GREENVILLE - A new law signed by Gov. Mark Sanford allows mobile home owners to convert their homes from personal to real property, and clears the way for them to take out mortgages.

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

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

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

In South Carolina, one in five homes is a mobile home, the highest percentage in the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Industry experts say buyers will save under the new law. Although taxes will be higher, interest rates will be lower, said Burch Antley, spokesman for the Manufactured Housing Institute of South Carolina.

Dealers and banks offered financing packages that combined 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.

Mobile home buyers usually finance through dealerships, though some use banks, said Skip Ferguson, owner of Newberry mobile home dealer K.O. Housing.

The interest rate recently has ranged from 6.5 to 9 percent for buyers who roll land and homes together, he said. It's about two percentage points higher to finance a home only, Ferguson said.

Randall said the bank rate typically has ranged between 5.75 and 8 percent for land-home packages, and two points higher for homes only.