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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August 12, 2021

What To Do When Morgage Rates Are Rising

By Joe Wallace

What do you need to know when mortgage rates start to climb? That depends greatly on whether you are interested in buying, refinancing, or even building a home from the ground up. Why? Because there are situational concerns that may affect your decision-making depending on what kind of home loan you need. Mortgage rates go higher for a variety of reasons. Borrowers should know that typically, what’s good for the economy can mean upward pressure on mortgage rates. Conversely, bad news for the economy can mean good news for mortgage loan interest rates. So what’s a borrower to do? If you seek an FHA refinance loan to get out of an adjustable-rate mortgage, your course of action might be as simple as comparing the rates your lender could offer you | more...

August 11, 2021

Questions To Ask About Your Credit Report

By Joe Wallace

Do you dread the idea of looking at your credit report? Some people delay looking at theirs because they are afraid of what they might see, or afraid they won’t be able to understand what they are reading in their own report. Fortunately, there are some questions you should ask about your credit report that can give you a good start in the right direction–these questions will help you better understand what’s in your report and what a lender looks for when they review yours. When you get your copy of your credit report from Experian, TransUnion, or Equifax, be sure to review the report once “cold”, and then review it again with the following questions: Credit Report Accuracy: Open Accounts? Are the accounts listed in your credit report open? | more...

August 9, 2021

Do You Need Help Saving Your FHA Mortgage?

By Joe Wallace

Do you worry about your ability to make payments on your FHA home loan? You are not alone, and the FHA and HUD want to help. There have been many foreclosure prevention measures taken by lenders and the FHA/HUD alike including a COVID-19 related foreclosure moratorium, loan modification options for qualifying applicants and much more. In early 2021, the FHA and HUD announced “loss mitigation options” to help those recovering financially from the pandemic; these included a COVID-19 Advance Loan Modification offered to “…eligible delinquent Borrowers who can achieve a 25 percent reduction to the Principal and Interest (P&I) portion of the Borrower’s monthly mortgage payment through a 30-year rate and term loan modification” according to HUD.gov The FHA and HUD continue evaluating how the pandemic has affected the agency’s | more...

August 4, 2021

HUD Announces Extension To Foreclosure And Eviction Moratorium

By Joe Wallace

The FHA and HUD are extending a moratorium on foreclosure-related evictions in a last-minute bid to protect FHA borrowers from losing their homes after the expiration of a previous eviction and foreclosure moratorium. The HUD official site states that on July 30, 2021, FHA foreclosure and eviction procedures will still be on hold; the agency is extending its moratorium on foreclosures and evictions until September 30, 2021. The previous deadline was at one time “set in stone” and HUD had previously announced there would be no further extensions. But public outcry over the expiration of a rental eviction moratorium gave the Biden administration pause; soon there were extensions on the foreclosure and eviction moratorium for those who bought homes with government-backed programs like FHA single-family home loans. In a press | more...

August 3, 2021

Before You Apply For Mortgage Pre-Approval

By Joe Wallace

A lot of people assume they are ready to apply for any major line of credit at any time. But if you want to apply for mortgage pre-approval, there are some important things you need to ask yourself to determine whether you are truly ready to apply. Where are you at in the current process of planning and saving for a home loan? FHA mortgages, conventional loans, and even some first-time homebuyer downpayment assistance plans require the borrower to make a minimum investment. If you don’t have a down payment saved or have a plan to come up with your down payment and closing costs before seeking a lender, you may not be ready to apply for pre-approval. But what else should you be asking? One of the first things | more...

August 2, 2021

Buying Your First Home With An FHA Mortgage

By Joe Wallace

What do you need to know about buying your first home? If you want to explore your FHA home loan options there are some things to remember–FHA mortgages require a 3.5% down payment, it’s true, but you can apply for local down payment assistance to help offset that expense. A first-time home buyer may have state and local programs open to them that can help. But that’s just one aspect of buying your first home you should be mindful of. Some don’t realize how flexible an FHA mortgage can be. You can select a typical suburban house to buy, but you also have the option to apply for an FHA mobile home loan, an FHA condo loan, etc. One thing to remember about all of these options–FHA loans do not | more...

July 30, 2021

What You Need To Know About FHA Home Loan Credit Checks

By Joe Wallace

What do first-time home buyers need to understand about the credit check process for getting an FHA mortgage? There are many variables but one thing you can do to get a better understanding of what it takes to be approved for a loan is to start trying to think like a loan officer–their job depends on making sure that you are a good credit risk. How can you help the lender help you? What you don’t know can hurt you in the journey toward buying that first piece of real estate. Before you begin working with a realtor, you should know several things about the credit check process. Credit is a major part of home loan approval and you want to be able to convince your lender you are ready | more...

July 28, 2021

FHA Loan Limits: Fact and Fiction

By Joe Wallace

When it’s time to commit to buying a home, you’ll need to know what the conforming loan limit for the county where you want to buy the home is for the current year. FHA loan limits in 2021 are determined annually and occasionally there is an update posted during the year when circumstances warrant. That’s one reason to investigate the loan limits early in the new year after they change–you don’t really know if they have changed or not until you check or are told by a lender or other authority what the going loan limits are. Fact: FHA Loan Limits Vary Depending On The Market Some counties are located in high-cost areas and have subsequently higher FHA loan limits than typical-cost or low-cost areas. Some housing markets have loan | more...

July 27, 2021

FHA Loans: Credit Score Tips

By Joe Wallace

What is a good FHA loan credit score? In general, the obvious advice is that you should try to come to the home loan process with as high a FICO score as you can for best results. But not everyone has the advantage of an Excellent credit rating. What do future homeowners need to know about FHA loan requirements and their credit score? To start, you should know that no two lenders are exactly alike and it is a bad idea to assume you will get the same results from all of them. Don’t assume you can’t qualify for a loan–have a loan officer help you determine what kind of mortgage is right for you. FHA Credit Score Tip: Shop Around Why do we say “shop around” when it comes | more...

July 26, 2021

FHA And HUD Announce Streamlined Foreclosure Relief

By Joe Wallace

The FHA and HUD have announced mortgage relief streamlined for those who need assistance as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those with FHA mortgages have a new “FHA COVID-19 Recovery waterfall” which “streamlines and revises FHA’s previous options for struggling homeowners, reduces required documentation, and allows mortgage servicers to provide greater payment reduction for eligible homeowners with FHA-insured Single Family Title II forward mortgages” according to the HUD official site. “This next step in the evolution of FHA’s COVID-19 response is a significant and meaningful way to help those homeowners who will be at a critical point in their recovery in the coming months and transitioning out of forbearance to permanent sustainable payments,” which are the words of FHA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Lopa Kolluri, who was quoted in | more...