How Does a Manufactured Home Loan Work in Horry County?

A manufactured home loan in Horry County is a real mortgage, from the same agencies that finance site-built houses. Whether you can get one on a specific home comes down to a single question: is the home real property, or is it still titled like a vehicle.

That distinction decides everything downstream. Real property opens conventional, FHA, VA and USDA financing. Personal property, which is where a lot of homes out toward Aynor, Loris and Green Sea still sit, sends you to a chattel loan instead. Here’s how to tell which one you’re looking at, and what it takes to move a home from one column to the other.

What makes a manufactured home eligible for a real mortgage?

Four things, and every agency asks for roughly the same list.

Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide B2-3-02, updated February 4, 2026, requires the home to be legally classified as real property, attached to a permanent foundation system built to the manufacturer’s requirements and local code, at least 12 feet wide with at least 400 square feet of above-grade finished area, and stripped of its towing hitch, wheels and axles so it takes on the characteristics of site-built housing. The unit also can’t have been previously installed or occupied at any other site.

FHA says the same thing in its own words at 24 CFR 203.43f: the home has to be classified and taxed as real estate, sit on a permanent foundation with a foundation enclosure beneath it, provide at least 400 square feet of floor space, and have the hitch and running gear removed. If the home was erected more than a year ago, it must have been occupied only at the location securing the mortgage.

That last requirement kills more deals here than any other. A home that was set up somewhere else and moved is out for FHA and conventional financing, no matter how good it looks today.

Manufactured, mobile, or modular?

These get used interchangeably and they aren’t the same thing.

A manufactured home is built in a factory on a permanent chassis to the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards at 24 CFR Part 3280, the rules people call the HUD Code. That standard applies to homes that entered the first stage of production on or after June 15, 1976. FHA won’t insure a home produced before that date, per Mortgagee Letter 2009-16.

A mobile home isn’t a current federal category at all. It’s how everyone talks about the pre-1976 units. Useful in conversation, meaningless on a loan application.

A modular home is built in a factory too, but to state and local building codes rather than the HUD Code. Fannie Mae treats modular, prefabricated, panelized and sectional housing as not manufactured housing, eligible on the same terms as a one-unit site-built property. If you’re looking at new construction in Conway that came off a truck in pieces, ask which standard it was built to before you assume anything about the financing.

Where do you find the HUD tag and the data plate?

Two separate items, and a lender or appraiser will ask for both.

The certification label, the red HUD tag, is a metal plate about two inches by four inches riveted to the exterior of each transportable section so it can’t come off without damage. It carries a three-letter inspection agency code and a six-digit number.

The data plate is paper, roughly letter size, and it’s inside the home. Look in a kitchen cabinet, near the electrical panel, or in a bedroom closet. It lists the manufacturer, serial number, date of manufacture, wind zone and roof load, factory-installed equipment, and the certification label number for each section.

If either is missing, HUD does not issue replacements. HUD’s contractor, the Institute for Building Technology and Safety, can issue a Letter of Label Verification where the historical records exist. Start that early, because USDA in particular requires both the label and the data plate, or an IBTS verification letter in their place.

How do you convert a manufactured home to real property in South Carolina?

Through the register of deeds and the SCDMV, and the order matters.

South Carolina Code Title 56, Chapter 19 lays it out. Under Section 56-19-510, once the home is installed to standard, the owner files a Manufactured Home Affidavit for the Retirement of Title Certificate with the register of deeds in the county where the home is affixed. Under Section 56-19-520, the SCDMV then retires the certificate of title once it receives the filed affidavit, the title itself with lien releases or the secured party’s consent, proof that taxes are paid, and the fee. If there’s an existing lien, a separate lien affidavit under Section 56-19-540 moves that lien onto the real property. Section 56-19-550 covers the reverse, severing a home from the land to move it.

In Horry County that filing goes to the Register of Deeds at 1301 Second Avenue in Conway, 843-915-5430. This is a legal process with real consequences for title, so have a real estate attorney handle it rather than working from a form you found online.

One upside worth knowing about. Once the home is real property, South Carolina Code Section 12-43-230(b) puts it under the same classification rules as any other real estate, which means the owner-occupied assessment ratio is on the table. It isn’t automatic, though. The 4% legal residence exemption in Horry County has to be applied for, and missing it means the higher ratio on every tax bill until you fix it.

Which manufactured home loan programs work in Horry County?

More than most people think, and one of them changed recently in a way that matters a lot for inland Horry County.

USDA. A final rule effective March 4, 2025 removed the old pilot structure and made existing, previously occupied manufactured homes permanently eligible under both the Section 502 Direct and Guaranteed programs. Before that, USDA financed new units only. The conditions at 7 CFR 3555.208 track the list above: HUD label and data plate, permanent foundation to HUD installation standards, never previously installed on a different homesite, at least 400 square feet, wheels and axles and hitch removed, and taxed as real estate. USDA’s handbook, revised by Procedure Notice 640 on May 5, 2025, sets the manufacture date within 20 years of closing for an existing unit and within 12 months for a new one. Given that the USDA-eligible areas in Horry County are exactly where most of the manufactured housing sits, this is the single most useful change in years.

