A repeat manufactured housing operator closed a 62 lot community using a Requity mobile home park bridge loan in 18 days, four days ahead of a hard seller deadline the seller refused to extend. A conventional lender had already spent three weeks in underwriting and could not commit to the date, and on in-place lot rent that lender was sizing to under 50 percent loan to value. Three things made the timeline work: the borrower submitted a complete file on day one, the appraisal and survey had already been ordered during the failed bank process so nothing had to be restarted, and the loan was structured as interest only bridge debt sized against as-is value rather than depressed trailing income.
Mobile home park bridge loan - short-term, interest only financing used to acquire or reposition a manufactured housing community before its income supports permanent debt. Requity Lending prices these between 8.5 percent and 12 percent, with 12 percent as a hard ceiling we do not exceed.
The Deal at a Glance
| Asset | 62 lot manufactured housing community |
| Occupancy at close | 58 of 62 lots (94 percent) |
| Rent position | Lot rent below local market |
| Conventional loan sizing | Under 50 percent LTV on in-place lot rent |
| Seller deadline | 21 days from signed purchase agreement, no extension offered |
| Prior lender | Conventional lender, three weeks into underwriting, could not commit to the date |
| Third party reports | Appraisal and survey already ordered through the prior lender |
| Actual close | 18 days |
| Structure | Interest only bridge, Requity Lending |
| Planned exit | Refinance into permanent mobile home park financing after stabilization |
Why Could the Conventional Lender Not Close?
Two obstacles killed the conventional path, and neither was about borrower quality.
Calendar Math
A bank or agency execution on a manufactured housing community runs 60 to 90 days from application to funding. Third party reports alone often consume three to four weeks. Twenty one days was never a realistic target for that channel, regardless of how strong the sponsor looked on paper.
The Loan Was Sizing to Under 50 Percent LTV
This is the part that matters more, and it is the part borrowers consistently misread. The bank's problem was not that the loan-to-value cap was too tight. It was that the LTV cap never came into play at all.
Permanent lenders size to the lowest of three constraints: an LTV limit, a minimum debt service coverage ratio, and a debt yield floor. On a community with below-market lot rent, the coverage test binds long before the LTV test does. Working from in-place lot income, the conventional loan was sizing to under 50 percent of the purchase price. The borrower was not being asked for a 25 or 30 percent down payment. They were being asked to fund more than half the acquisition in cash on an asset the market prices on stabilized potential, not on trailing income.
Two forces compress in-place NOI at the same time, and most borrowers only model one of them. Lot rent sits below market on the revenue side. Then the lender charges normalized expenses against it on the cost side, including a management fee imputed whether or not the seller pays one and per-pad replacement reserves the seller may not be funding at all. Depressed revenue divided into normalized expenses is what drives coverage-constrained proceeds down toward half the purchase price. A seller-operated park with a suspiciously good expense ratio makes this worse, not better, because the lender prices the unpaid owner labor back in.
The gap between a sub-50 percent LTV bank quote and a purchase price set on stabilized economics is not a negotiating problem. It is the entire reason bridge debt exists on this asset class. Requity sized against as-is value with a credible stabilized exit rather than against trailing coverage, which is what allowed the borrower to close without writing a check for more than half the deal.
The Diligence Was Already Paid For
This is the part of the timeline that most borrowers miss, and it deserves more credit than the lender does.
Before the conventional lender withdrew, the borrower had already authorized the appraisal and had the survey commissioned. Those are the two longest-lead items on a commercial real estate closing. An appraisal on a manufactured housing community commonly runs two to four weeks, and an ALTA survey can run three to six weeks depending on surveyor backlog in the market. On a 21 day clock, either one ordered fresh is the item that ends the conversation.
Because the borrower had authorized both early rather than waiting to see how underwriting went, Requity did not have to restart either. We relied on the existing work instead of re-ordering it. That single fact is most of the reason 18 days was arithmetically possible. Roughly three weeks of third party diligence had already been spent, just under another lender's letterhead.
Most borrowers do the opposite, and the instinct is understandable. Third party reports cost real money out of pocket, so the temptation is to delay authorizing them until the loan feels certain. This borrower authorized them as soon as the bank asked. When the bank walked, that decision was the difference between salvageable diligence and starting from zero with three weeks left.
How the Bridge Loan Was Structured
Requity Lending structured interest only bridge debt priced within our standard 8.5 percent to 12 percent range. Interest only matters more than borrowers expect on a value-add community. During the repositioning window, the operator is spending cash on infill, deferred maintenance, and rent notices. Amortization during that period pulls capital away from the work that actually creates the refinance. Holding monthly carry flat and predictable is what makes the business plan executable.
Standardized pricing also bought time. The borrower knew the range before the term sheet arrived, so not one day of the 18 went to negotiating rate. When a borrower has three weeks left because someone else already burned three, every day spent arguing about pricing is a day not spent clearing title.
The exit was underwritten at the same time as the acquisition. We do not write bridge paper without a credible takeout, which on this asset means permanent debt sized against stabilized lot income once rents move toward market and the remaining four vacant lots are filled. That is also the moment the coverage math flips: the same asset that sized to sub-50 percent leverage on in-place rent supports conventional proceeds once the rent roll reflects the market.
The 18 Day Closing Timeline
- Day 1: Application and full document package submitted, including rent roll, purchase agreement, two prior years of operating statements, and the appraisal and survey already ordered through the prior lender.
- Day 4: Term sheet issued and signed, with no pricing negotiation.
