Articles by: Joe Wallace

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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December 5, 2024

FHA Refinance Loan Options

By Joe Wallace

No two refinance loan programs are exactly identical–depending on the program and the lender you may find terms and conditions vary. If you need to refinance in 2025, be sure to check the latest updates to the FHA refi programs offered, including loan limits and other variables that may change from year to year. You’ll want to know the most current qualifying requirements for certain refi loan options. For example, where FHA Home Equity Conversion Mortgages are concerned, there is a minimum age you must be (62 or older) to qualify. That is NOT true of FHA Cash-Out Refinancing or FHA Simple Refinance loans. What’s more, FHA refinance loans do not have the same terms and conditions. For example, depending on the participating lender, these refinance loans may allow you to | more...

December 4, 2024

Mistakes First-Time Homebuyers Make

By Joe Wallace

If you are a first-time homebuyer, there are some pitfalls and mistakes you should definitely try to avoid as you enter into the process of planning, saving, and applying for a loan to purchase a new home. If you are thinking of buying a new home in 2025 with higher FHA loan limits, consider the kinds of mistakes some new house hunters make before you commit. What kinds of mistakes do we mean? There is the usual Home Loans 101 type advice you read in every single finance blog ever written–don’t be careless with your credit, don’t apply for new credit while you are trying to apply for a home loan, and don’t start house hunting in earnest without home loan preapproval. But what about some of the less obvious | more...

November 18, 2024

Buy A Condo Unit With An FHA Mortgage

By Joe Wallace

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) offers many loan programs to make homeownership accessible and affordable for a broader range of borrowers. While the FHA 203(b) loan is a popular choice for single-family homes, the FHA also provides options for those who want to buy condominiums, mobile homes, and fixer-uppers. For condominium buyers, FHA financing is available and those funds may be approved even if the condo project is not on the FHA approved list, depending on circumstances. If you’re interested in a condo in a project that isn’t currently FHA-approved, you can work with an FHA-approved lender to see about having the project added to the approved list. In some instances, if a condominium project isn’t FHA-approved, “single-unit approval” may be possible. This allows an individual unit within the complex | more...

November 13, 2024

FHA Loans and the Credit Check

By Joe Wallace

FHA loan rules in HUD 4000.1 give instructions to the lender on how to establish an FHA borrower’s creditworthiness. FHA loan rules tend to be more flexible on credit issues than their conventional equivalents, but borrowers are still required to financially qualify. Are you looking for a condo loan, a mobile home loan in 2025? There’s an FHA loan for that. Do you want to build a house on your own land with an FHA construction loan in the new year? Some don’t realize the credit requirements in the FHA Lender’s Handbook are identical. For construction loans, borrowers should expect slightly higher credit requirements from the lender. However, on paper, FHA loan rules make no distinction between different loan types and the minimum FICO score needed to qualify for maximum | more...

November 7, 2024

Will Your FHA Home Loan Be Approved?

By Joe Wallace

Will your FHA home loan be approved or denied? There are several reasons why your loan application could be turned down, and some of those reasons have more to do with the property than with the borrower’s credit history or FICO scores. And in some cases, getting turned down for a mortgage is the borrower’s fault due to credit history or FICO score issues. But what about when the borrower’s credit, employment, and other qualifying factors are acceptable to the lender, but the home loan application is turned down anyway? For some, it could be a question of the property’s condition, location, or type. Location Counts Some don’t realize at first that to be approved for an FHA residential home loan, the property cannot be situated within a specific range | more...

October 21, 2024

Are You Ready To Apply For An FHA Mortgage?

By Joe Wallace

How do you know you are ready to apply for an FHA home loan? And by that question, we mean sending the documents to the lender ready for the approval process. Being ready to submit your financial information and other documents for loan approval means having taken certain steps along the way in the planning and saving stages of your mortgage. To apply for an FHA home loan, you’ll want the following things in the list below, and keep in mind that these are needed before you send in your application: Making an offer on a home and having it accepted is the catalyst for getting the actual application paperwork into the system, but some borrowers pre-qualify for a loan before house hunting. That causes some confusion at times because | more...

What You Should Know About FHA Home Loan Credit Checks As A First-Time Home Buyer

October 3, 2024

How Much Do I Put Down On An FHA Home Loan?

By Joe Wallace

There are persistent myths and misunderstandings about home loans. One persistent myth is that FHA mortgages are only approved for first-time home buyers. Another is that FHA loans are only for low to moderate-income borrowers. And a third–and the focus of our article–is that you have to make a 20% down payment on a home loan. What’s the reality? FHA home loans do NOT require a 20% down payment, even if you are at the lower end of the qualifying credit score range. According to FHA loan rules, the most you are required to put down on an FHA mortgage (on paper, according to the FHA) is 10%. That is for borrowers who do not have FICO scores that qualify them for 3.5% down. So why do people think you | more...

September 25, 2024

FHA Home Loans And First Time Home Buyers

By Joe Wallace

FHA home loans are perfect for many first time home buyers who are looking for low down payment requirements, forgiving credit score guidelines, and a home that features refinance options later down the line for cash-out, rehab and repair, etc. But does a house hunter have to be a first-time home buyer to qualify for an FHA mortgage? The short answer is no. FHA mortgage loans are for any financially qualified borrower, first time buyer or not. That said, first-time home buyers may find an advantage when it comes to local or state down payment assistance programs. FHA mortgages require the down payment to come from approved sources; those sources may include down payment assistance from agencies that provide such funds in accordance with FHA requirements. Down payment assistance must | more...

September 19, 2024

Refinancing Questions To Ask Before You Apply

By Joe Wallace

Are you looking for a refinance loan? Refinancing your home loan can be a smart move for some homeowners, especially in times of falling rates. A 2024 Fed rate cut of half a percent means mortgage loan rates may soon begin coming back down to earth, however gradually that process may be. Potentially lower rates mean more borrowing options, especially in expensive housing markets like New York, California, and Washington, D.C. Smaller housing markets may also benefit. More affordable loans, rising property values (depending on the market), and the ability to pull more cash out of the home in a refi loan situation make applying more attractive. Is your long-term home loan goal to save more money over the term of the mortgage? Or do you need lower mortgage payments | more...

September 18, 2024

FHA Home Loans: How Much Will You Pay Per Month?

By Joe Wallace

How much house can you afford with an FHA loan? If you aren’t sure about the final amount of your monthly mortgage payment as a new house hunter, you aren’t alone. Fortunately, there are things you can do to get an estimate on how much to expect your monthly payments to be. Do The Right Math Don’t make the mistake of doing “the wrong math” for your FHA loan. You should not just use the home’s sale price and possible interest rate to make the calculation. Why? The results you get don’t include other costs you may have to pay each month, and your expectations will be skewed (most likely) to be too low in terms of the actual monthly financial commitment. Home Loan Math Variables The previously mentioned calculation | more...