Manufactured Home Loan Calculator chattel or real property
Enter the price, your deposit, the rate and the term. You get the monthly payment, the total interest and what the whole thing costs.
Two Different Loans
Financed with the land it is a mortgage. Financed alone it is a chattel loan — higher rate, shorter term.
Rates Are Quoted, Not Assumed
Enter the rate you were actually offered; the gap between the two structures is often two to four points.
How is a manufactured home loan calculated?
At a Glance
The arithmetic is the ordinary annuity formula every instalment loan uses. What makes manufactured homes different is the collateral: if the home is permanently affixed to land you own, it can be financed as real property at mortgage-like rates. If it sits on rented land or is not affixed, it is personal property — a chattel loan, priced higher and over a shorter term.
M = P · i · (1 + i)ⁿ ÷ ((1 + i)ⁿ − 1)According to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau guidelines, your deposit reduces P directly, which is why it lowers both the payment and the total interest. On the defaults, the 9,500 down saves 83.95 a month against financing the full 95,000.
Work out the amount financed
95,000 − 9,500 = 85,500.
Convert the rate to a monthly one
8.75 % ÷ 12 = 0.7292 % per month, over 240 payments.
Apply the annuity formula
755.57 a month, totalling 181,337.44 — of which 95,837.44 is interest, more than the amount borrowed.
Compare the two structures
The same home financed with land as real property at 7.5 % over 30 years on 120,000: 839.06. A chattel loan on 60,000 at 10.5 % over 15 years: 663.24 — a smaller loan with a payment nearly as large.
That last comparison is the point. The chattel loan borrows half as much and costs almost as much per month, because the rate is three points higher and the term half as long.
If the land is yours, get the home titled as real property. Converting from personal to real property is a legal process in most US states, and it typically moves the rate several points. On a twenty-year loan that is worth tens of thousands.
Total interest above the amount borrowed is normal here, not a red flag. It is what a long term at a high-single-digit rate produces. It is still worth seeing, because it is the number a payment-only comparison hides.
A larger deposit works twice. It cuts the balance and, past certain thresholds, can move you into better pricing.
Renting the land caps your options. Lot rent is not in this payment, it can rise, and it makes the home harder to sell — which is part of why chattel lenders price as they do.
Principal and interest only. Lot rent, insurance, property tax, transport and set-up, and any community fees are all on top.
Rates here are yours to supply. This page does not assume a market rate, because manufactured-home pricing varies enormously by structure, credit profile, home age and whether the unit meets current federal construction standards.
Older homes are often unfinanceable. Many lenders will not lend on units built before the US HUD code took effect in 1976, and some set later cut-offs.
Depreciation is not modelled. A home on rented land can lose value while the loan balance falls slowly, which is how owners end up owing more than the unit is worth.
A fixed rate is assumed for the whole term.
This calculator is provided for informational purposes and planning purposes only, and is not legal or tax advice. Consult a financial advisor or accountant, and verify the titling, tax and compliance requirements in your state, before financing a manufactured home. Federal Reserve consumer guidelines cover the basics.
For the general case, see the Loan Payment Calculator. For a conventional property, the Mortgage Payment Calculator adds tax and insurance. To see the balance fall month by month, use the Amortization Schedule Calculator.