August 7, 2019
FHA home loans, like any other mortgage loan transaction, can seem complicated at first. Especially for first-time home buyers who have never applied for a mortgage before. What questions should you ask your lender about this process before you fill out loan paperwork?
FHA Home Loan Questions To Ask Your Lender: What Interest Rates Are Available To Me?
FHA loan interest rates are determined by several factors, one of which being your credit score. Your lender will need to know your credit score or approximate credit score to give you an idea of the interest rates available to you, so make sure you bring that information to the lender before you ask.
FHA Home Loan Questions: What’s The FHA Loan Limit For The Housing Market You Want To Buy Your Home In?
Technically, you don’t need to ask a lender about FHA home loan guaranty limits because that information is available on the FHA/HUD official site at HUD.gov.
But asking the lender about this while asking about interest rates (see above) makes sense and it shows your lender you are serious about doing your home loan homework.
FHA Home Loan Questions: Approximate Closing Costs
Every home loan transaction varies, and you won’t be able to get an exact dollar amount on closing costs in the research phase of your home loan journey.
But you CAN ask the lender to tell you what closing costs are typical and customary for the size of home and size of the home loan you seek. At this stage, an estimate or a rough idea is very helpful so ask your loan officer what you should budget and save for in this area.
FHA Home Loan Questions: Approximate Monthly Payments
For this, you will need a rough idea of the amount of the home loan you can realistically afford. It’s good to explore housing in a certain price range affordable to you, so know your price range before you ask even if it’s just an approximation.
The lender will calculate the price range based on the price, interest rate, projected property taxes, mortgage insurance premiums, and other expenses and this can serve as a rough guide to help you budget and plan for the loan.
Get Pre-Approved
Getting these questions answered gets you much closer to being able to get pre-approved for an FHA home loan. You can go online to fill out an electronic form at FHA.com (a private company and not a government agency) to be put in touch with a participating lender who can help you get the right kind of loan for your specific home loan needs.
Bruce Reichstein has spent over three decades as an experienced FHA and VA home loan mortgage banker and underwriter where he was responsible for funding “Billions” in government backed mortgage loans. He is the Managing Editor for FHANewsblog.com where he educates homeowners on the specific guidelines for obtaining FHA guaranteed home loans.
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