How mobile-home buyers can drown in debt

Mobile-home buyers can become trapped in underwater loans that don’t reach a break-even point for many years. The graphs below show how exorbitant interest rates and costly fees create a punishing repayment schedule, while depreciation* of the mobile home causes its resale value to drop sharply over time.

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Fine-tuning

Price

Other costs ?

Other costs financed in the loan, including broker fees, origination fees, discount points, sales tax, installation, optional features, insurance.

Interest rate ?

Chart relies on the borrower's base interest rate, not the annual percentage rate (APR), which is generally higher.

Down payment

15 years 20 years 24 years 30 years

Results

Final home value:

Total paid:

30 years, 2 months

Home value

Remaining loan balance

Source: Individual loan documents

* Depreciation of 4% annually, based on a survey of "average quality" Clayton-branded homes and their average annual blue-book value between 2006 and 2015, using prices from NADAguides. The model doesn’t account for expenses that aren't financed in the loan, including land preparation, installation, home moving and real-estate agent fees.

Thomas Wilburn / The Seattle Times