Articles Published in: September 2013

September 5, 2013

FHA Loan Down Payment Assistance? A Reader Question

A reader asks, “Are there any active down payment assistance programs out there for people who have been approved for a FHA loan. Every one of (the ones I’ve seen so far) are saying the program is no longer available.” According to the FHA/HUD official site, “HUD has no direct grant programs for down payment or closing cost assistance. However, HUD does provide funding to state and local governments for this purpose.” Some borrowers, depending on where they live, may be able to apply for down payment assistance via state or local programs. Down payment help is not guaranteed–your state or local programs may not be available or may have expired depending on the nature of those programs. Such down payment assistance program vary from place to place. You can | more...

What you should know about FHA 203(h) Loans For Disaster Victims

September 5, 2013

FHA Loan Credit Score Issues: A Reader Question

By Joe Wallace

A reader asks, “My husband and I are working on improving our credit, but still have low scores, mine being in the 530s and his in the 640s. Although we’re working on improving it, we aren’t to our ideal score yet…Does anyone have suggestions on lenders that will work with lower credit scores AND a lower down payment? (~5% based on the houses we’ve looked at so far).” Borrowers who find themselves in situations like these should do one very important thing before going any farther–contact the FHA directly by calling 1-800 CALL FHA and ask for a referral to an FHA-approved housing counselor. FHA approved housing counselors can offer advice and suggestions for improving creditworthiness before filling out an FHA loan application, and give advice on how to best | more...

September 4, 2013

FHA Loans, Bankruptcy, and Back To Work

By Joe Wallace

A reader asks, “I heard it is no longer required to wait three (3) years after a foreclosure before getting an FHA loan, true? Three years will be October 2014 but I’d rather not wait that long, we’d like to get a house July 2014. I am still in Chapter 13 bankruptcy scheduled to be over December 2014.” “I have been on my job two years, make plenty of money, and have been on time with my chapter 13 payments. I have a credit score of 650 and building. I’ll have about 10% down. Do you think it would be possible to get an FHA loan in July 2014 (3 months before the 3 year mark)?” In the past several weeks, we’ve written about the new FHA program called Back | more...

September 3, 2013

Qualifying For an FHA Loan, “Minimum Income”, and Your Monthly Debt

By Joe Wallace

One common misconception about FHA home loans is that there’s a set, minimum income amount a borrower must have in order to qualify for the home loan. This is not true. The FHA does not set minimum income requirements or have rules about how much a borrower can make before he or she is no longer eligible to apply for an FHA mortgage. In short, the actual dollar amount of your income doesn’t matter. What does is whether you can afford the loan based on the amount of debt you have versus the amount of money you bring in every month. Your lender is required to calculate your debt to income ratio to make sure you can afford the FHA loan along with all your other financial obligations. Here’s an | more...

September 2, 2013

Happy Labor Day!

By Joe Wallace

Today we take a brief pause from our discussion of FHA loans and similar topics to celebrate Labor Day. We’ll return to our regular posting schedule tomorrow. Happy Labor Day, and thanks for reading.