Freddie Mac collaborated with the Center for Community Capital at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to conduct a survey of home owners in Texas who recently financed the purchase of their manufactured homes. The new research reveals the loan shopping experiences of manufactured homeowners and how they choose between mortgage financing and personal property financing. It also captures information regarding consumer characteristics, loan and land ownership preferences, financing decisions, and consumer satisfaction.
“We were thrilled to be a part of this research which tested for the first time some common hypotheses about why personal property loans dominate the manufactured housing market,” said Dr. Roberto Quercia, Director of the UNC Center for Community Capital. “The assumption has long been that homeowners may not want to encumber their land, that homeowners may lack awareness of available mortgage financing options, and that homeowners may want quicker settlement processes and lower closing costs than traditionally associated with mortgages. The reality is more complex and nuanced than we expected. The research found strong support for the idea that personal property loan choice is associated with a desire not to encumber land. However, the relationship between loan process knowledge and loan type choice appears to vary with the information sources and lending channels that borrowers select when shopping for their loans.”
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The UNC Center for Community Capital is the leading center for research and policy analysis on the transformative power of financial capital on households and communities in the United States.
Manufactured homes are distinct from mobile homes, trailers and tiny homes in that they are constructed to meet codes and standards established under the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974.
