Bloomberg is reporting that mortgage giants Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac may soon be offering financing for buyers of manufactured homes. They report that this move is part of an effort by the govt-backed firms to reach out to low-income buyers seeking affordable housing options. In addition, as a condition of their 2008 bailout, they were required to develop plans to serve three target areas: manufactured housing, rural housing and affordable housing preservation. The draft plans released in early May will be open to public comment and subject to review by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) before taking effect in January.
Buyers of manufactured homes typically are ineligible for standard mortgages because they don’t own the land where the home sits. Instead, they have to get a personal property or “chattel” loan that carries a higher interest rate and lasts 10 to 20 years, rather than the 30 years of a typical fixed-rate mortgage.
Click here to read the full story on Bloomberg.com.
