Articles in Category: FHA Loan Types

July 11, 2024

FHA 203(k) Rehab Loan Program Updates

Changes are coming for those interested in remodeling a home with an FHA rehab loan. The Department of Housing and Urban Development, along with the Federal Housing Administration, have updated policies associated with the FHA 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Program. These changes were implemented to modernize the program and make it a more helpful tool for individuals and families seeking affordable financing options for home renovation or rehabilitation projects. The FHA 203(k) program offers two loan variations: a “standard” 203(k) for major remodeling projects that may or may not include work on load-bearing walls. A “limited” 203(k) is available for smaller projects and for what the FHA determines to be “non-structural repairs.” Several fundamental changes have been made to aspects of the FHA 203(k) program. First, the total rehabilitation costs | more...

July 10, 2024

FHA Appraisals: When Are They Required?

By Joe Wallace

When is an FHA appraisal required? For any FHA purchase loan, you will be expected to pay for an FHA appraisal, even if it is an after-improvements approach for renovation refinance loans or similar options. We examine the other situations where an assessment may be needed below. FHA Streamline Refinance An FHA streamline refinance loan does not require an FHA appraisal. These refinance options are meant to provide a tangible benefit to the borrower through a lower monthly payment, a better interest rate, or switching to a fixed-rate loan from an adjustable-rate mortgage. Your participating lender may require an appraisal, which is permitted under FHA loan rules. However, no FHA requirements for appraisals exist for streamline refi loans in typical cases. FHA Reverse Mortgage Refinances FHA reverse mortgages, also known | more...

July 3, 2024

Planning Your First Home

By Joe Wallace

Are you looking for your first home? Applying for an FHA loan might seem intimidating, but there are some things you can do to help reduce those feelings of being overwhelmed by unfamiliar details. This is especially true in an age of confusing information about changing interest rates, modified credit qualifying standards, and options to save your home if disaster strikes. Start Early The key is to start early and plan ahead. Before you fill out loan application paperwork, consider making your planning phase for the loan last a year or more. This takes some immediate pressure off borrowers to save up for the down payment and closing costs. It also provides adequate time to work on your credit and cut your monthly debt. What other things can first-time home | more...

July 1, 2024

Comparing Home Loan Offers

By Joe Wallace

Are you planning to buy a new home? You can find the right home loan by applying a similar process you use to find the right house. In fact, shopping around for the right mortgage loan is just as important as shopping around for the right house. If you are considering an FHA mortgage to buy, renovate, or build a home, you’ll want to make the same kind of informed decisions about the lender and the loan. Comparing lenders and loans is the way to do that. But there are some tips you can follow to make that process more streamlined. Research Multiple FHA Lenders While on paper, FHA loan terms and conditions such as FICO score requirements seem to be standardized, the FHA minimum FICO score requirements are just | more...

June 27, 2024

What You Can Do With Your FHA Home Loan

By Joe Wallace

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 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 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...

Getting An FHA Mortgage After Bankruptcy

June 5, 2024

Buying Older Real Estate With An FHA Mortgage

By Joe Wallace

Interested in buying an old house? A fixer-upper? Does the house you fell in love with need extensive repairs to make it worth owning? FHA loans include options for older homes and fixer-uppers. We cover some key points below. FHA Loan Options Are More Flexible Than You Might Think There’s no single FHA mortgage option. You can’t use one loan to buy any property type that is allowed. There are just too many different options and needs that must be taken into account in the housing market. Want to build a home from the ground up? There’s an One-Time Close FHA construction loan for that. Want to buy an old property and rework it into a newly renovated home? There are FHA loan options for that choice, too. If you find | more...