As thenewsjournal informs MHProNews, manufactured homes account for 14 percent of Kentucky’s housing stock, with the purchase of about 2,000 new ones every year, but only one percent of which are EnergyStar certified.
“Once being introduced to the SmartMH program we immediately understood the positive impact we could have on communities across Kentucky,” said Tucker Ballinger, President and CEO of Forcht Bank. “Our vision is to be a great community bank, and supporting the SmartMH initiative fits perfectly with that vision.”
Nonprofit Next Step Network, which is sponsoring the SmartMH KY Alliance, is identifying loan products through lenders that meet the SmartMH requirements for customers buying EnergyStar MH in Kentucky. The loans, now available through Forcht Bank, Kentucky Housing Corporation, Key Mortgage Company and CU Factory Built Lending, provide borrowers with good rates, better terms and down payment assistance.
It is hoped the project will increase the EnergyStar MH shipments from one percent to 50 percent within two years. “This has the potential to deeply impact the approach to energy efficiency within Kentucky’s marketplace, and the resulting benefits will extend to homebuyers and the communities in which they live,” according to the plan. ##
(Image credit: Kentucky Housing Corporation)
