Tucson By Choice!

One of Aesop's fables is the story of the Tortoise & the Hare.  (Not familiar? Click the link!  This is a perfect read out loud bedtime story for little ones.)  It's the story of a race between these two.  The tortoise is slow and steady, and wins the race.

Have you noticed that even as the numbers of agents, lenders, and others whose living is tied to real estate have dwindled this year, Active Rain continues to grow in membership?  We're adding tortoises!

We Tortoises are picking up side jobs, adding to our areas of expertise, and in general, doing what it takes to stay in the business we love.  I believe 2009 is destined to be a "Tortise & Hare" market for those of us committed to the business of real estate. 

I'm adding a proficiency in an area long out of favor with both agents and lenders alike: the sale and financing of manufactured homes.

Active Rain has a Professional Channel for Manufactured Homes.  I'll be blogging about these affordable, lower priced homes on that channel. 

I'll also be blogging on Localism about areas near Tucson like the community of Picture Rocks, a community of one to five acre homesites surrounded on three sides by the Saguaro National Park (west.)  The predominant type home here is a mobile home, and the beauty of living in the desert southwest is very, very affordable.

Are you looking for a manufactured home surrounded by Tucson's warmth and the beauty of the Arizona desert?  Call me.  (520) 349-9090

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender.

Think of me as your Tucson mortgage expert.
Call me if I can help you with a mortgage to buy your next house:  (520) 349-9090

• VA Loans:  100% purchase loans for active or honorably discharged veterans
• FHA Rehab loans for fixer uppers: up to $35,000 on top of the purchase price
• Kiddy Condo loans instead of shelling out big bucks for your student's housing
• Conforming conventional loans
• USDA Rural Home Loans, including purchase loans for Manufactured Homes.

photos copyright Mike in Tucson
all rights reserved

Fannie Mae guideline changes in the last 24 months have made it more difficult to refinance manufactured homes.  They have not made it impossible.  Call me.

In order to qualify for a conventional loan on a manufactured home, here's what you need to keep in mind:

• The home has to be a double-wide at minimum.  Singlewides and singlewides with site-built additions are no longer eligible for conventional loans. 
• The home must have been manufactured after 1976.  There's some dispute about the actual date requirement.  Countrywide's guidelines say that the home must have been manufactured after 1975.  The underwriter, however, said the guides are wrong.  We were just denied a loan through Countrywide on this issue.  If you're 1976 or newer, no problem.
• The maximum amount you can cash out on a manufactured home is 65% of the appraised value.  Start with that number, subtract the existing mortgage (if any) and your closing costs, and the difference is the max you can take.
• The term of the loan will be 20 years instead of 30 or 40.  Again, Fannie Mae guidelines.  The practical effect of the shorter term is a higher monthly payment.  The benefit is that you're paying more principal each month than would otherwise be the case, and you're saving 10 years of interest.  Every cloud has a silver lining.
• You will have to pay about $100. more for the appraisal.  The form for manufactured homes is a little more detailed, and the appraiser has to do more work.  If the original HUD tags have been covered with stucco (common here in Tucson) the appraiser will have to track down the original manufacturer and provide proof of the date of manufacture.

The phrase I hear most often is "It's not fair."  If my home were stick built, falling down, and twice as old, I could take out a lot more."  That may very well be the case, but things go in cycles.  Right now this is how it is, unless you want to pay hard money rates of 13 or 14 percent.

And that's the real estate opinion of this Tucson Mortgage lender.