Buying a new home is always an exciting time in life. No matter if it is your first home or you have bought many homes, financing always has rules and regulations. If you are buying a mobile home, it must be in compliance with FHA, HUD, and VA requirements for financing. An FHA loan requires a Manufactured Home Engineering Certification for insurance. This may be a term that is new to you, so let’s take a look at why you need this inspection.
A manufactured home is a prefabricated home with siding and built inside of a factory. The home is then brought to a plot of land or a housing community. However, in order to qualify for financing through FHA, HUD, or VA, it must pass the Manufactured Home Engineering Certification. This requires the home to be on a permanent foundation.
A licensed professional engineer or registered architect must check for areas outlined in the HUD Permanent Foundations Guide for Manufactured Homes (PFGMH). Anchorage capacity makes sure that the house is structurally sound and tied down. This is especially important in the case of wind or seismic forces. You don’t want the home to uplift, like in the Wizard of Oz in one of these events.
The inspector checks footings to ensure they are in concrete and the correct size in order to avoid soil settlement. Checking the drainage is important to ensure that the crawl space of the basement will not flood. The over 400-page PFGMH guide is extensive and recommendations will be made based on what is found in the foundation checks. If it meets the requirements for HUD/FHA, the inspector signs off on the compliance letter. If it doesn’t meet the requirements, the inspector recommends the areas to be fixed. It is important to make these changes so it is up to code and in compliance in the future.
The inspection itself is one hour, and turn around time to receive the compliance letter is only six hours. However, don’t wait until it is time to close! Inspections also cost money and this one averages about $450. Remember, having peace of mind is important, and in this case, specific types of loans require it.
Plan ahead when scheduling an inspector in order to know if there are issues with the home.
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