Articles Tagged With: FHA Loans

November 23, 2021

Problems That Can Stop Your Mortgage Being Approved

Do you know what can stop your home loan or result in your being denied a mortgage? There are multiple factors that can complicate the mortgage process and you should know about the ones you can control and those issues that may be beyond your ability to anticipate. What kills a home loan dead in its’ tracks? One serious issue is associated with the appraisal. To buy a home with an FHA mortgage, you need to select a property that has a remaining “economic life” that will last the entire duration of the mortgage. OR you need to buy a fixer-upper with an FHA Rehabilitation loan to simultaneously buy and renovate the property to bring it up to local building code and FHA minimum standards. But no matter which way | more...

November 2, 2021

Buying A Second Home?

By Joe Wallace

There is a myth about FHA home loans you might even believe yourself. Some believe that FHA home loans, with their low 3.5% down payment, are set aside strictly for first-time homebuyers who need help via a lower down payment than many conventional loans might require. What is the reality about the notion that FHA home loans are for first-time buyers only? FHA mortgages are NOT restricted to those who have never owned a home before. They are also not restricted to low or moderate-income applicants. One reason for these prevailing myths about FHA mortgages? Likely that many state or local first-time homebuyer programs may be commonly used with government-backed mortgage programs like the USDA and FHA home loan programs. By association, some might assume that the loan is intended | more...

October 28, 2021

FHA Loan Limits For 2022

By Bruce Reichstein

What do you need to know about FHA home loan limits in 2022? It may sound a bit early to be discussing FHA loan limits by county, but at the beginning of 2021, potential FHA borrowers were treated to the news that FHA limits would be higher for the new year, giving many a chance to get more home loan for their efforts. What do you need to know about FHA home loan limits for the coming new year? We’re just over 60 days away at press time, 2022 will be here sooner than you realize! FHA home loans feature loan guaranty limits established every year, set by county. These are annual limits and are revised or considered for revision over the year before. There are no guarantees that the | more...

October 27, 2021

How You Can Use An FHA Home Loan

By Joe Wallace

Do you need to know what you are allowed (or NOT allowed) to do with an FHA mortgage? If you want to purchase a home with an FHA loan, you can buy a fixer-upper, a typical suburban home ready to move into, or even build your home from the ground up on your own lot using an FHA One-Time Close construction mortgage. But there are some things you are not allowed to do with an FHA home loan. Let’s look at the “can” and “cannot” angles to see what’s possible with an FHA mortgage. You CAN Purchase A Multi-Unit Property With An FHA Mortgage FHA home loans are for properties with one to four units. FHA home loan limits are larger for homes bigger than a single unit. Some borrowers | more...

Five FHA Home Loan Questions To Ask Your Lender

October 19, 2021

What Goes Into Your Mortgage Payment

By Joe Wallace

Are you new to the house-hunting process? Do you need to know what goes into a monthly mortgage payment? It’s a lot more than just dividing up your loan amount by the number of years you want to pay on the mortgage. With a home loan, it is true that your main numbers will include the amount you pay on the loan principal and the interest, divided by the number of months you are obligated to on the mortgage note. HUD 4000.1 is the FHA single-family home loan rule book. It has all the guidelines your participating FHA lender needs to process and approve or deny your loan application. And when your lender accepts your application for review, she will not simply run the numbers on the principal and interest. | more...

September 27, 2021

Buying A Condo With An FHA Mortgage

By Bruce Reichstein

Are you interested in buying a condo unit with an FHA home loan? It’s an option some borrowers don’t realize they have–some make assumptions about the FHA home loan program and the availability of loans for condo units. But the fact is that an FHA mortgage can be used to purchase a condo the same as any suburban home though there are some considerations to remember when making this type of purchase. FHA condo loans feature the same basic qualifying terms as other FHA mortgages for mobile homes, suburban homes, etc. This type of FHA mortgage is, like all other FHA mortgages, open to first-time buyers AND those who have owned a home before (even in the last three years). You will be approved for the FHA condo loan based | more...

September 24, 2021

Home Loans After Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

By Joe Wallace

Those looking for home loans in the wake of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy often get conflicting messages about when, how, and even whether they can apply. Circumstances and causes of bankruptcy may vary, but borrowers often ask the same kinds of questions about what their options are after the proceedings are done. A typical version of such questions may go like this: “I had a bankruptcy that was discharged and I was told I needed to wait two years before I can apply for an FHA loan. But other sources say I have to wait longer. What is the reality? How long do I have to wait to apply?” What follows is advice about how long you might have to wait but keep in mind that the clock starts ticking | more...

September 15, 2021

How To Avoid A Mortgage Closing Scam

By Joe Wallace

The government’s consumer watchdog agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has a page dedicated to warning house hunters about home loan closing scams. According to CFPB documents,FBI warnings about home scams include attempts to “phish” your personal information with the purpose of tricking a potential borrower into diverting the payment of closing costs and down payment to a destination that is NOT your lender. In a single year alone, these mortgage closing scams cost almost one billion dollars. Want to know how you can keep this from happening to you? Scammers trying to pull these types of phishing attacks target people in the mortgage industry–they find legitimate email addresses and “spoof” them, making the email appear to be from a real address. But the email is full of hacking | more...

August 26, 2021

FHA Refi Loan Rules You Need To Know

By Joe Wallace

Thinking about refinancing your home loan? With an FHA mortgage, you can refinance a conventional, VA or another non-FHA mortgage as well as an existing FHA home loan. Refinancing is great for many reasons but for some borrowers specifically want a refi loan to get a more affordable mortgage with lower payments or a lower interest rate. Some must refinance to catch up on a mortgage after missing payments; some may need to consider a refinance option in order to prevent their home from going into default and foreclosure in such cases. So for our purposes here, we are not discussing FHA cash-out refinancing options as these loans have rules specifying how much equity is needed in the home to cash out and some borrowers may have to wait longer | more...

August 24, 2021

What One Credit Reporting Agency Says To Do About Your Credit Scores

By Joe Wallace

Your credit report and credit score are important factors in home loan approval. So what advice do the credit reporting agencies like Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion say you should do when planning to apply for a home loan? Knowing what credit score advice these three agencies offer is important–it’s good to think like a lender when applying for a large line of credit, and it is even better to think like the credit reporting agency in terms of what to do to prepare your credit ahead of your loan. What does Experian say about getting your credit ready for a home loan? Their official site reminds consumers that credit scores are a very important aspect of home loan approval. But those scores do NOT tell the entire story. Experian reminds | more...