Manufactured Home Loans in Bakersfield and Kern County: Buyer Guide
Local financing details: Mobile & Manufactured Home Loans in Bakersfield, California
If you are shopping for a manufactured home in Kern County, some of the homes on your list will probably sit on their own land instead of in a community. That changes what you are buying. The loan may cover the home and the land together, and the parcel is reviewed alongside the home: its zoning, the road in, the water supply, the septic system, and the paperwork that ties the home to the ground.
Which office holds each record depends on whether the parcel is inside a city, and a parcel on the valley floor raises different questions from one in the mountains or the desert. For homes in Bakersfield communities and loan options in town, see manufactured home loans in Bakersfield. All financing is subject to credit approval, and not all applicants or properties qualify.
A home on land is reviewed as a property, not only as a home
In a community you buy the home and rent the space, and the home is financed on its own as personal property. When the home is on land you own or are buying, the two may be financed together with land-and-home financing, provided the home is permanently attached to the land and the records show it.
That last condition catches people. A manufactured home starts out as personal property with its own title, and California titles manufactured homes through HCD, the Department of Housing and Community Development, not the DMV. A home that was set on a family parcel years ago may still carry that HCD title. If it does, the home and the land are two separate assets on paper, even when one person owns both.
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. HCD’s registration and titling page explains the state’s side.
Which Kern County office answers which question
Most of what a lender, an appraiser or a title company will ask about a rural parcel can be checked ahead of time if you know where to look. The offices below are for unincorporated Kern County. Inside a city such as Bakersfield, Tehachapi or Ridgecrest, zoning and building permits belong to the city.
Where the records are for an unincorporated Kern County parcel
| Question | Where to ask |
|---|---|
| Is a manufactured home allowed in this zone, and on what conditions? | Kern County Planning and Natural Resources Department, which administers the county zoning ordinance |
| Were the installation and any additions permitted and signed off? | The county’s building inspection office |
| Is there a permit on file for the well? | Kern County Public Health, Environmental Health |
| Is there a permit on file for the septic system? | Environmental Health as well |
| Is the home on an HCD title, or recorded as part of the land? | HCD for the title; the county recorder for a 433A |
| Is the parcel in a mapped flood zone? | FEMA’s flood maps |
| Is it in a fire hazard severity zone? | CAL FIRE’s zone maps |
Bring the assessor’s parcel number (APN) to every one of these conversations. It is how county offices look a property up.
The valley floor, the mountains and the desert raise different questions
Kern County runs from the floor of the San Joaquin Valley up into the Tehachapi Mountains and the southern Sierra, and out into the Mojave Desert. The same double-wide faces different conditions in each, and the inspection and the insurance quote should reflect where the parcel is.
What changes with the part of the county
| Area | Towns | What to look at closely |
|---|---|---|
| Valley floor | Bakersfield, Delano, Wasco, Shafter, Arvin | Long, hot summers and the cooling system; whether the parcel is in a mapped flood zone |
| Mountains | Tehachapi, Frazier Park, the Kern River Valley | Winter snow at the higher elevations and the roof load the home was built for; fire hazard zones; steep or private roads; propane |
| Desert | Ridgecrest, Mojave, Rosamond, California City | Wind and heat; how far power and water are from a bare parcel; earthquake coverage |
Two of these deserve a closer look. The data plate, a paper sheet fixed inside the home, lists the roof load and wind zone the home was built for. In the mountains, ask the building office what the site requires and compare it with the plate.
Eastern Kern County is also earthquake country. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded magnitude 6.4 and 7.1 earthquakes near Ridgecrest on July 4 and 5, 2019. The California Department of Insurance says standard policies do not cover earthquake damage and that separate earthquake coverage can be bought for a mobilehome. Ask about it when you request a quote for manufactured home insurance.
Ask about the well, the septic system and the road in
A parcel outside a water district and a sewer service area depends on its own well and septic system. Both are part of the property being appraised and financed. The guide to financing a home on owned land covers the general site checks. Three deserve extra attention on a Kern County parcel:
- The well. Ask whether it serves only this parcel or is shared with neighbors. A shared well should come with a recorded agreement that says who pays for the pump and repairs. Ask for the well records and a current water-quality and flow test.
- The septic system. Ask for the permit and the date the tank was last pumped or inspected. A system with no record on file is a question to settle before escrow opens.
- The road. Find out whether the road to the parcel is county-maintained. If it is private or crosses a neighbor’s land, you need a recorded easement, and it helps to know who grades it after a storm.
On bare desert or mountain land, none of this may be in place yet. Price the power extension, the well and the septic system with written bids before you agree on a price for the land.
Heat belongs in the budget and in the inspection
National Weather Service records for Bakersfield list at least one day of 100 degrees or higher in every year with complete data, on average from late May to mid-September. For a manufactured home that means two things.
First, cooling is likely to be your largest utility cost. Ask for a year of bills and test your budget against the summer months, not the yearly average. Utilities are not part of the loan payment, but they come out of the same paycheck.
Second, the parts of the home that hold cooled air in are worth inspecting: the age of the air conditioner or heat pump, the roof, the insulation, and the ducts under the home. On a double-wide, that includes the crossover duct that joins the two halves.
If your pay follows the harvest, the Fresno and Central Valley guide explains how seasonal income is documented.
Start with the parcel number and the title
Before you make an offer on a Kern County parcel, gather the parcel number, the home’s serial number if you can get it, and whatever the seller knows about the title. Then talk with a specialist at Santiago Financial, Inc. about which loan path the property fits. A problem with zoning, access or title is far cheaper to find now than in escrow. This guide is general information, not legal advice, and county procedures change.