FHA Title II. The regular FHA mortgage, under 24 CFR 203.43f. The foundation has to comply with HUD’s Permanent Foundations Guide for Manufactured Housing, and a professional engineer or registered architect licensed in South Carolina has to provide a site-specific certification with their signature, seal and license number.

VA. Under 38 CFR 36.4301, a manufactured home qualifies for the standard guaranty when it’s permanently affixed to a lot and considered real property under state law.

MH Advantage and CHOICEHome. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac programs for manufactured homes built with site-built features: higher pitched roof, eaves, a masonry or poured concrete perimeter foundation, an attached garage or carport, a covered porch, a driveway and a connecting sidewalk, and energy efficiency above the standard requirement. The home carries a factory-applied MH Advantage sticker or CHOICEHome label near the data plate, so this is something you verify by looking rather than by asking.

What if the home stays titled as personal property?

Then you’re looking at a chattel loan, which is a personal property loan rather than a mortgage. It’s legitimate financing and sometimes it’s the only option, but you should know what you’re accepting.

The CFPB studied this using 2019 HMDA data in a report published in May 2021. Half of chattel applications for manufactured home purchases were denied, against a third of applications for manufactured home mortgages and 7 percent for site-built homes. Even above a 720 credit score, chattel approvals ran well behind. Median rates were meaningfully higher, and the payback window is shorter than a mortgage.

FHA’s Title I program is the one federal option that insures a loan on a manufactured home with or without a permanent foundation. HUD caps how much can be borrowed under it, with the current limits set by Title I Letter 488 dated March 18, 2024, effective for case numbers assigned on or after March 29, 2024. Those figures get reviewed periodically, so confirm the current ones rather than working from a number you read somewhere.

Here’s what I’d tell you honestly: if the home can be converted to real property, converting it is almost always worth the trouble. It changes which lenders will look at you, what the loan costs and what the property is worth when you go to sell it.

What I’d actually do

One thing first: find out how the home is titled today. Not what the seller thinks, not what the listing says. Ask for either a copy of the SCDMV certificate of title, which tells you it’s still personal property, or the recorded affidavit retiring that title, which tells you it isn’t. That one document tells you which half of this article applies to you.

Then send me the address and the year the home was built and I’ll tell you which programs are open. Inland Horry County has more financing available than its reputation suggests, and a lot of buyers out here have never been shown any of it. Get pre-qualified and we’ll find out what you’re working with.

Frequently asked questions

Can you get a regular mortgage on a manufactured home in Horry County?

Yes, if the home is legally classified as real property. It has to sit on a permanent foundation, have the towing hitch, wheels and axles removed, provide at least 400 square feet, and be taxed as real estate. Conventional, FHA, VA and USDA financing are all available once those conditions are met.

What is the difference between a manufactured home and a modular home?

A manufactured home is built on a permanent chassis to the federal HUD Code at 24 CFR Part 3280, which applies to homes that entered production on or after June 15, 1976. A modular home is built in a factory to state and local building codes instead, and Fannie Mae treats it as not manufactured housing, eligible on the same terms as a site-built property.

Does USDA finance an existing manufactured home?

Yes. A final rule effective March 4, 2025 made existing, previously occupied manufactured homes permanently eligible under the Section 502 Direct and Guaranteed programs. USDA guidance revised by Procedure Notice 640 on May 5, 2025 requires the manufacture date to be within 20 years of closing for an existing unit and within 12 months for a new one.

How do you convert a manufactured home to real property in South Carolina?

Under South Carolina Code Section 56-19-510, the owner files a Manufactured Home Affidavit for the Retirement of Title Certificate with the register of deeds in the county where the home is affixed. Under Section 56-19-520, the SCDMV then retires the certificate of title once it receives the filed affidavit, the title with lien releases or secured party consent, proof of tax payment and the fee. In Horry County the filing goes to the Register of Deeds in Conway. Have a real estate attorney handle it.

What happens if the HUD tag or data plate is missing?

HUD does not issue replacements. The Institute for Building Technology and Safety, the HUD contractor for this work, can issue a Letter of Label Verification where historical records exist. USDA specifically accepts an IBTS verification letter in place of the data plate.

About Travis Buis

Travis Buis is a loan officer with Elite Home Lending serving Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand, working with buyers and homeowners throughout Horry and Georgetown counties. A good part of his week is spent inland rather than at the beach, on the financing questions Conway, Aynor and Loris actually generate: USDA eligibility, manufactured and factory-built housing, land and home purchases, and first-time buyers who have been told no by someone who never looked closely. He explains the mechanics first so you can decide, then handles the loan once you have. Get in touch.

Travis Buis, NMLS #1711446. Elite Home Lending, LLC — NMLS #2788023. Equal Housing Opportunity.

This article is for educational purposes only and is not a commitment to lend or an offer of credit. Program terms, rates, and eligibility standards are set by lenders, investors, and agencies and are subject to change without notice. Loan approval is subject to underwriting, credit approval, and property eligibility. Calculator results are estimates only. Nothing here is tax or legal advice — consult your CPA or attorney for your situation.