A mobile or manufactured home can usually be refinanced if the home, the title, the value and your finances support a new loan. The questions to answer first are what you want the new loan to change, and whether that change is worth what it costs. Whether the home sits in a land-lease community or on land you own decides what is reviewed. A refinance pays off your current loan with a new one; it does not change who owns the land.
Find where to start for your situation
Most owners come to a refinance with one goal in mind. Start with the part of this guide, or the longer article, that matches yours.
Where to start
| Your situation | Start here |
|---|---|
| You want a different monthly payment or a shorter loan | Compare the whole new loan, below, then read refinancing your mobile home loan: when and how |
| You want cash from your home’s equity, or to pay off other debts | The cash-out section below, which links the full article |
| Someone needs to come off the loan or the title | Check the title first, then talk with a specialist about whether the remaining borrower can qualify alone |
| Your home is now permanently attached to land you own | Read personal property vs. real property; the recorded documents decide which loans fit |
| You are not sure a refinance makes sense | When to wait, at the end of this guide |
The refinance programs page describes each of these goals and what Santiago Financial, Inc. reviews for them.
What decides whether your home can be refinanced
A refinance is reviewed much like a purchase, except that the home is already yours. Five things come into it: you, the home, the title, the value, and your current loan.
A community home compared with a home on owned land
| What is reviewed | Home in a land-lease community | Home on land you own |
|---|---|---|
| How the home is usually financed | On its own, as personal property, with a home-only (chattel) loan | Often with the land, as real property, once the home is permanently affixed and recorded |
| Title records | The home’s title or registration | The home’s title status, the land title, and any foundation or affixture record |
| Value | The home itself, often from comparable sales | The home and the land together, usually by appraisal |
| Other parties | The community may need to confirm your residency or provide documents | The county records, taxes and access to the land |
Your own side is reviewed again too: income, debts and credit, as described in how mobile home loans work. Credit requirements vary by program and investor, so ask what applies to your scenario. The home’s year, condition and title status matter for every refinance; for a home built before June 15, 1976, ask early which programs can consider it.
Compare the whole new loan, not the payment
A lower payment can come from a lower rate, a longer repayment period, a smaller balance, or a mix. Stretching the term can lower the payment while adding to the total interest you pay. Ask whether a refinance could lower your monthly payment or shorten your loan term, and then compare the whole new loan with the one you have.
The break-even point is where the monthly savings, added up, equal what the refinance cost. Before it you are still paying back the closing costs. After it, the difference is yours for as long as you keep the loan. If you expect to sell before you reach it, the refinance does not pay for itself.
Comparing loan offers beyond the interest rate shows how to line two estimates up, and the payment calculator lets you test a new payment with your own figures. Its results are educational estimates, not a loan offer.
Cash out is a bigger loan, not extra money
In a cash-out refinance, a larger new loan pays off the old one and you receive the difference. Equity is today’s value minus everything owed against the home. Cash-out options may be available when equity, the property, the title, the requested loan amount and program guidelines support them. Cash out is not guaranteed.
Using the cash to pay off credit cards or other loans moves those debts onto your home, usually for longer than you would otherwise have carried them. Cash-out refinancing a mobile home explains how equity is figured and what each use of the cash puts at risk.
Value, condition and title are reviewed again
The new lender looks at the home as if for the first time, and three things decide most of that review.
The value. Comparable sales or an appraisal support it. Repairs that affect value, such as a roof, skirting or plumbing, are worth finishing before the review; cosmetic upgrades are a separate question. Should you remodel before refinancing or selling sorts the work that tends to matter from the work that does not.
The title. California titles and registers manufactured homes through HCD, the Department of Housing and Community Development, not the DMV (HCD registration and titling). Arizona titles are handled by the MVD, the ADOT Motor Vehicle Division, generally one title per section (ADOT mobile home ownership). The names on the title need to match the people on the new loan, and any old lien has to be released or paid off.
The land records, on owned land. In California, HCD Form 433A is used to report the installation of a manufactured home on a foundation system and is recorded with the county when applicable. It is an important property record, but it does not by itself guarantee financing. In Arizona, for an eligible home permanently attached to land the homeowner owns, the Affidavit of Affixture process generally involves surrendering the MVD title and recording the affidavit with the county. Current procedures should be confirmed with MVD and the county.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. If your title shows the wrong names, a missing section or an old lien, talk with a specialist before you apply. A title question found early can be planned around; one found late holds up the file.
From your first call to the payoff of your old loan
- Gather your current loan details Find your latest statement and ask your current lender for a payoff figure, and whether your loan has a prepayment penalty.
- Talk it through and apply A specialist asks about the home, where it sits, who owns the land and what you want the new loan to do. Pre-qualification is not final approval.
- Review and decision The application is reviewed against current program guidelines. The answer may be an approval with conditions, a counter-offer on different terms, or a decline.
- Documents and value You send the items on the conditions list, and a value review or appraisal is ordered as the program requires.
- Title, insurance and signing The title and the existing lien are verified, your insurance is updated to name the new lender, and you review and sign the loan documents.
- Payoff The new loan pays off the old one. Keep paying the old loan until you are told it has been paid, then confirm the zero balance and when your first new payment is due.
Timing depends on your transaction and the third parties involved: appraisal scheduling, title corrections and missing documents are the usual reasons a file waits. How the loan process works describes each stage in more detail, and printable refinance checklists are on the printable forms page.
When waiting is the better choice
A refinance is optional, and sometimes the right answer is not yet. Waiting usually makes sense when you expect to sell before the break-even point, when the title needs correcting first, when repairs would change the home’s value, or when a prepayment penalty on your current loan is about to expire.