Shafer Terrace + Redfield Court · Shafer, MN 1-800-209-1533 Join the list
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Buying a home in Shafer

Two approvals.One home.

Homes at Shafer Terrace and Redfield Court come up for sale only when a resident sells, and not often. When one does, you need two separate yeses: the community's, to live here, and a lender's, if you're not paying cash. Here's how each one works, what two recent homes sold for, and a calculator for your own numbers.

Get resale alerts 1-800-209-1533 Text

Approval 1 · from the community

To live here

  • You fill out a residency application for Shafer Terrace or Redfield Court.
  • It's reviewed against written screening criteria. You get those criteria, and Minnesota's required notice, with the application.
  • If you're turned down, Minnesota law lets you ask in writing for the reason.
  • Minnesota law bars entrance fees, and a security deposit can't be more than two months' rent.
  • The sale of a home in the community isn't final until the community approves the buyer as a resident.
Start a residency application

Found a home for sale here? Call George at 1-800-209-1533 before you apply, so George can walk you through it.

Read Minnesota's notice to prospective residents

Approval 2 · from a lender

To pay for the home

Cash works. So does a loan, but it's a different kind of loan than a house mortgage. Because you own the home and rent the land, it's usually financed as personal property, sometimes called a chattel loan. The CFPB found these loans tend to carry higher rates and shorter terms than mortgages, so shop more than one lender.

Lenders that finance homes in land-lease communities include:

Listed so you know where to start, not as a recommendation. The community doesn't make loans or set loan terms; each lender decides approval, rate and terms. A free HUD-approved housing counselor can help you compare offers: find one through the CFPB.

Source: CFPB, Manufactured Housing Finance: New Insights from the HMDA Data (May 2021). All sources

In order

How a resale purchase usually goes

  1. Get on the list

    Pick a community and ask for resale alerts. Homes here don't come up often.

  2. See the home

    A resident, or their agent, shows it. Ask George anything about the lot and the community.

  3. Apply to live here

    Submit the residency application. The community reviews it against its written criteria.

  4. Line up payment

    Cash, or a loan from a lender that finances homes in communities.

  5. Close and move in

    Once you're approved as a resident, the sale can be final. You sign the lot lease and the home is yours.

Estimate

Estimate a monthly total

Enter your own numbers. Nothing is filled in for you except lot rent, which is the current rent for each community. Get real loan terms from a lender.

What the estimate leaves out

  • Utilities. They depend on the home, so ask the seller what they paid. At Shafer Terrace, water and sewer come through the City of Shafer, and gas and electric through Xcel Energy.
  • What lot rent covers. Trash pickup and snow plowing of the community's roads, at both communities (each community's lot lease). Everything else on the lot is yours to pay and keep up.
  • Rent changes. Minnesota requires 60 days' written notice of a rent increase and allows at most two in any 12 months. What Minnesota law says about lot rent.
  • A tax refund. Owners who live in the home may qualify for Minnesota's Homestead Credit Refund on Form M1PR, not the Renter's Credit. How it works for a home on rented land.

Sources: Minnesota Statutes, section 327C.06 (rent increases); Minnesota Department of Revenue, Homeowner's Homestead Credit Refund. All sources

Your estimate

Enter a price, down payment, APR and term to see an estimate.

Estimate only, based on the numbers you enter. It isn't a loan offer, approval or quote. Your actual APR, down payment and term depend on your credit, the lender and the home, and every loan is subject to credit approval. Utilities aren't included.

Resale alerts

Hear when a home comes up

Same list, same form. Pick a community and George will let you know when a home or home site opens. New to the area? Here's where Shafer sits in Chisago County.

Which community?

$500 a month lot rent

Boat and RV storage on site · wide streets · Rarely an opening. Join the list.

$400 a month lot rent

18 homes on one circle, next door · Full, with a waitlist.

$400 or $500 a month lot rent

Call me for whichever opens first.

When a home or home site opens, George reaches out to people on the list. Joining the list isn't an application. Before you apply, you'll get Minnesota's required notice to prospective residents and our written screening criteria.