Mobile & Manufactured Home Loans in Temecula, CA and the Surrounding Wine Country
Around Temecula, a manufactured home is sold in one of three setups: on a rented space in a community, on its own lot in a subdivision, or on rural acreage out toward wine country. The setup matters more than the town. It decides what kind of loan applies, which local office holds the rules, and what you pay each month besides the loan.
The towns here form one market along Interstates 15 and 215: Temecula, Murrieta, Wildomar, Lake Elsinore and Menifee, with Hemet and San Jacinto to the northeast. Santiago Financial, Inc. finances manufactured homes throughout the area. What follows is the local detail worth knowing before you make an offer.
Three setups, and what each one means for the loan
How manufactured homes are set up in southwest Riverside County
| Rented space in a community | Own lot in a subdivision | Rural parcel or acreage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you buy | The home | The home and its lot | The home and the land |
| Main cost besides the loan | Space rent | Property tax; association dues, if any | Property tax; upkeep of well, septic and road |
| Usual financing | Home-only (chattel) loan | Home and land together, if recorded as real property | Home and land together, if recorded as real property |
| Extra review | The community approves residents | The association’s rules | Zoning, access, water and septic |
A home on a rented space is financed by itself as personal property. This is a home-only loan, also called a chattel loan. When the home is permanently attached to land you own or are buying, the two can often be financed together through land-and-home financing, and the appraisal covers both.
California titles and registers manufactured homes through HCD (the Department of Housing and Community Development), not the DMV. That is true in every town on this list, so the home’s HCD record is one of the first things a lender asks about.
City or county decides which local rules apply
Temecula, Murrieta, Wildomar, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Hemet and San Jacinto are incorporated cities, each with its own planning counter and its own policy on mobilehome rents. Winchester, French Valley, Homeland, Valle Vista and the vineyards east of Temecula are unincorporated, which puts them under Riverside County. Ask which one applies to the address, because three things follow from it:
- Rent rules in a community. The City of Hemet has a Mobile Home Rent Review Commission. Riverside County has a mobile home park rent stabilization ordinance for certain parks in unincorporated areas. Other cities set their own policy, so ask the city which rules, if any, cover the community you are considering.
- Zoning for a home on land. A city parcel goes through the city’s planning department. For an unincorporated parcel, the county explains how to look up zoning by address or parcel number.
- Wells and septic systems. The county’s Department of Environmental Health issues well permits throughout the county and septic system permits in unincorporated areas and the cities that contract with it.
None of those pages tells you what a particular space rents for. Get the current rent, and its increases over the past few years, in writing from the community.
In a community, the space is rented and the rules come with it
Most communities in the area are land-lease communities: you own the home and rent the space it sits on. Space rent is paid to the community on top of the loan payment, and it continues after the loan is paid off. How space rent affects what you can afford shows how to compare two communities on the full monthly cost.
Many communities here, particularly around Hemet and San Jacinto, are age-qualified, usually for residents 55 and over. The age rule decides who may live in the home, including a younger spouse or a relative who moves in later, and it narrows who you can sell to. Ask for the written policy before you get attached to a home.
The community also approves its residents. That review is separate from the loan: the community decides whether to accept you under its own criteria, the lender decides whether to finance the home, and a purchase needs both.
Rural parcels and wine country need their own checks
The vineyards east of Temecula are not in the city. They sit in unincorporated Riverside County, in what the county’s general plan calls the Temecula Valley Wine Country Policy Area, which is divided into winery, equestrian and residential districts. Parcels there, and in rural communities such as Aguanga, Anza and Sage, are what most buyers picture when they say they want land.
Land brings questions a community space does not:
- Is a manufactured home allowed on this parcel? Confirm the zoning, and any conditions on it, with the county before you rely on a listing.
- Where does the water come from, and where does the sewage go? Many rural parcels rely on a private well and a septic system. Ask the seller for the permits and service records, and check them against the county’s well records.
- What is the home sitting on? 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.
- Who maintains the road? If the parcel is reached by a private road, ask whether the right of access is recorded and who pays for upkeep.
- What do the hazard maps show? Look up the address on CAL FIRE’s fire hazard severity zone map and FEMA’s flood map. Either can affect which insurance is available and what it costs, and a loan requires a policy.
Buying a manufactured home on owned land goes through these checks in the order a lender, an appraiser and a title officer will raise them.
Count the drive and the summer in the monthly cost
Part of the draw of this area is that San Diego County, Orange County and the rest of the Inland Empire are within commuting reach. Those are long drives, and fuel and time are housing costs that never appear on a loan estimate.
Summers inland are also hotter than at the coast. Ask the seller for a year of electric bills, and look at the age of the air conditioner and the condition of the roof and the ducts under the home. On a rural parcel, add propane and the upkeep of the well and septic system.
What to find out before you make an offer
Six things are worth pinning down for any home here, roughly in the order they affect the financing.
For the other half of the preparation, your own budget, cash and documents, see the Temecula buyer preparation checklist. When you have a specific home in mind, talk with a specialist before you make an offer, so the land setup and the title can be checked first. All financing is subject to credit approval, and not every home or property qualifies.
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. City, county and state procedures change, so confirm them with the office concerned.
