Mobile home replacement initiative now ongoing

The Maine State Housing Authority has implemented a Mobile Home Replacement Initiative, effective June 15, 2018. The program provides the combination of an amortizing, interest bearing Maine Housing Mortgage Loan and a $30,000 Maine Housing grant. The initiative is designed to assist income eligible Maine residents seeking to replace their pre-1976 mobile home with a new Energy Star certified manufactured home on the same site.

The borrowers must execute a deferred, forgivable note and mortgage to ensure compliance with the 15-year occupancy requirement.

Those eligible for this new limited-time opportunity are applicants who own and occupy a pre-1976 mobile home, defined as being built before June 15, 1976, and must qualify for a MaineHousing First Home or Salute ME mortgage in a first-lien position. The first-time home buyers requirement is waived.

The optional $30,000 grant requires a 15-year occupancy compliance period. All the funds can be applied to dismantle and remove the existing mobile home unit and install, on the original site, a new Energy Star certified manufactured home. Funds can be used to pay off an existing mortage loan, to pay for borrower closing costs, to pay for outstanding assessments, and site development costs.

The new units must be Energy Star certified manufactured homes which are permanently connected to water, sewer, electric and other utilities. The home must be anchored to a permanent foundation in accordance with provisions set forth by the Maine Manufactured Housing Board with the wheels, axles, towing hitch and tongue removed. The land on which the home is located can be owned by the applicants, private leased land or in an approved park.

Under the new initiative, borrowers must be credit qualified for a Home Mortgage Program payable loan.

Income qualifications are: in Kennebec, Somerset, Knox and Lincoln counties, $54,480 for 1-2 persons, and $62,640 for three persons or more.

A sample transaction would be $65,000 for a new Energy Star home, $35,000 project costs, to include site preparation, slab, utility hook-ups, removal of the existing home, paying off an existing mortgage and closing costs, for a total of $100,000. Subtracting the credit for the grant brings the mortgage total to $70,000, which, with 4.5 percent interest (APR of 5.11 percent), would equal a monthly payment of $354.68. Costs will vary by case, with interest rates subject to change. The payments are based on a 30-year term.

For more information, visit www.mainehousing.org or www.MaineHousing.org/HomeLoan; or telephone 207-626-4663 or 800-452-4668.