Guide · Published October 1, 2026 · By Ashland MHC
Buying a mobile home in a park: how it works, step by step
Buying a mobile home in a park means owning the home and leasing the ground under it. It works, but it runs on two tracks people often confuse: approval to live in the community, and a loan for the home if you need one. This guide walks through both, with the Missouri rules and the questions worth asking first. At Ashland MHC in Ashland, MO, lot rent is $380 a month and the home is a separate cost.2
What do you own when you buy a home in a park?
You own the home; the community owns the land, and you lease your lot from it. Manufactured homes are built in a factory to a federal construction and safety code that HUD enforces, often called the HUD Code.10 The lot lease is a separate agreement with the community, and lot rent is its monthly cost.
So your monthly number has at least two parts: lot rent, and whatever the home costs you (a loan payment if you finance it, nothing if you pay cash), plus your own utilities, insurance and taxes. The monthly builder on our home page adds those up with your own numbers.
Why are there two separate approvals?
Because two different parties are deciding two different things. The community decides whether you can live there, through its application. A lender, if you use one, decides whether to finance the home, through its own loan application.
Approval 1 · Everyone
Approval to live in the community
Every household applies, whether renting a home + lot or owning a home. At Ashland MHC it's handled online. How the application works.
Approval 2 · Only if you finance
A loan for the home
Handled by the lender you choose, on its own terms and timeline. Paying cash or renting a home + lot skips it.
How is a home in a park usually financed?
Usually as personal property rather than real estate, because the land is leased. These are often called chattel loans. Federal research from the CFPB found they typically cost more and are denied more often than mortgages on homes with land.9 That's the honest reason to compare more than one lender and to read every disclosure before you sign.
Lenders that finance homes in land-lease communities include the four below. They're listed for your own research only: not an endorsement, not the only options, and every rate, term and decision is the lender's.
- 21st Mortgage Corporation
- Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance
- Triad Financial Services
- Cascade Financial Services
Free help exists. A HUD-approved housing counselor can review your options at no cost; the CFPB keeps a directory at consumerfinance.gov.
What are the steps, in order?
Six steps take you from a first look to moving in. Renting a home + lot skips step five.
Tour the community, not just the home
Walk the streets, look at the lot the home sits on, and ask to see the lease you would sign. The community is half of what you are buying into.
YouGet the lot rent terms in writing
Lot rent today, what it includes, how much notice you get before any change, and any lock or freeze. These numbers last as long as you live there.
You + the communityChoose the home
A home already in the community, a new home from a dealer, or one you own and move in. Each has a different setup and different paperwork.
YouApply to the community
Every household completes the community application. It decides whether you can live there, not how a home is paid for.
You + the communityLine up financing, only if you need it
Paying cash skips this step. If you finance, compare more than one lender that finances homes on leased land, and read every disclosure they give you.
You + your lenderClose, sign the lease, and move in
The home purchase and the lot lease are separate documents. Sign both, set up utilities, and schedule delivery and setup if the home is coming from elsewhere.
You + the community + the seller
What does Missouri law add?
Missouri protects homeowners in land-lease communities if the land is going to change use. Before requiring homeowners to move out for that reason, the owner must give at least 120 days' written notice, and can't raise rent during the 60 days before that notice or any time after it, except for increases based solely on property taxes.11
That protects you at the end. The lease protects you day to day, which is why research from Pew flags the risk for homeowners who rent their land without a written lease: homes are hard and costly to move.17 Get yours in writing and read it.
At Ashland MHC, the lot-rent lock is written down too: No lot-rent increase before January 1, 2028.3 It covers lot rent only; any home payment is separate. The lot rent page has the full wording.
What should you ask before you sign?
Ask these six questions at any community, and get the answers in writing. Here is how they stand at Ashland MHC today.
- What is lot rent today, and what does it include?
- At Ashland MHC$380 a month as of September 2026. Ask Anthony for the current list of what it includes, in writing.2
- Is there a lock on lot rent?
- At Ashland MHCNo lot-rent increase before January 1, 2028. It applies when you move a home in and covers lot rent only.3
- How long is the lease, and how is notice of a change given?
- At Ashland MHCAsk for a copy of the lease before you apply and read the term and notice sections.
- What are the pet rules?
- At Ashland MHCPets are welcome with approval through PetScreening.com.6
- What deposits and one-time costs apply?
- At Ashland MHCAsk for them in writing before you sign anything.
- Can I rent first instead of buying?
- At Ashland MHCYes. Homes + lots rent from $1,200 a month, with no home loan involved.2
Where does Ashland MHC fit if you're coming from Columbia?
Ashland is about 14 minutes from south Columbia on US-63, and every Southern Boone school is about a mile from the community. If you're comparing mobile homes for rent near Columbia, MO, that page lays the rents side by side with their sources.
Quick answers.
The short versions of what people ask most.
Do you own the land when you buy a mobile home in a park?
Usually not. You own the home and lease the lot it sits on, and the lot rent is the monthly cost of that lease. That's why the lease terms matter as much as the home.
Is a loan for a home in a park the same as a mortgage?
Usually not. When the land is leased, lenders typically finance the home as personal property, often called a chattel loan. CFPB research found these loans typically cost more and are denied more often than mortgages on homes with land, so compare more than one lender.
Can I live in the community without buying a home?
At Ashland MHC, yes. Some homes rent with the lot included, from $1,200 a month. That route needs the community application only, not a home loan.
Can I move the home later?
It's possible, but homes are hard and costly to move, which is why research from Pew points to written leases as a key protection for people who rent the land under their homes. Plan as if the home will stay where it is.
What protects me if a Missouri community changes use?
Missouri law requires at least 120 days' written notice before homeowners must move because the land will be used for something else, and it limits rent increases around that notice, except increases based solely on property taxes (RSMo 700.600).