Texas I-35 Exurban MHP Financing

Texas I-35 exurban mobile home park financing covers Bell, Williamson, McLennan, and Coryell workforce corridors — where BatchData (Jul 2026) records 17,965 statewide flips (#4 nationally) with Harris (2,991), Dallas (2,443), and Tarrant (1,908) anchoring metro volume. The I-35 corridor from San Antonio through Temple/Waco to DFW is Texas’s strongest inland worker-housing belt for sub-agency MHC acquisition.

National hub: mobile home park financing · State spoke: mobile home park loans Texas · Rural SFR sibling: Texas rural fix and flip guide

Why I-35 exurban for MHC acquisition

Central Texas I-35 combines:

• Military (Fort Hood), manufacturing, and logistics employment with year-round tenancy
• No state income tax improving bridge carry and refi DSCR vs Oklahoma peers
• Lot rents lag apartments — mark-to-market upside on legacy operators
• Lower flood exposure than Harris County Gulf Coast pads per Texas MHP peril split

Most I-35 exurban parks fall under $3M — see MHP loans under $3M.

The affordability gap behind pad demand

Lot rent demand in Central Texas rests on one comparison: what it costs to own a site-built house nearby. Even after a soft year for listing prices, that gap is wide.

Metro	Median listing price, Sep 2025	Median listing price, Sep 2026	FHFA price index, Q2 2026 vs Q2 2025
Killeen-Temple	$296,775	$279,000	+1.7%
Waco	$318,250	$309,225	+1.0%
Austin-Round Rock	$495,000	$446,450	+0.3%

Sources: Realtor.com listing data via FRED for Killeen-Temple, Waco, and Austin; FHFA all-transactions index via FRED for Killeen-Temple, Waco, and Austin.

Two things stand out. Austin listing prices fell about 10% in a year, yet the median is still near $450,000. And the Freddie Mac 30-year fixed average sat at 7.28% on October 1, 2026, per FRED. A household priced out of a $279,000 Killeen house at that rate is the exact tenant a $400 lot rent attracts.

The flat price index also matters for exits. With site-built values barely rising, park value has to come from operations — occupancy, lot rent, and expense control — not from a rising tide.

The Fort Hood workforce base

Fort Hood covers 340 square miles and hosts a corps headquarters, per the installation’s official site. The Army lists Killeen, Copperas Cove, Harker Heights, Belton, Gatesville, Temple, and Lampasas as its surrounding communities. Parks within a reasonable commute of those towns draw from soldiers, civilian staff, and contractors. Underwrite that tenancy by checking how many current tenants list a post-related employer, not by assuming it.

I-35 submarket map

Submarket	Key counties	Basis band (40–70 pads)	Lot rent band	Primary risk
Temple/Killeen corridor	Bell, Coryell	$750K–$1.35M	$365–$450/mo	Hail/roof on POH stock
Waco/Temple midpoint	McLennan, Falls fringe	$680K–$1.2M	$340–$425/mo	Municipal vs lagoon mix
Austin north spillover	Williamson, Bell edge	$900K–$1.65M	$395–$480/mo	Competitive bidding
DFW south exurban	Ellis, Johnson fringe	$820K–$1.45M	$380–$465/mo	Hail insurance diligence

Do not cross-comp Houston Harris County park sales into Bell/McLennan underwriting without adjustment.

Bridge terms on I-35 exurban parks

Parameter	Typical range
Rate	8.99%–13.5% interest-only
LTV	65%–75% on as-is
Term	12–24 months
Close	14–30 business days
Holdback	Pad fill, roads, POH conversion, hail-damaged roof replacement

Document hail claim history on POH roofs before insurance bind — post-storm roof age affects both bridge carry and refi DSCR. Bridge underwrites business plan — occupancy at 65%–78% is common on acquisition.

Pre-qualify bridge terms — submit MHC scenario with rent roll and utility map.

Rural I-35 MHC and hard money overlap

Bell and McLennan rural fringe pads share rural MHC hard money underwriting — well/lagoon capacity, 15–25 mile comp radius, and community bank refi at 65%–70% LTV on lagoon utilities. Pair with Texas rural fix and flip guide when evaluating mixed SFR and pad-count portfolios.

Legacy I-35 operators often run $340–$420/month lot rents vs $950–$1,200 one-bedroom apartments in Austin/Waco MSAs — 35%–45% apartment-rent ratio leaves $40–$60/pad mark-to-market upside.

Worked example — Bell County 56-pad TOH

Acquisition: $920,000 — 74% occupancy, municipal water, lagoon septic, 13% POH

Phase	Detail
Bridge	70% LTV ($644,000) at 11.25% IO
Capex	$78K — lagoon study, road repair, hail-damaged POH roofs, pad marketing
Stabilization	74% → 86% occupancy; lot rent $378 → $425 avg
NOI	~$10,880/mo stabilized
Refi	Texas community bank $715K at 7.375%, about 2.2x DSCR on a 30-year amortization — month 13

Coverage check: $715,000 at 7.375% over 30 years is about $4,938 a month. Against $10,880 of monthly NOI, coverage is roughly 2.2x. That is a deliberately conservative refi. It retires the $644,000 bridge and leaves room to add capital later. A sponsor who wants more proceeds would need a fresh appraisal; coverage alone would not be the limit.

