Mobile home mortgages now an option

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That would lead to higher property taxes but lower interest rates, experts said. Overall, buyers should save money under the new law, they said. People who already own mobile homes could benefit from refinancing.

One in five homes in the state is a mobile home, the nation's highest rate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The law applies only to mobile home buyers who also purchase land. Those who rent sites, a common practice in mobile home parks, wouldn't be eligible. To qualify, homes must be 8-by-40 feet in traveling mode or at least 320 square feet when set up.

Before the law went into effect, mobile homes and the land they sit on were considered separate pieces of property. Owners received two tax bills, one for the land and one for the home.

Under the new law, a buyer may combine the home and the land, converting the home to real property.

Taxes will be higher, but interest rates will be lower, so buyers will save overall, said Burch Antley, spokesman for the Manufactured Housing Institute of South Carolina.

Since the program is optional, the only current mobile home owners expected to participate are those who want to refinance or use their homes as collateral, said Mark Dillard, executive director of the Manufactured Housing Institute of South Carolina.

Gov. Mark Sanford signed the bill into law.

"It's important to make that form of housing as accessible as possible," said Will Folks, a Sanford spokesman. "It encourages investment in our economy."

Dealers and banks offered financing packages that combine land and mobile homes before the new law was signed. The rates, though, are higher than for a mortgage, said Al Randall, an account executive with First Federal of Charleston.

"You've got one payment, but it's not the same type of product," he said. "Therefore, you don't have a Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae sellable type loan. Therefore, you can't get the best price possible."

Skip Ferguson, owner of K.O. Housing, a mobile home dealer in Newberry, said mobile home buyers have been financing through dealerships, but some used banks.

The interest rate recently has ranged from 6 1/2 to 9 percent for buyers who roll land and homes together, he said. It's two points higher to finance a home only, Ferguson said.

The bank rate typically has ranged between 5 3/4 and 8 percent for land-home packages, and two points higher for homes only, Randall said.

"When you're dealing with land, it's always a better interest rate," Ferguson said.

Paul Alongi can be reached at 298-4746.