- Day 9: Title opened and diligence review underway against the existing appraisal and survey. No new third party reports ordered.
- Day 15: Underwriting cleared to close.
- Day 18: Funded and recorded, four days ahead of the seller deadline.
What We See in Practice
Across the loans we have originated, the variable that determines closing speed is almost never the lender. It is the borrower. Two things separate a two week close from a six week close, and both are decided before the borrower ever contacts us.
The first is the completeness of the day one file. A borrower who sends a rent roll, a purchase agreement, and two years of operating statements in the first submission will beat a borrower with a better asset and a partial file by a week or more. Every document that arrives late resets a downstream dependency.
The second is whether third party reports are already moving. Authorize the appraisal and get the survey commissioned as soon as your first lender asks, not after you feel certain the loan will close. If that lender falls out, the reports are the only part of the process you cannot compress, and having them in hand is worth more than any lender's stated turnaround time. Ask the outgoing lender for the report and the engagement letter in the same email.
On the underwriting side, the misconception that costs manufactured housing borrowers the most money is this: banks underwrite these communities on lot income and lot expenses only. Income from park-owned homes is generally excluded from the sizing calculation. Borrowers routinely build a pro forma that blends lot rent and home rent, then get surprised when the loan sizes 20 to 30 percent below what they modeled, or in a case like this one, at less than half the purchase price. A minority of banks will lend against park-owned homes, and separate line of credit products exist for home inventory, but the base case is lot income only.
Related to that, commercial debt service coverage on a community is calculated as net operating income divided by annual debt service, after all operating expenses. That is a different formula from residential DSCR on a one to four unit rental, which uses gross rent over PITIA. Borrowers coming from the residential side frequently apply the wrong one, overestimate their coverage, and are genuinely surprised when the term sheet arrives at half the leverage they modeled.
Bridge, Agency, or CMBS for Manufactured Housing
Each channel is right for a different moment in the asset's life. Manufactured housing is tracked by the U.S. Census Bureau's Manufactured Housing Survey as a distinct housing segment, and the lending market around it is similarly segmented.
| Channel | Typical close | Sizing basis | Best use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Requity bridge | 2 to 3 weeks | As-is value with a credible stabilized exit | Deadline acquisitions, below-market rents, occupancy under 90 percent |
| Agency (Fannie / Freddie) | 60 to 90 days | Stabilized lot income, coverage constrained | Long-term hold on an already stabilized community |
| CMBS | 60 to 120 days | Debt yield | Larger balance, stabilized, rate-sensitive holds |
| Local bank | 45 to 75 days | Lot income plus sponsor balance sheet | Relationship borrowers with no deadline pressure |
The agency channel also carries physical eligibility screens that disqualify a meaningful share of communities on day one, including paved road requirements, restrictions on private wastewater treatment plants, and minimum tenant-owned home percentages. Current program parameters are published by Fannie Mae Multifamily. If a community fails one of those screens, bridge debt is not a preference, it is the only near-term option until the deficiency is cured.
Working against a deadline right now? Request a bridge loan quote and get a file open before your inspection period closes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did the bank only offer 50 percent LTV on a mobile home park?
Because the loan was constrained by debt service coverage, not by the loan-to-value cap. Permanent lenders size to the lowest of LTV, DSCR, and debt yield, and on a park with below-market lot rent the coverage test binds first. Normalized expenses, including an imputed management fee, compress in-place NOI further, which pushes coverage-constrained proceeds well below the stated LTV maximum.
How fast can a mobile home park bridge loan close?
Two to three weeks is realistic when the borrower submits a complete file at application. This deal funded in 18 days, and it moved that fast partly because the appraisal and survey had already been ordered through a prior lender. If third party reports have to be ordered fresh, add two to four weeks for the appraisal and up to six for a survey.
What are mobile home park bridge loan rates?
Requity Lending prices bridge loans between 8.5 percent and 12 percent, with 12 percent as a hard ceiling. Pricing within that range depends on leverage, occupancy, sponsor experience, and the strength of the takeout.
Can a new lender use the appraisal my last lender ordered?
Sometimes, and it depends on the lender type. A federally regulated bank faces strict requirements before it can rely on an appraisal prepared for another institution, and it cannot use a borrower-provided report at all. A non-bank balance sheet lender sets its own valuation policy and has more room to rely on recent third party work. Ask the question directly on the first call, because the answer tells you whether your closing date is achievable.
Does a lender count park-owned home income?
Generally no. Most lenders underwrite manufactured housing communities on lot income and lot expenses only, excluding revenue from park-owned homes. A minority of banks will lend against home inventory, and separate line of credit products exist for that purpose.
What happens after a mobile home park bridge loan?
The bridge is repaid through a refinance into permanent debt once stabilized income supports the loan amount, or through a sale. Requity underwrites the exit at origination rather than after funding.
Get a Quote on Your Community
Requity Lending originates bridge loans from $200K to $10M across manufactured housing communities, RV parks, and commercial real estate. We operate in these asset classes ourselves, which is why our underwriting starts with pad counts and lot economics instead of a generic commercial checklist. Review our lending programs, see our portfolio and track record, or explore RV park financing if your deal sits in outdoor hospitality.
About the author
Dylan Marma, CCIM is CEO of Requity Group, a vertically integrated real estate investment and lending platform headquartered in Tampa, Florida. He has led 32+ property acquisitions and 70+ bridge loan originations across $150M+ in assets under management, and invests alongside Requity's investors in every transaction.