Articles Published in: June 2024

June 27, 2024

What You Can Do With Your FHA Home Loan

Borrowers sometimes assume things about home loan programs that aren’t entirely accurate. In the same way some assume that FHA single-family home loans can be used to buy an investment property (they cannot) or that the FHA loan program requires you to be a first-time home buyer, there are flawed assumptions about the kinds of home you can buy with an FHA mortgage and the acceptable uses of these home loans. FHA Loans To Build A Home The FHA One-Time Close construction loan is what borrowers choose when they want to build a home from the ground up. These FHA mortgages also allow land purchase with the loan if you don’t already have it to build on. FHA Loans Can Be Used To Install A Home FHA loans can be | more...

June 26, 2024

FHA Home Loan Planning

By Joe Wallace

If you want to buy a house with an FHA mortgage, there are some simple steps to take as soon as possible in the planning and house-hunting stages. There are also a few things to avoid, as we examine below. Budget And Save Money Early Smart borrowers build in some extra funds to cover unexpected costs toward owning a new home. You likely don’t expect the appraisal to include instructions on dealing with evidence of termites or what the FHA calls “wood-destroying pests.” Some wind up paying for or negotiating with the seller to pay for an exterminator. This is just one example of unexpected costs you may need to pay on your way to owning your own home, and adding some extra money just in case is a smart | more...

June 25, 2024

What To Look For When House Hunting

By Joe Wallace

If you are looking for your first home, there are areas of every house you should consider including in your mental checklist of features to look at during a real estate open house or a private viewing of a sale property. What follows is not a complete list but a great place to start when looking for potential deal-breaker problems lurking in the house you want to purchase with an FHA mortgage. The Condition Of The Walls And Ceiling Homes that have been flooded or experienced significant plumbing issues could have signs of water damage in areas like the basement, stairs, and walls throughout the house. Look for stains, patches of wall that don’t quite match the others, warped wood, poorly closed doors, etc. Staining and the smell of mold | more...

June 24, 2024

Home Loan Interest Rate Trends For Summer 2024

By Joe Wallace

Should house hunters dive into today’s housing market? Or is it safer to wait until rates have fallen a bit further? Yahoo! Finance published a mortgage rate report in June of 2024, and that report includes a prediction that home loan interest rates could (as stated by Fannie Mae) remain in the 6% range for the rest of 2024. That affects conventional mortgages, FHA loans, and even need-based mortgages like those offered by the USDA. According to the article, Fannie Mae “predicts 30-year fixed rates will be 6.7% at the end of 2024.” That’s better than the May forecast when Fannie Mae predicted home loan rates could hit 7% by year’s end. The Yahoo! Finance article points out that home loan interest rates are coming down, but slowly over time. | more...

June 20, 2024

Using A Real Estate Agent To Buy A Home

By Joe Wallace

There are many types of homes, home loans, and house hunters. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for FHA loans. Knowing the right options for the right transaction is essential. Whether or not to use a real estate agent is another area where there is no single ideal answer to the question, Is it worth it to use an agent? Some will definitely need one, while others may be able to get the work done independently. Some House Hunters Don’t Need An Agent The borrower who buys a home in their hometown may have a good grasp of their housing market. If you have lived in an area long enough to spot an overpriced house, you might not be as keen on getting the help of an agent. But if you are | more...

June 19, 2024

Before You Buy Your First Home

By Bruce Reichstein

FHA home loans have a down payment requirement, the same as many other home loans. Earnest money is also an important early financial consideration. Planning and saving for both are part of the loan process, and you want to start as early as possible. Below, we examine some common issues related to both down payments and earnest money. What To Know Earnest Money And Down Payment Money Earnest money is paid at offer time. You do not pay earnest money at closing time. A down payment is made on closing day in addition to closing costs. Earnest money is paid into an escrow account. In the event that an FHA loan is canceled, the earnest money may be refunded to the borrower in the right circumstances, such as when the | more...

June 18, 2024

FHA Loan Options: What To Ask The Lender

By Joe Wallace

If you have never purchased a home and aren’t sure where to begin, you’ll find plenty of advice about what to do, but some steps are more important in the early stages of the process than others. One common loan planning step is to compare multiple financial institutions to see who offers the most competitive rates and terms. Some borrowers are tempted to skip this step or truncate it. But that’s not a good idea. The home loan process should always include comparing multiple lenders, but if you’ve never tried that before, here are some things you should know that may help you save valuable time in the planning process. Choose The Right Loan For You Decide early what type of home loan is best for your situatiuon. Remember that | more...

June 17, 2024

FHA Manufactured Housing Rules You Should Know

By Joe Wallace

FHA announced changes to the FHA loan limit structure in early 2024. Those changes included updating FHA Title I manufactured loan limits which had not been changed in 15 years at press time. The FHA Title I Manufactured Home Loan program offers higher loan limits now, part of an effort to provide more affordable housing. “The increases better align with current market prices and are expected to encourage more lenders to offer the program to homebuyers seeking to purchase manufactured homes and the lots on which they sit” according to a press release at HUD.gov. Making Manufactured Housing More Available These changes are the first serious FHA manufactured home loan update since 2008. HUD Secretary Martha Fudge calls the move an option to alleviate an “affordable housing supply crisis” by | more...

June 13, 2024

Buying A Home: How To Inspect A House

By Joe Wallace

Borrowers should always pay a licensed pro to inspect a home as a condition of buying a house. But before paying for that important service, the borrower has to look at multiple homes to find the right one to make an offer on. That process can be daunting for some first-time home buyers. What do you need to look for in a home’s physical condition to decide whether to buy? Inspecting The House In some cases you can learn by looking and researching later. When reviewing the basement, do you see cracked walls? A bit of research reveals that may be a symptom of a foundation problem, which is a serious issue. Another red flag is evidence of “excessive moisture” in the crawl space where applicable. Pooling water in the | more...

June 12, 2024

FHA Appraisals: What To Remember

By Bruce Reichstein

The FHA appraisal is one of the most important pre-closing day aspects of your home loan process. Without an appraisal, your lender can’t know if the home meets minimum basic standards for safety, remaining economic life, and serviceability. The lender also can’t make a realistic judgment about the fair market value of the home without an appraisal. What should you know about this process and how it affects you? FHA appraisals are a tool for the lender and not a tool for the borrower. You may be privy to the results of the appraisal, but that does not mean it was designed to help you as a borrower. It is not meant to tell the borrower anything actionable, especially where the condition of the home is concerned. That is the | more...