The VA Funding Fee on a Manufactured Home
$1,200. That is the VA funding fee on a $120,000 manufactured home loan when the home is not permanently affixed: one flat percent, first use or fifth use. The VA funding fee on a manufactured home splits into two cases, and the split has nothing to do with your service record or your down payment. It comes down to what the home sits on. Permanently affix the home to a qualifying foundation and you pay the standard purchase fee schedule instead, which on that same $120,000 loan at zero down, first use, would be $2,580. Same veteran, same price, two different fees, decided by concrete.
The two funding fee cases for manufactured homes
The VA runs manufactured home loans down one of two tracks. Track one: the home is not permanently affixed to a foundation. Think of a home on a non-permanent foundation in a park, or on land where it was never tied to a permanent foundation. The funding fee is a flat 1% of the loan amount, and it stays 1% on repeat use. There is no down payment tier, no first-use discount to earn.
Track two: the home is permanently affixed to a permanent foundation that meets VA minimum property requirements. The VA treats that loan as an ordinary home purchase, so the full purchase schedule applies:
| Down payment | First use | Subsequent use |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 5% | 2.15% | 3.30% |
| 5% to 9.9% | 1.50% | 1.50% |
| 10% or more | 1.25% | 1.25% |
| Not permanently affixed: 1.00% flat, every use | ||
You do not get to pick a track. The lender and the VA appraiser decide which track your property falls into, based on the foundation. What you can do is understand the tracks before the appraisal, because the dollar difference is real.
The decision rule, in dollars
Here is how the math lands on a $120,000 loan. Not permanently affixed: $1,200, every time. Permanently affixed, first use, zero down: 2.15%, or $2,580. Permanently affixed, subsequent use, zero down: 3.3%, or $3,960. Permanently affixed, first use, 10% down: 1.25% of the $108,000 loan, or $1,350.
One case nearly ties the flat rate: 10% down, first use, at $1,350 versus $1,200. Everywhere else, affixation costs more in fee. So here is the decision rule I would use:
If you are buying a manufactured home to live in long term on land you own, affix it permanently if the foundation cost works. The fee will be higher than 1%, but the home appraises as real property, your rate options widen, and resale stops being a niche market. The fee difference is a few thousand dollars once. The financing difference follows you for 30 years.
If you are placing a home in a leased-land park or a setting where permanent affixation is not possible, the 1% flat fee is your rate, and it is a good one. It does not rise on subsequent use, which is a small but genuine advantage over the purchase schedule: the repeat-user penalty that pushes purchase fees to 3.3% simply does not exist on this track.
If you have already used your VA loan once for a manufactured home only, here is a detail that trips people up: a manufactured-home-only VA loan does not burn your first-use purchase rate. Your first conventional purchase after that still qualifies for first-use purchase pricing. Our second-use guide covers the tiers, but the manufactured-home carve-out sits outside them.
The case where neither track fits
Some manufactured homes fall into neither neat bucket. A home permanently affixed but sitting on leased land, for instance, can fail the VA's property requirements even though the foundation is fine, because the VA wants the land interest secured. And a home that was moved twice or shows structural issues can fail minimum property requirements regardless of the foundation. In those cases the question is not which fee you pay; it is whether the VA loan happens at all. If your dealer says "VA approved" but your lender hesitates, ask for the specific VA minimum property requirement at issue before you put down a deposit. Run the fee numbers yourself once you know which track the lender has you on, so the fee at closing matches the quote.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the VA funding fee on a manufactured home?
For a manufactured home that is not permanently affixed to a foundation, the fee is a flat 1% of the loan amount on both first and subsequent use. A permanently affixed manufactured home is treated as a regular purchase: 2.15% on first use with less than 5% down, 3.3% on subsequent use, 1.5% with 5% or more down, and 1.25% with 10% or more down.
What counts as permanently affixed for a VA loan?
The home must sit on a permanent foundation that meets VA minimum property requirements, documented by the VA appraisal. The lender and appraiser make this determination, not the buyer. A home in a park on leased land or on a non-permanent foundation falls under the 1% flat rate.
Does the 1% fee apply on a second VA manufactured home loan?
Yes, at the same rate. The 1% flat fee does not rise on subsequent use, unlike the purchase fee, which jumps to 3.3% on repeat use with less than 5% down. A manufactured-home-only VA loan also does not consume your first-use purchase rate; your first regular purchase still prices as first use.
Are disabled veterans exempt from the fee on a manufactured home?
Yes. The same exemptions apply regardless of property type: veterans receiving VA disability compensation, veterans entitled to compensation but receiving retirement or active-duty pay instead, surviving spouses receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, and qualifying Purple Heart recipients on active duty. The refund path after a later rating is covered in our disability refund guide.
Is the flat 1% fee ever more expensive than the regular fee?
It can be. With 10% or more down, the standard first-use fee is 1.25%, only a quarter point above the flat rate, but on a large loan the dollar gap still matters. That said, affixation changes your rate options, appraisal treatment, and resale value far more than it changes the funding fee, so compare the whole financing picture, not the fee alone.
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