Rural generally refers to areas outside of larger or medium size cities. Each lender has their own version of what rural exactly is.There are lenders that will lend up to 100% of the appraised value of a rural property. The interest rates are generally higher on these programs due to the risk involved for the lender.
Guidelines and underwriting requirements usually change a little bit and get a little more strict on a rural property compared to a suburban property or urban property. Rates may sometimes increase for rural properties and the allowable LTV's (Loan to Values) will usually decrease slightly. For example if you were able to borrow 90% of the value of your home with a suburban property, you may only be able to borrow 85% of the value of your home with a rural property.
It is usually much more dificult to obtain comparible sales in a rural area. This makes appraising the property more difficult, as well as harder for the bank to determine the properties value
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