Articles Tagged With: FHA Appraisals

What Credit Score Is Needed For An FHA Mortgage?

December 7, 2018

How FHA Home Loan Appraisals Differ From Home Inspections

If you are serious about buying a particular home with an FHA mortgage loan, one of the big steps in the process heading toward loan approval is the FHA appraisal. The appraisal process and the home inspection are not the same thing, do not address the same concerns, and are intended for different users. What are these differences and why should you as the house hunter care about them? FHA Appraisals Are A Lender’s Tool The home that is appraised by an FHA fee appraiser does so in service of the lender, not the borrower. The lender is interested in knowing that the home meets minimum FHA standards and applicable building codes. The lender is also interested in setting a fair market value for the home; that is done by | more...

November 9, 2018

FHA Mortgage Loan, Dropping Home Prices, And Your Appraisal

By Joe Wallace

You may read articles discussing home prices moving lower on real estate blogs or lending websites; when house prices move from one part of a cycle to another there is sometimes confusion related to the valuation of a home. Why would an FHA borrower looking at a house in a neighborhood or housing market with prices trending in one direction get back an FHA appraisal indicating that the home the buyer wants isn’t valued in the same way? Higher or lower, why does one home get valued “as expected” when another one does not? There are a set of variables at work in the appraisal process that include not only the age/condition of the home, but also how other houses stack up against the one you want to purchase with | more...

October 10, 2018

Four Reasons You Need A Home Inspection After The FHA Appraisal

By Joe Wallace

There are four good reasons why you need a home inspection as well as an FHA appraisal on the home you want to buy with an FHA mortgage. Some FHA loan applicants are tempted to sign on the dotted line based on the results of the FHA appraisal alone. Is this a good idea? No. Why not? If it’s good enough for the FHA, why isn’t it good enough for the borrower to accept the appraisal results and take it on faith that the home is exactly as it appears? #4: Get A Home Inspection Because The Appraisal Is Not Intended For The Borrower, It’s A Tool For The Lender The appraisal process is meant only to establish the home’s fair market value and determine that the home meets minimum | more...

August 24, 2018

Five Things To Know About FHA Mobile Home Loans

By Bruce Reichstein

There are five important things you should know about FHA mobile home loans. If you are interested in buying a mobile home or manufactured home using an FHA mortgage, knowing these five things will help you to make the right choices for your loan and your new home. 5. FHA Mobile Homes Are Possible For A Variety Of Property Types The FHA loan program allows the purchase of a mobile home, a modular home, or a manufactured home. The differences in these types of properties may not seem so important in terms of loan approval but can mean a lot to the FHA borrower depending on what’s involved. For example, the stereotypical mobile home may be delivered to the site where it will be put onto a permanent foundation as | more...

July 6, 2018

Home Buying Tips For The First Time FHA Borrower

By Bruce Reichstein

Do you need house buying tips as a first time home buyer? If you are ready to stop using rental units and are interested in becoming a home owner, there are some very important steps to take before you apply for an FHA home loan. Consider Home Prices In Your Area: How Good Or Bad Is Your Real Estate Market? Are prices in your area reasonable? Within your budget? It’s a very good idea to become literate in the average prices for a home in your area so that you can tell if a seller is asking a reasonable price for the property you want to buy. It is just as important to know how much home you can afford. A two-bedroom property may be within your financial reach, but | more...

June 15, 2018

When Is An Appraisal Required For My FHA Mortgage Loan?

By Joe Wallace

When is an appraisal required for an FHA home loan? This important question often comes up when borrowers want to refinance a home using an FHA refinance loan such as cash-out refinance, FHA Streamline Refinance, or even when the borrower wants to apply for an FHA Reverse Mortgage. Appraisals are required for most FHA loan transactions-you will always have to pay for an appraisal for an FHA forward mortgage, which is the kind of loan you will apply for when purchasing a new home. Appraisals are required for both existing construction loans and FHA One-Time Close construction loans, though the process will vary for construction loans due to the nature of the transaction. Appraisals will also be required for FHA Rehab loans. The appraisal is intended to establish the fair | more...

June 14, 2018

FHA Home Loan Questions And Answers About The Appraisal Process

By Joe Wallace

The FHA loan appraisal process is potentially confusing to a new borrower. If you are serious about purchasing a specific property with an FHA mortgage, the appraisal is an important step in the loan approval portion of your house hunting experience because it tells the lender whether the property is suitable for an FHA mortgage. What Is The FHA Appraisal And What Does It Do? FHA appraisals are performed when you want to purchase a specific property with a home loan. The appraisal is not done for a house you are “just looking” at; this process is reserved for the home you specifically want to buy. An FHA approved appraiser, assigned by your lender, will come to the property and give it a general review. This process is not as | more...

May 25, 2018

FHA Home Loan Rules For New Construction Appraisals

By Joe Wallace

Borrowers who are interested in having a home built for them from the ground up using an FHA construction loan such as an FHA One-Time Close mortgage or any other type of FHA-guaranteed mortgage loan may wonder what the rules are for appraisals. After all, existing construction appraisal processes are for a home that is ready to sell (although the process may vary if the borrower is applying for certain types of rehab loans). While the appraisal requirements may be generally the same-the home must be safe, habitable, and have an economic life for the entire duration of the mortgage-there are procedural issues that affect new construction properties. With that in mind, appraisals on new construction run a bit differently in some procedural ways than existing construction mortgages; with the | more...

May 15, 2018

FHA Loan Rules For Appraisals: What Borrowers Need To Know

By Joe Wallace

What do borrowers need to know about FHA loan appraisal rules? We field reader questions every month that include queries about the appraisal process and whether or not a certain type of condition is permitted in a home to be purchased with an FHA mortgage. Some recent reader questions go along these lines: “Is an unfinished basement acceptable in a home I’m buying with an FHA mortgage?” “Does the garage have to be wired for electricity in order to be approved for an FHA loan? and, “The home I want to buy is served by a well instead of being connected to a local utility. Is this permitted?” There are some FHA loan rules for appraisals that may address some or all of these issues, but there’s a very important | more...

April 18, 2018

Switching FHA Lenders, Part 2

By Bruce Reichstein

In our previous blog post, we discussed borrowers who need to know FHA home loan rules for switching lenders, and when a new appraisal might be permitted under such circumstances. Borrowers do have the right to change lenders, the same way they have the right to refinance a mortgage loan using the same lender or a new one. If you need an FHA One Time Close construction loan, appraisal issues are quite different. The FHA will require inspections of the finished property to insure it complies with FHA standards and state/local code, but obviously the approach to a new construction home isn’t the same as an actual appraisal to determine the fair market value of existing construction properties. But for those who need a new purchase loan on an existing | more...