Were you able to finance/refi with FNMA? We are having a problem refinancing with FNMA because our property has a primary unit and TWO garage apartments (used for extended family quarters).

So Dave, I have a situation that calls for your knowledge. I have submitted a mortgage for refinance to a lender. the lender has come back to me and denied the loan because of the property type. They say it is against fnma guidelines. The property is a SFR with a detached ADU and a detached ALQ. I have provided building permits to show these structures are legal and consistent with the zoning regulations. the lender is saying there are 2 ADU’s on the property and the loan would not be saleble to FNMA. the issue is, the building permits describe the property as SFR with ADU and ALQ. the ALQ has a different name because it is not a dwelling. it is simply a guest home or granny quarters. it is smaller than the ADU also. No kitchen in the ALQ. I have been arguing with the lender because they did close 2 separate refinances on the property within the last year and a half. Now they are saying the ALQ is an ADU also. Is this true? a ALQ can’t be considered an ADU is that correct on my understanding? The fnma guideline simply states Only one ADU is permitted on the parcel of the primary one-unit dwelling and ADUs are not permitted with a two- to four-unit dwelling. Again, this is a SFR with an ADU and ALQ. Who is correct in this matter?

Looking at this as a possible work around.

So there is no size restriction mentioned or bias against a MFH per FHA. However, your local jurisdiction may have a code regarding the size of the ADU in relation to the primary dwelling on the property. Usually, the ADU must be smaller in GLA.

There you go

Who has time to look up and post the FHA policy about ADU’s???

“An Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) is a living unit including kitchen, sleeping, and bathroom facilities added to or created within a single-family dwelling, or detached on the same site. A manufactured home on the site could be an ADU. The dwelling and the ADU together constitute a single real estate entity.”

Another appraiser caught this verbiage in the FNMA policy doc: “….allowing multi-width manufactured homes….”

The word “MULTI-WIDTH” is the key.

I did some further checking on this.

FNMA does not CURRENTLY allow any SINGLE-WIDE manufactured home as an ADU, and in fact, they do not CURRENTLY buy loans on any property where the primary dwelling is a SINGLE-WIDE. This is per their Selling Guide, as of my research on Sept. 8, 2020. Their policy may change in the future. They only process loans when the MFH is a DOUBLE-WIDE or larger (3-4 sections).

On the other hand, FreddieMac DOES allow S-W’s as ADU’s, and they DO buy loans when a S-W is the residence. Their policy is slightly different between the primary residence and ADU in terms of sizes. This is also per their own Selling and Servicer Guide.

I don’t know policies of FHA or VA regarding ADU’s and manufactured homes.