Articles in Category: FHA Loan Basics

December 10, 2021

Appraisals Vs. Home Inspections: What You Need To Know

Can you buy a house relying on the appraisal alone to tell you about the home’s condition or should you shell out the money to pay for a home inspection? That’s a question more than one home buyer has answered in the wrong way. Here’s one version of a very common question asked about FHA home loans, appraisals, and the inspection process. “I bought a house and I am discovering major problems and code violations. I did not have a home inspection and was told the FHA does its own inspection. Can you explain why the FHA inspection did not find these violations of code?” To start, the FHA does not inspect homes and you should not expect the FHA appraisal process to be anything more than what it is | more...

November 17, 2021

Worried About Getting Scammed During Your Home Loan Approval Process?

By Joe Wallace

There are plenty of warnings about mortgage scams, mortgage-related identity theft schemes, and much more. We could go into the specifics of one or two of the more popular variations, but it’s equally important to know how to protect yourself more or less unilaterally against such threats to your privacy, your personal data, and your money. The first type of “best practices” you should adopt to protect yourself against scams of any kind? Refusing to respond to “out-of-the-blue” contacts on social media, text messages, or emails that you did not initiate. People get contacted unsolicited for legitimate reasons all the time. What we’re talking about here is third parties who write you trying to get you to click on a link, provide your account information, or perform some other act | more...

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...

July 7, 2021

Do You Need An FHA Loan Calculator?

By Bruce Reichstein

The short answer is, “YES”, you DO need an FHA loan calculator. But which one to use? There are multiple types of home loan calculators–they all have important functions. But many seeking FHA loans won’t need to use all of them or even most of them. You might just need a little extra information for planning and saving purposes. The FHA Loan Calculator The FHA home loan calculator uses the numbers you provide about your income, hazard insurance, mortgage insurance, property taxes, the term of your loan, and other information to help you arrive at an estimate of the monthly payments you could be making (principal and interest rate combined) and the maximum loan amount you might qualify for on a 15-year or 30-year loan (estimates only and not a | more...

April 30, 2021

FHA Home Loan Rules For Income: VA Benefits, Disability

By Joe Wallace

Home loan approval depends on a variety of factors–your credit score, history of on-time payments on your financial obligations, and your income. Where your paycheck is concerned, FHA loan rules say the income must be verifiable and likely to continue in order to be counted for purposes of approving your FHA mortgage. FHA home loan rules in HUD 4000.1 say that certain benefits may be counted as verifiable income–the rules allow the use of disability benefits to financially qualify for the loan. But there are borrowers who worry their disability income won’t be counted for the purposes of the loan. In cases where such income meets FHA standards, the borrower likely has nothing to worry about. Those standards are found in HUD 4000.1 and start with a basic definition of | more...

April 28, 2021

FHA Condo Loan Rules That Affect Your Mortgage

By Joe Wallace

Some house hunters are surprised to learn that FHA home loans are possible for condo units. There is an assumption that FHA loans are only for first-time home buyers looking for starter homes, but ANY financially qualified applicant can apply to buy a single unit home, a multi-unit property, or a condo unit. FHA condo loans are similar in many ways to other purchase loans for suburban homes, but you should know the differences in buying and owning a condo versus other property types. FHA Condo Loans And The Condo Project Approval List FHA loans have requirements for condos or condo units–these usually must be on or added to the FHA approved list. Borrowers may look for an approved condo project using a tool on the FHA official site or | more...

October 5, 2020

Can I Get A Second FHA Appraisal If I Don’t Agree With The First One?

By Joe Wallace

Can I get a second FHA appraisal if I don’t agree with the first one? This is a common question, normally asked if the appraised value of the home comes in differently than a buyer or seller expects it to. FHA loan rules don’t allow a borrower to be forced into purchasing a home where the appraised value is lower than the asking price, so it’s an issue that can definitely affect a home loan transaction depending on what the borrower wishes to do in such cases. Can I Order A Second FHA Appraisal? FHA appraisals are ordered by the lender, so the borrower cannot initiate any second appraisal requests. In any case, the lender is restricted on how and when a second appraisal may be ordered. Specific Restrictions On | more...

September 29, 2020

Gathering Your Home Loan Documents And Preparing For The Application

By Joe Wallace

Are you interested in applying for an FHA home loan this year or in early 2021? If so, it’s handy to make a checklist of the items you will need to have ready to submit to your participating FHA lender. What do you need to complete submit your FHA mortgage loan application? The lender will need a variety of information from you including documentation related to your job, your credit, and your lender will also ask you for tax records. Some balk at being asked to provide federal tax return information, but this is a requirement of doing business with your lender for a major investment. What do you need to apply for an FHA home loan? Proof of employment Proof of income Tax records (be ready to submit two | more...

July 15, 2020

Common Questions About FHA Home Loan Interest Rates And More

By Joe Wallace

FHA home loan interest rates remain at historic lows in July 2020; FHA and other government-backed mortgages feature rates below the three percent range at press time. Some borrowers see all-time loan interest rate headlines and want to know how they can access such low rates. What do you need to know about home loan interest rates? To start, you should be aware that your credit scores play a part in determining the interest rate you may be offered by a participating FHA lender. How Important Is My Credit Score? For determining your mortgage loan interest rate? Very important. That’s one reason why there is so much advice on line about preparing your credit ahead of a mortgage loan application. Whether you want to buy, build, rehab, or refinance, start | more...

July 10, 2020

FHA Cash-Out Refinance Loans: What You Need To Know Today

By Joe Wallace

Are you looking at the current low mortgage loan interest rates and wondering about your cash-out refinance loan options? If you are a homeowner looking for an FHA cash-out loan, you should know that you don’t have to have an existing FHA mortgage to refinance a loan with an FHA cash-out loan. No matter which type of home loan you are looking to refinance, there are rules and requirements you should know–some refinance loan options are better than others depending on the purpose of your loan. Rehab And Refinance For example, some borrowers want to rehab a home while refinancing it–there is a separate FHA refi loan for that purpose, though the loan proceeds from the FHA 203(k) Rehabilitation Refinance loan can only be used for approved purposes where cash-out | more...