Articles Tagged With: FHA Loan Approval

January 13, 2025

FHA Home Loans: How Much Income Do You Need To Qualify?

Many future homeowners want to know about the income requirements for an FHA loan–are you worried that you won’t qualify for an FHA mortgage because you don’t earn enough each month? And then there’s the opposite problem–a misconception that you can earn “too much” to qualify for an FHA mortgage as though this program had income limits. FHA loans do NOT feature income limits and this program does not require you to qualify based on financial need. FHA Loans Are For All Financially Qualified Applicants There is no minimum income requirement for an FHA mortgage, and there is no upper limit or income “ceiling”. FHA loans are not targeted for any one income bracket. FHA loans are designed with more lenient FICO score minimums in mind, but that has nothing | more...

December 30, 2024

Down Payment Help For FHA Mortgages

By Bruce Reichstein

Who qualifies to get down payment assistance in order to buy a home? If you are using an FHA mortgage, your downpayment requirement is, at a minimum, 3.5%. And while that isn’t as large a down payment as you would make if you wanted to eliminate private mortgage insurance from a conventional home loan, some may struggle to come up with the money down. Buying a home can be expensive. There are inspection and appraisal fees, there may be pest control services to pay for, title searches, and more. Saving early is the key to making your down payment easier to manage in your budget. But even with saving early, extra help may be needed. That’s where down payment assistance programs can come in to help. But what does it | more...

December 19, 2024

Bad Credit And FHA Home Loan Options

By Joe Wallace

The term “bad credit” tends to feel a bit stigmatizing. Borrowers who have had past difficulty with credit have it hard enough trying to recover from the stigma of their previous credit issues without being confronted by those problems every time they want to start working on their credit. Is there such a thing as a bad credit FHA loan that can help people become homeowners and get a fresh start with credit? Technically the answer is, “it depends”, which isn’t very reassuring. But the truth of the matter is, there are FHA standards that technically make the concept of a bad credit mortgage a reality. After all, on paper FHA loan rules state that a borrower with FICO scores in the 500 range could still technically qualify for an | more...

FHA Home Loans And The Biggest Credit Mistake You Can Make

December 16, 2024

FHA Cash-Out Refinance Loan Rules You Should Know

By Bruce Reichstein

What should borrowers know about FHA cash-out refinance loans? If you are thinking of cashing in on the equity built up in your home in 2025, there are some important details to know before you get started. There are a few rules to keep in mind, but some of the most important include how you can use the proceeds of a cash-out refinance loan and the rules the lender follows when verifying the borrower’s eligibility for a cash-out loan. Borrowers may wish to pay off credit card debt with an FHA Cash-Out refinance loan, or use the money to pay off nuisance debt, buy a car, go on vacation, etc. What are the rules for FHA cash-out refinance loans and the money back to the borrower? How To Use FHA | more...

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...

October 1, 2024

Intro To FHA Refinance Loans

By Bruce Reichstein

The Fed announced a substantial rate cut in 2024. That action has more homeowners thinking about their refinance loan options and how they can take advantage of potentially lower rates to come. Refinancing helps some borrowers save money in interest payments over the long term. It can also, depending on circumstances, help you get into a lower monthly payment. Once rates have fallen to the right levels (for some borrowers) these options get more realistic than they have been in the past two to three years. Refinancing can also result in cash back to the borrower once the original loan has been paid off and the associated closing costs dealt with. Not every refinance loan offers this, but FHA loan programs do include cash-out options. If you need to refinance | more...

September 26, 2024

FHA Home Loans: Why You Want To Haggle With The Seller

By Bruce Reichstein

Many first-time home buyers hate the idea of negotiating, haggling, or otherwise trying to adjust the price of the home with a seller. In a seller’s market there’s not much negotiating possible, it’s true. But when conditions are more favorable for the borrower, negotiating may be to your advantage. Why Should A First-Time Home Buyer Be Willing To Negotiate With The Seller? The most apparent reason to haggle with the seller of the real estate you want is to get a lower price. This becomes even more crucial if the appraisal comes back lower than the property’s asking price. The buyer cannot be forced to close the deal in cases where the home’s appraised value is lower than the asking price. The FHA home loan itself will be issued for | 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...