Eight manufactured home retailers joined Freddie Mac’s program to bring education to manufactured home buyers in the Kentucky area.
Freddie Mac is currently working to implement an online education curriculum in Kentucky through its partnership with Next Step Network, which mobilizes a national network of nonprofits to provide affordable housing, and three nonprofit counseling agencies.
New manufactured homes are much cheaper than single-family, site-built homes, as Freddie Mac notes. Manufactured homes carry an average price of $71,600, compared to the average price of is $372,900 for a single-family, site-built home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Because of this, Freddie Mac explained it is important to support access to credit and affordable lending for manufactured homes.
Back in November, Freddie Mac announced its partnership with Next Step in developing a consumer education curriculum for manufactured home buyers. Now, eight manufactured home retailers are beginning to make buyers aware of the program.
The program will pair buyers with one of three U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved housing counseling agencies: Community Ventures Corp., Frontier Housing or In Charge Debt Solutions.
The agencies help those who want to buy a manufactured home but have blemished credit histories by giving them homebuyer education and advice on strengthening their credit and navigating the finance and purchase process.
Freddie Mac’s initiative will be offered through eHome America, an online homebuyer education platform.
Recently, a study by Fannie Mae examined homebuyer education, and explained why many buyers aren’t being educated. Click here to see what the study found, including why many lenders and real estate agents don’t advise homebuyer education programs for their buyer.
And in March, United Wholesale Mortgage recently called out lenders for not educating consumers more after a study from the National Association of Realtors showed 87% of non-homeowners think they need at least 10% down in order to purchase a home. UWM CEO Mat Ishbia explained more homebuyer education is one of the keys to unlocking the market’s full potential.
