Q: I am interested in a well built (already had an inspection) round home. I have 70 percent for a down payment and still cannot find financing for the remaining 30 percent. Any advice? Thank you so much!
A: Finding financing for a unique home can be a challenge! We can't offer a specific suggestion for a lender or a financing avenue to explore, but there is an industry guide with a lookup tool that might help.
A trade publication may help you
A mortgage trade publication has a tool that may help you. Scotsman Guide's / LenderSearch lender lookup tool is aimed at professionals, but you may be able to use it to your advantage, too. According to their website, Scotsman Guide seeks to "empower mortgage professionals to thrive through informative media and creative financial technology solutions."
How it works
While it's free to use, you'll have to register with the site to use it, of course, and some basis criteria about the loan you are seeking needs to be added (down payment, price, property type etc.) as well as where the property is located. For purchasing a home, the search tool allows you to look for "niche property types" and that's the avenue you'll want to explore.
If that doesn’t help…
If the LenderSearch tool does not return any results, finding a lender will be a manual process, as you'll need to call all available lenders and ask if they finance "unusual" properties. Your best bet in this regard is finding a lender who write mortgage loans for their own books (known as “portfolio lenders”). You might also consider engaging the help of an experienced mortgage broker, who may have access to additional lenders or even private investor sources that can help fund your purchase.
Talk to the seller
Also, if the property was financed before (or ever) you might ask the seller about the party who wrote any previous loans. This information may also be available from any public property records, available from the local real estate registrar's office or even online at sources such as NETROnline or the local county or parish registrar's offices.
You can also research other unusual properties in or near your location (or anywhere) and reach out to those folks for some guidance.
