South Carolina manufactured home loans
Highest manufactured home share in the country. The §37-3-308 disclosure rules + the detitling path. · Mike Certo · Cornerstone First Mortgage · NMLS #260555 ·
South Carolina has the highest manufactured home share of any state — 18.8% of total housing stock. The Columbia, Greenville, and Charleston metros all carry meaningful manufactured home inventory, with rural counties carrying far more. This is the state where the largest share of new single-family housing is manufactured.
South Carolina classifies manufactured homes as personal property by default. Conversion to real property runs through SCDMV detitling plus a county-recorded deed instrument. The state also has specific manufactured home loan disclosure rules under SC Code §37-3-308 that lenders are required to provide — Mike's process bakes these into every SC file.
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SCDMV detitling — the conversion path
- Verify the home is permanently affixed to land you own.
- Engineer certification on the permanent foundation.
- Submit the manufacturer's certificate of origin (or current title) to SCDMV with the detitling application.
- SCDMV cancels the personal property title and issues a letter of de-titling.
- Record the letter of detitling, plus an affidavit of affixation, in the real property records of the county where the home sits.
- Once the detitling is recorded, the home is part of the real property and a standard mortgage can attach.
SC §37-3-308 — what the disclosure rules require
- South Carolina requires specific manufactured home loan disclosures at application and at closing, beyond what TILA/RESPA requires for site-built.
- The disclosures cover the manufactured home as collateral, the chattel-vs-real-property distinction, and consumer protection language specific to manufactured housing.
- Compliance is a lender responsibility — failure to deliver the disclosures correctly creates loan enforceability risk. Mike's SC files bake these in.
Programs Mike runs in South Carolina
- FHA Title II On land-home, post-detitling. 3.5% down, 580 FICO floor.
- FHA Title I For chattel buyers in approved SC manufactured home communities.
- VA manufactured For SC veterans buying land-home. Fort Jackson, Shaw AFB, MCAS Beaufort corridors.
- USDA 502 Guaranteed In rural SC — heavy use case given the state's MH concentration in rural counties.
- Conventional + MH Advantage / CHOICEHome On qualifying premium manufactured.
- Non-QM manufactured For self-employed and investor scenarios.
South Carolina-specific pitfalls
- Pre-1976 mobile homes. SC has substantial pre-HUD-Code inventory in older parks. No federal program covers these.
- Park resale. Some SC parks restrict resale to in-place buyers only — confirm before contracting.
- Disclosure failure. Missing the §37-3-308 disclosures creates loan enforceability risk. This is a lender-side issue, not a buyer-side issue, but choosing a lender unfamiliar with SC MH rules can derail the loan.
- Detitling sequence. Cancellation of the title has to happen before the affidavit is recorded. Sequence matters.
Talk to a manufactured home loan specialist who knows South Carolina
Mike runs every manufactured home loan program available, in every state. Direct line: (480) 296-6513 or use the contact form.