Exit playbook: bridge-to-agency MHP

Texas lot-lease rules that affect underwriting

Texas Property Code Chapter 94 governs lot leases in manufactured home communities. It shapes what a buyer can change after closing.

• Who it covers. Per § 94.002, the chapter applies to tenants who lease a lot to place a manufactured home. It does not apply when the landlord owns the home and rents it out. Your POH units and TOH lots run under different rules.
• Lease term. Under § 94.052, the landlord must offer an initial lease of at least six months. A landlord who chooses not to renew must give notice at least 60 days before the lease expires.
• What the lease must say. § 94.053 requires a signed written lease listing the lot, term, rent, due date, fees, deposit, maintenance duties, an emergency contact, and the grounds for eviction, among other items.
• Changing land use. To end leases because the park will be redeveloped, § 94.204 requires notice at least 180 days ahead to tenants, home owners, and known lienholders, plus a posted notice in the community.

Why it matters for a bridge loan: legacy I-35 parks often run on handshake or month-to-month terms. Budget time in the first 90 days to put every TOH tenant on a compliant written lease. Lenders and community banks will ask for those leases at refinance.

Water systems: when a park well becomes a regulated utility

Many exurban parks run on their own wells. In Texas, a well system can quickly become a regulated public water system. Under 30 TAC § 290.38, that means a system with at least 15 service connections, or one serving at least 25 people at least 60 days a year. Adjacent systems under the same owner are combined when counting.

Nearly every 40–70 pad park on a private well meets that test. Before LOI:

1. Ask the seller for the system’s TCEQ public water system ID
2. Look up its violation and sampling history in the TCEQ Drinking Water Watch database
3. Confirm who holds the required operator license, and whether that person stays after closing
4. Price any open violations into the capex holdback

An unresolved water violation can stall a bank refinance even when occupancy and NOI look strong.

Title and tax liens on the homes themselves

Texas titles manufactured homes through a Statement of Ownership issued by the TDHCA Manufactured Housing Division. The division’s public search covers ownership records and tax lien records on individual homes.

Run that search on every POH unit you are buying and on abandoned homes the seller plans to transfer. A home with an unpaid tax lien or a missing title cannot be cleanly resold or rented. Those units belong in the holdback budget, not the stabilized rent roll.

Property tax after you buy

“No state income tax” gets the headlines, but property tax is the expense that moves park NOI. The Texas Comptroller notes that Texas has no state property tax; local units set the rates. County appraisal districts value property as of January 1 each year. Taxes are generally due by January 31 of the following year.

Your purchase price becomes public evidence of value. Expect the appraisal district to move toward it in the first full year. Model the tax line on your basis, not the seller’s history.

If the notice comes in high, the usual protest deadline is May 15 or 30 days after the district mails the notice, whichever is later, per the Comptroller’s protest guidance. Put that date on the calendar in your first spring of ownership. A successful protest flows straight into NOI and the refinance coverage ratio.

Temple vs Waco — sponsor decision matrix

Factor	Bell/Killeen corridor	McLennan/Waco
Employment anchor	Fort Hood, healthcare	Baylor, manufacturing
Typical fill-up	8–11 months	10–13 months
Cap rate (stabilized)	7%–8.5%	7.5%–9%
Utilities	Mixed municipal/lagoon	Often municipal
Refi path	Temple community bank	Waco regional bank

Texas I-35 MHP sponsor checklist before LOI

Request 24-month T-12, rent roll with POH/TOH split, lagoon engineer capacity letter, and 3–5 I-35 corridor pad comps within 25 miles. Separate DFW hail from Houston flood underwriting — roof-forward POH capex hits NOI differently. Document military and manufacturing employer mix on rent roll. Size bridge 12–18 months on value-add files with 15%+ POH at acquisition.

Add three Texas-specific items to that package. First, a lease audit showing which TOH tenants have a written Chapter 94 lease. Second, the park’s TCEQ water system ID with its compliance history. Third, TDHCA ownership and tax lien printouts for every park-owned home. A file with all three answers the questions a Jaken Finance Group underwriter and the eventual community bank will both ask.

Related I-35 corridor resources

• Mobile home park loans Texas
• Texas rural fix and flip guide
• Oklahoma I-44 rural MHP (peer corridor)
• MHP loan rates 2026
• Rural MHC hard money

Upload Temple or Waco T-12 and utility map — (833) 264-7776

Regional example only — Jaken Finance Group lends on MHC nationwide. I-35 sponsors comparing Bell vs McLennan should model hail roof capex and Fort Hood workforce tenancy separately.

Texas I-35 vs Houston flood corridor — peril split

I-35 inland pads avoid Harris County flood elevation that caps bridge at 65% LTV on AE parcels — hail diligence replaces flood on most Bell/McLennan files. Document roof age and hail claim history on POH stock before insurance bind. Williamson spillover parks at $900K–$1.65M compress yield — bridge at 65%–70% LTV preserves refi headroom when competitive bidding lifts acquisition basis.

Fort Hood corridor pads capture year-round military tenancy — model 8–11 month fill-up on value-add files when lot rents sit 35%–45% of local apartment rents. Pair with Oklahoma I-44 rural MHP when evaluating multi-state worker-housing portfolios along interstate corridors.