Two Investment Bankers Met At A Bar And Launched A New Funding Option Designed For Manufactured Housing Owners And Investors

Source: Benziga – You’ve undoubtedly heard stories about how some successful entrepreneurs launched a business on a cocktail napkin at a bar. But for two guys who walked out of a successful gig at one of the world’s largest investment banking firms, that story is a reality. And now the two former banking colleagues have turned that bar discussion into a unique fintech company helping people get loans for manufactured homes.

“We just kind of dove in. We met originally at J. P. Morgan and were helping build their venture bank, But yes, it all got started at a bar” said Ben Halliday, CEO of manufactured home lender Zippy. “We got introduced to manufactured housing, found there’s a lot of misconceptions about it and Jordan (Bucy) pushed me to take a look at it. We got excited about it from an investment perspective and as a way to help solve the nation’s affordable housing crisis.”

According to the Manufactured Housing Institute, more than 22 million Americans live in manufactured homes. Banks, with deposit and liquidity issues have curtailed many of their housing mortgage loans. Because many still don’t consider manufactured homes real property, there are a ton of hoops to jump through to qualify. Zippy is attempting to make that process easier. But a longer journey got the two entrepreneurs to the lending side of manufactured housing.

“We just keep beating our heads against the wall trying to find solutions for our customers and found that even though they were creditworthy, they could get car loans but not for manufactured housing,” Halliday said.

Founded in 2021, Zippy’s manufactured home loan business is available in nine states. The company plans to double its footprint this year and is developing partnerships with hundreds of communities. The company provides funding for home buyers, investors, and manufactured housing community operators.