Manufactured home swaps
Old home off,
new home on
Clear the aging home off the lot and set a new one, funded as a single loan against the land rather than as three deals nobody will underwrite together.
Start ApplicationThe deal
One loan, three jobs
A lot with a thirty year old manufactured home on it is priced as a problem, because for most buyers it is one. Removing the home costs money before the lot is worth anything, and the money to remove it is the money nobody will lend.
We fund the whole sequence as one loan secured by the lot: the demolition and haul away, the site work the new unit needs, and the purchase and set of the new home. The lot is retained, the home is replaced, and the file is read by one underwriter instead of three.
- Demolition and removal of the existing home.
- Disconnects, pad or pier work, and the site work the new unit requires.
- Purchase and set of the new manufactured home.
- Rural parcels and infill lots alike, non owner occupied, business purpose.
Why it gets declined elsewhere
It falls between two desks
The chattel lender
Finances the home as personal property, on its own, wherever it sits. Will not fund a demolition, will not fund site work, and does not want the land.
The construction lender
Wants a stick built house, a plan set and a general contractor with a schedule of values. A set crew and a demolition invoice do not fit that form.
What actually happens
The borrower is declined twice by people who never priced the deal, and concludes the project cannot be financed. Usually it can. It just cannot be financed in pieces.
What we do instead
Underwrite the lot, the removal and the replacement as one budget with one exit, because that is how the job runs on the ground.
Before you apply
What speeds this up
None of this is required to get a number from us, and all of it is required before a closing. Having it in hand is usually the difference between a week and a month.
- Who owns the lot today, and whether the land is owned outright or being purchased in the same deal.
- A demolition and haul away quote, or at least the size and construction of the existing home.
- What the new unit is: size, manufacturer, and whether it has been ordered.
- Whether the county treats the new home as real property once it is set, and what that requires locally.
- The exit: hold and rent, sell, or refinance once the new home is on.
Questions we get
Manufactured home swaps, answered
- Can I get a loan to replace an old mobile home on land I already own?
- Yes, and it is one loan rather than three. Entrusted Capital funds the demolition and removal of the existing manufactured home, the site work, and the purchase and set of the new one, against the lot you already own. Owning the dirt already is the strongest version of this deal, because the land is the collateral the loan sits on.
- Why will nobody finance a manufactured home swap?
- Because it falls between two desks. A chattel lender finances the home as personal property and does not want the demolition, the site work or the land. A construction lender wants a stick built house and a general contractor. A swap is neither, so it gets declined twice by people who never priced it. We fund it as one real estate loan secured by the lot.
- What does it cost to tear down a mobile home?
- Demolition and haul away is quoted per home and varies with size, what the unit is made of, how far it has to travel, whether the site is accessible to equipment, and local disposal fees. The larger cost is usually what follows: disconnects, the pad or pier work for the new unit, and the set. Underwriting treats demolition, site work and set as one budget, because that is how the job actually runs.
- Does the new home have to be manufactured?
- For this product, yes. A swap clears the lot and sets a new manufactured home on it. Replacing a manufactured home with a stick built house is ground up construction, which is a different loan with a different draw schedule, and we place those with institutional capital.
- Does this work on leased land or in a park?
- No. The loan is secured by the lot, so the borrower has to own the land or be buying it in the same transaction. A home on a rented pad in a park is personal property financing, which is a chattel lender rather than us.
- Is the old home a problem or an opportunity?
- Usually an opportunity, and the reason these lots are cheap. A parcel with an aging home on it is priced as a problem by every buyer who cannot fund the removal. Being able to fund the removal is what turns that discount into the deal.
Related
If your deal is a different shape
Land loans
Raw and infill lots for one to four units, funded before permits, plans or insurance exist.
Ground up construction
Replacing the home with a stick built house is a construction loan, drawn against work finished.
Transactional funding
Buying the lot and reselling it the same day is a double close, not a swap.
From the blog
- How to retire a mobile home title in Florida, and what it changesWhat retiring a Florida mobile home title means, who qualifies, the RP decal, the documents the clerk records, what it costs and how long it takes.
12 min
- What does manufactured home setup cost on your own lot?Every line between the dealer’s price and a home you can live in, from delivery and site prep to the foundation, utilities, skirting, permits and impact fees, with a worked total for a typical lot.
12 min
- Buying land with an old mobile home on itA pre-1976 trailer on an otherwise good parcel scares off most financing. That is exactly why these lots trade below the dirt next door, and how the deal gets funded.
14 min
- Replacing a manufactured home on its own lot: how the financing worksDemolition, site work and a new home funded as one loan rather than three, and the places these deals usually stall.
12 min
- Mobile home removal cost: what it takes to clear an old home off a lotWhat actually drives the number, the costs people forget, and why the removal is usually the cheap part.
12 min
Tell us what is on the lot
and what you want on it
Five questions and a soft pull. If the deal is a chattel loan or a park pad, we will tell you that on the first call rather than after two weeks of documents.