Financing and insurance for tiny homes can be a tough road to navigate. Even though this may be your primary home, you won’t be able to get a traditional mortgage for any mobile living unit. Therefore, we have to get a little creative. Fortunately, certain banks have started offering tiny house specific loans with rates much better than you’d find for a personal loan and the options are growing as tiny homes become more accepted. Even still, there is a bit of research and things you need to consider as you plan out your finances.

Please note that these recommendations are specifically for tiny houses that are on wheels. If you are building a tiny house on foundation for use as an ADU, for example, your options are much greater and simpler, such as a home equity line of credit or traditional home mortgage.

3 Options for Tiny House loans

1. Check with your builder

I would first check with your builder to see if they offer any sort or financing option through partner banks because if they do, this could be the simplest option. I’ve been noticing more and more builders beginning to offer this, and they seem to be similar to conventional mortgage rates. Even if they do offer financing, I would still check with other lenders to make sure you are getting the best possible rate.

2. RV LOAN/tiny home specific loan

If your home is RV certified, you may be able to qualify for an RV loan. The biggest problem with these loans is that they do not always allow for usage as a primary residence. If you go this route, and you are living in your tiny home full time, you need to make sure the lender knows of your intended usage for the “RV”. The good thing about these loans, however, is that they are often much longer terms, usually up to 15 years, so your monthly payments will be lower. They are also generally secured loans, meaning the RV acts as collateral to guarantee the loan. This is useful for tax purposes, as you will be able to claim the RV as a primary or secondary residence and deduct the interest payments of your loan (this is only possible if the loan is secured).

A tiny home loan is basically an RV loan, but companies who specify that they insure tiny houses are generally much easier to work with because they already have a specific agreement in place for tiny homes that may or may not be RV certified. They also are generally unsecured loans, so your tiny home will not act as collateral. The terms are also much shorter than traditional RV loans, generally 1-7 years. In this way, they treat it more similarly to a personal loan but with the rate of an RV loan. Confusing, I know! This is why a company like Credible, detailed below, is a good option to show you all of the options available to you at once.

3. Personal loan

If your home is not RV certified, or you are having a tough time getting approved for the full amount on a tiny house specific loan, sometimes a personal loan may be your only option. The good thing is you can get an unsecured personal loan for just about anything, the bad news is your interest rate will likely be very high and your repayment terms will be anywhere between 1-7 years. A tiny house specific loan will get you a better interest rate, but know that there are viable options available to you if you need to take out a bit more money. My suggestions for getting personal loans rates would be to check out Credible or talk to your local credit union.

Recommended Lenders

Lightstream

To finance my tiny home, I chose LightStream, a division of Sun Trust bank. In addition to other loan offerings, they deal specifically with tiny houses and RV’s, so it took a lot of the guesswork and hassle out for me when I was trying to figure out how to get a loan. They offer loans to people with good to excellent credit, with financing anywhere between $5000-$100,000. There are no home equity requirements and no fees or prepayment penalties. It was super quick and easy to apply online and they’ll even plant a tree when your loan is funded. I did a ton of research before deciding on LightStream, and I’ve had a very good experience with them thus far. (If referred by this website, we may be compensated by LightStream through these links).

credible

Credible would be my go to if I needed to take out a personal loan or to see the options available for an RV loan (side note: they also do student loan refinancing if you’re interested). This is a service that compares rates and terms from multiple lenders and provides you with a detailed rate breakdown for each in order to get you the best offer possible. They integrate with Lightstream as well, so this it’s a great way to see everything all at once. I’ve looked through their interface and it is super simple to use. First, you will specify what the loan is for, and if you want to check out RV insurance, this is available as one of the options. They will ask you a few basic questions, and then generate a list of the best lender options and rates available to you. They do not require a hard inquiry on your credit, nor do they give any of these lenders your information. If you choose one of the recommended lenders, the information you already inputted with Credible is sent to that specific lender to complete the loan application. This is awesome, because I know from experience that you WILL get bombarded with spam calls and emails if you have to give your info to each individual lender in order to see a rate. This gives you more freedom in shopping for rates knowing that your information is protected. I spoke directly with one of the reps to get a bit more info on their process, so I know first hand that they are very friendly and available to help if you have any questions. Their streamlined process helps save a bunch of time and potentially saves you money as well, so I’d highly recommend checking them out.

tiny house Insurance

After figuring out how you’re going to finance your tiny home, it’s a very good idea to insure your investment and get insurance. Similarly to getting tiny home loans, getting insurance can also be confusing at times and you’ll often have to shop around for quotes to see who is best qualified to handle this unique purchase. Most often, you will be able to secure insurance for your tiny house before it arrives at your location. You will need to provide photos of the house, but this can easily be provided by your builder. To make sure you are 100% covered once your tiny house arrives on your property, I would suggest getting this setup as your build is being completed.

traditional RV INSURANCE

As a general rule, RV insurance is the most readily available form of insurance for tiny houses that are RV certified. Again, you have to make sure they offer coverage for people actually living in the RV, not just the RV itself. It’s also a good idea to check if your provider insures personal property inside the home, as this can be a great added benefit if you have valuable items inside. But RV insurance will generally provide coverage for theft of the tiny home and travel, something that is specifically unique to any home that is on wheels!

Mac Tiny House Insurance

Tiny House insurance is a very specific thing, and I could never begin to know what various traditional insurance companies may or may not be able to offer you. I would advise you to speak directly with insurance companies you are already in business with for other things, explain your situation, and see what they may be able to offer you. However, I really think finding a company that deals specifically with tiny houses is very handy and will save you a lot of time and headache.

In light of this, I really only feel comfortable recommending the company that I use and have direct experience with, and that is Mac Insurance. I went with them because they deal specifically with tiny houses, and adjust their policies based on your homes individual features. Several of the builders on my Recommended Builders article recommend using them as well, and for good reason. Everyone’s tiny house situation is different, and Mac understand this, making for a really streamlined process. They’ll insure tiny house that are on wheels, DIY builds, skoolies, and even small cabins. I had a lot of questions initially, and they’ve always been super responsive and personalized in their customer service. My rep worked with me directly to get my monthly payment where I needed it, and also helped accommodate for a policy that would go into effect the second the house arrived at my location. Definitely check them out!