June 16, 2016
Do you have an existing home loan you want to refinance? Your options and choices may depend greatly on your needs, especially if it’s a question of getting cash back on the transaction or trying to get into a lower mortgage payment.
The first thing you should know about your FHA refinance loan options is that FHA refinancing, depending on the type of loan you seek, does not depend on your having an existing FHA mortgage. If you have a non-FHA loan such as a VA mortgage or conventional loan, you can apply to refinancing these non-FHA loans with an FHA cash-out refinance loan option.
FHA cash-out refinancing also comes in a no cash-out option depending on the lender, so if you want to explore this instead of cash-out, have a talk with your lender. FHA cash-out refinance loans require a new appraisal and you’ll be required to fill out a credit application much in the same way as you did for the original mortgage.
For those who have existing FHA loans and want lower mortgage payments, the refinance option to discuss with a loan officer is the FHA Streamline Refinance loan. Streamline refinancing has no FHA-required credit check or appraisal in most cases. Your lender is free to require one but depending on circumstances you may not need to fill out credit application paperwork if the lender permits that.
Streamline loans allow no cash back to the borrower, unlike FHA cash-out refinancing.
FHA refinance options also include the freedom to refinance your mortgage with any participating lender willing to offer you a loan. You do not have to stay at your current financial institution, you are free to find the most competitive rates and terms available from a participating lender.
Refinance loan options are also available for those who want to improve or renovate a home. These FHA refinance options are known as 203 type loans–there is a 203(k) for rehabilitation, and a 203(h) for victims of natural disasters who want to repair and recover from the disaster.
There are specific guidelines for 203(h) refinance loans that may or may not apply for 203(k) loans depending on the circumstances. FHA 203(k) refinancing is not restricted to natural disasters, and borrowers may find options available for smaller projects as well as major rehab.
Do you work in residential real estate? You should know about the free tool offered by FHA.com. It is designed especially for real estate websites; a widget that displays FHA loan limits for the counties serviced by those sites. It is simple to spend a few seconds customizing the state, counties, and widget size for the tool; you can copy the code and paste it into your website with ease. Get yours today:
http://www.fha.com/fha_loan_limits_widget
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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