Refinancing your Manufactured Home can greatly help in these difficult economic times.
You may be able to save a bundle on your monthly Mobile Home mortgage payment. A lower interest rate on your manufactured home loan is an attractive reason to refinance. But two other factors should be weighed against that lower rate: refinancing a new loan that has a longer term than your current loan makes for lower payments in these hard economic times. This will help take the strain off of your finances for now, and you can refinance into a mobile home loan with a shorter term later on. This will make for less interest payments over the life of the financing.
Mobile Home prices have declined in many areas and appraisers generally have become more conservative about the valuations of manufactured homes. This means many homeowners do not have enough equity to refinance. However, the federal government’s Making Home Affordable program allows qualified homeowners to refinance even if they owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth. The loan-to-value (LTV) ratio on a Home Affordable Refinance loan can be as high as 125 percent. More information about this program can be found at www.makinghomeaffordable.gov.
Here are the requirements for the Making Home Affordable program:
- They own a one- to four-unit home.
- The loan on their home is owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
- They are current on their mortgage payments and have not been 30 days late making a payment within the past 12 months.
- Their mortgage is no more than 125% of the value of their home; in this case they owe $258,000 on their first mortgage but their home value dropped to $250,000.
If you decide to refinance, it’s always a good idea to seek out a lender or mortgage broker that specializes in manufactured home finance and refinance. They can find you the appropriate combination of interest rate, terms and costs to fit your needs. Also, be ready with your documentation. Most lenders today require a paycheck stub, bank statement, credit report and other information before they’ll approve your new loan refinance.
