a heartbeat, and is familiar with mobile home construction in general because of all the temporary military office buildings he's helped with, so no loss of sleep there. It's just the VA/no VA dilemma we can't get the straight truth on that's confusing. VA website says OK on "manufactured" so that's the key term, I guess. THanks for any advice you can give us...

Margie Hays
[email protected]
Reddick, FL

[rmurray]

VA is only one way to finance a home...your real estate sales person and lender are using incorrect terms...by the VA standards..a "mobile home" is a home built in a factory before 1976...Most of the homes you have seen are those built since 1976 and are "manufactured homes"..

The VA does have very stringent requirements and many homes might not be set to thier standards (though most could be retro fittede to qualify)...of course..not all used stick builts qualify for VA either...It seems that your sales person is not famlier with manufactured homes...of course many real estate "pros"..do not like to sell them because the commissions are lower..could this be the case now...

Have you seen and land you like with no home...Check out new homes..any dealer should be able to help you with VA....and in Levy county you should easily be able to get a good new home..and 6 acres well under $100K..

Good Luck

[Margie Hays]

Thanks, Murray....your explaination about the terminology really helps....We do know our buyer broker would like as big a commission as possible, but we are only prepared to buy a home or site that suits OUR needs....and if necessary, put a new manufactured home on a site and do the rest ourselves to improve the property. It seems like most listings in our area call them "Mobile homes" regardless of their age, so we are now including "mobiles" in our MLS search and judging them by the year built....as well as the manufacturer. We plan on visiting several manufacturers in the next week, and see what we come up with on acreage for sale and perhaps go that way...

Thanks again,
Margie