What happens during the appraisal?
The primary purpose of the appraisal is to determine the value of a property using similar properties called "comparables."
Nov 30, 2020
Manufactured homes are generally financable with a few stipulations:
- Home must be manufactured after June, 1976.
- Home must be on a permanent foundation with wheels and axles removed.
- Must be doublewide or larger (no singlewides)
- The home can only have been moved once - from the factory to the current site.
- A manufactured home cannot be financed as an investment property (primary residence or second home only).
- The manufactured home must be the only home on the parcel. Conventional and government financing is not available for two manufactured homes on one parcel or one manufactured home and one stick built home (including ADUs) on one parcel.
- No manufactured homes on leased land.
Manufactured homes may require a foundation inspection or structural engineer's report (especially for government loans).
And the appraiser may check to see that L&I inspections have been obtained. Check here to see the kinds of modifications that require an L&I permit. I recommend that real estate agents look for things that couldn't possibly be original to the home. For instance, if your 1984 manufactured home has a fancy new tankless hot water heater, it probably needs an L&I inspection.
Don't worry if permits weren't obtained from L&I at the time the modification was made. They're fairly easy to get after the fact and not terribly expensive.
