Articles Tagged With: FHA Loan News

October 1, 2015

HUD 4000.1 Appraisal Requirements: Safety Hazards

With the publication of HUD 4000.1, the new FHA Single Family Home Loan policy handbook, we’ve been addressing certain rules and regulations found in the new rules to help borrowers and lenders alike understand official policy, updates, changes, and restatements of previous regulations as published by the FHA/HUD. FHA appraisals are also affected by the new handbook. One area that contains crucial information about the appraisal process is the section of FHA appraisal rules that govern safety/environmental hazards as might be found during the appraiser’s review of a property to be purchased with an FHA mortgage. In some cases, you may notice some additional features to this section, and revised language that gives more clarity or guidance for appraisers and lenders. From HUD 4000.1 Section II Part B: “The Appraiser | more...

October 1, 2015

Mortgage Rate Trends: A Week Marked by Improvements So Far

By Joe Wallace

It’s been a week full of downward movement for mortgage loan rates; Wednesday at the end of the market day rates were being reported in lows we haven’t seen for months. 30-year fixed rate conventional loans are in a range (best execution) between 3.75% and 3.875% at the time of this writing. We haven’t seen conventional loan rates come near 3.75% for some time now and if the downward trend continues we could see this range persist or move closer to 3.75% for more extremely well qualified borrowers. FHA mortgage rates, which have long stayed in a 3.75% comfort zone, have finally broken out of that in favor of a range of best execution rates between 3.5% and 3.75%. Remember, FHA rates can vary more among participating lenders than their | more...

September 28, 2015

Mortgage Rate Trends: Slightly Higher But Holding Within The Range

By Joe Wallace

On Friday, mortgage loan rates were generally found within the range of rates reported previously (see below). There was some upward movement on rates but in general 30-year fixed rate conventional mortgage loan interest rates are, best execution, between 3.875% and 4.0%. As of Friday FHA mortgage rates were in their best execution comfort zone of 3.75% and as always borrowers may notice more variation among participating lenders than with conventional counterparts. Best execution assumes ideal conditions such as outstanding FICO scores and other financial qualifications. The numbers reported here are not available to all borrowers or from all lenders. Your experience may vary. There are some scheduled economic data releases due this week, so it’s possible we could see some alteration of rates within the range, but Friday’s employment | more...

September 24, 2015

FHA Refinance Loan Rules: HUD 4000.1

By Joe Wallace

The FHA Single Family Home Loan policy handbook, HUD 4000.1, contains a variety of changes, updates and other alterations to FHA loan policy. In many cases, FHA loan rules for new purchase loans and refinance loans may have stayed the same, in other cases there are slight (or more substantial) revisions to FHA policy. One set of frequently asked questions about this new handbook and revised policy centers around FHA refinance loans. For example, one section of the new handbook that governs refinance loan transactions discusses what policy FHA has when the borrower’s name is on the title of the property but not listed on the mortgage secured by that property. Does the borrower qualify for an FHA refinance loan in such cases? According to a Frequently Asked Questions list | more...

September 24, 2015

Mortgage Rate Trends: Holding Steady

By Joe Wallace

Wednesday saw mortgage loan rates holding steady, more or less, following some improvement from the previous day. There was some weakness in bond markets that affect mortgage loan interest rates, but in spite of that Wednesday is what many in the business call a “sideways” day. 30-year fixed rate conventional mortgages held steady, best execution at between 3.75% and 4.0%. According to our sources only a small number of lenders may have offered the very bottom end of that range, with 3.875% more typical in a best execution scenario. FHA mortgage loan rates hold fast at 3.75% and as always, that best execution rate may vary more among participating FHA lenders. Best execution rates assume ideal conditions–borrowers with outstanding financial qualifications may have access to rates at or near these | more...

September 17, 2015

Mortgage Loan Interest Rate Trends: Holding Steady Ahead Of Big Fed Announcement

By Joe Wallace

Thursday is a very important day for mortgage rates, thanks to the much anticipated Fed announcement later today that could bring news of an interest rate hike…or not. That announcement, at the time of this writing, has not happened so we await the news from the Fed and will write a post about the announcement and its effect on the mortgage loan interest rate environment–look for that update on Friday morning. On Wednesday mortgage loan rates held steady, which was not the case on Tuesday as nervous investors made choices in the markets that directly affect mortgage loan rates that sent those rates higher. But for now, at the time of this writing, 30-year fixed rate conventional mortgage loan interest rates held steady (best execution) at or near 4.0%. FHA | more...

September 11, 2015

Signature Requirements For FHA Home Loans Under HUD 4000.1

By Joe Wallace

On September 14, 2015, the new HUD policy handbook on FHA single-family home loans goes into effect. There are plenty of changes, revisions and other statements of policy. Borrowers should know that certain changes have already gone into effect as of March, others won’t be effective until September 14. Once the handbook is launched officially, lenders will use it to refer to when in need of FHA loan policy or clarification of that policy. Consider one important issue for certain FHA loan applicants including military members and incapacitated borrowers–the use electronic signatures and/or of a Power Of Attorney in order to advance the FHA loan application. In HUD 4000.1, Chapter Two, Section A has a section titled, “Policy on Use of Electronic Signatures” which includes the following definition: “An Electronic | more...

September 10, 2015

Need Help Preparing For An FHA Mortgage Loan? HUD Resources By State

By Joe Wallace

We give out a lot of advice about the planning stages of your FHA home loan. Did you know it’s best to begin planning at least a year ahead of time for a new home loan? Doing so gives you time to save up or continue to save for a down payment, related fees and expenses, pull your credit reports and other tasks that should happen long before you are ready to fill out your application. One area we strongly encourage buyers to examine is housing counseling. Pre-purchase housing counseling can help new FHA loan applicants navigate the entire process more confidently and better prepared. But where can a potential FHA borrower turn to get this housing counseling? The best thing to do is to contact the FHA directly for | more...

September 10, 2015

New FHA Single Family Loan Policy Handbook HUD 4000.1: Superseded Policies

By Joe Wallace

At the time of this writing there are five days until the launch of the new FHA Single Family Home Loan policy book, HUD 4000.1. We have written about certain policies and procedures that will take effect on September 14, 2015, the official launch date for HUD 4000.1. But there are some changes to FHA loan rules that coincide with the launch of the new handbook that are important to know–some FHA mortgagee letters have been superseded in their entirety. The FHA/HUD official site has a comprehensive list of those mortgagee letters, which includes the following chart: As you can see, there is a range of mortgagee letters that will be replaced, from 1994 all the way up to the year 2014. Not ALL mortgagee letters in that year/date range | more...

September 9, 2015

Energy Efficient Mortgages And Updated FHA/HUD Rules

By Joe Wallace

In a recent blog post we discussed the pending release of HUD 4000.1, which is the new FHA single family home loan policy handbook. Among the changes and updates to take effect on September 14, 2015 when the handbook is launched, there are some guidelines about FHA Energy Efficient Mortgages (EEM) and the financing of non-EEM energy efficient upgrades/improvements. One area we didn’t cover in our last blog post about the EEM issue is the dollar amount limit for these upgrades. How much does the FHA allow the borrower to finance for such improvements? According to the FHA official site, which has a FAQ section on the most common questions about new rules and updates that will be part of HUD 4000.1, we learn the following about the dollar amount | more...