Articles Tagged With: FHA Mortgage Loan

April 18, 2022

Applying For An FHA Mortgage With A Changed Name

It is illegal under the Fair Housing Act to discriminate against a person who seeks housing because of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, family status, and any number of other non-financial issues. But in addition to the Fair Housing Act, there are certain Know Your Customer best practices required for both buying a home and renting that help establish the identity of the renter or buyer. Your lender will require you to verify your identity with a photo ID, tax documents, Social Security Number, and/or other identifiers. But what happens if the name on these documents isn’t the same as the name you have now or will have in the future? If you have a need for a legal name change these best practices can get a little complicated, and | more...

March 22, 2022

FHA Home Loans And Closing Day Delays

By Joe Wallace

Getting to your closing day can be challenging. There are fees and expenses to pay for, credit checks to submit to, negotiations with the seller, and more. And on top of all those details, there are issues that could slow down your home loan, and may in some cases even affect your closing day. Don’t assume that such issues are always the borrower or seller’s fault. There are many reasons why your closing day could be delayed or otherwise affected by circumstances. What Can Delay Closing Day? Many issues can affect your ability to close the loan. For example, what if the appraisal comes back with corrections or with a value that is lower than the asking price of the home? Those things may or may not require a rethink | more...

March 15, 2022

Fixing Your Credit Before Your FHA Home Loan

By Joe Wallace

If you are considering an FHA home loan, you’ll want to begin working on your credit as soon as possible. This is true even if you feel you have good credit–there are issues a lender sees on many credit reports that may complicate the loan approval process. These issues may or may not interfere with your credit score numbers but they could be a factor in the lender’s decision to approve the loan, offer a certain interest rate, etc. If the numbers aren’t the issue, some borrowers want to know what IS the issue? In some cases, there may be errors or information that should be disputed on the report because you don’t want your loan officer making decisions about your loan based on information that isn’t accurate. The credit | more...

March 11, 2022

Issues That May Complicate Your FHA Home Loan Application

By Joe Wallace

There is a lot of advice out there about starting early when it’s time to plan and save for your mortgage. When you are preparing for an FHA loan application you naturally want to check your credit, pay your bills on time, and reduce your credit card use. But even when you are busy with taking care of these things, there may be issues that can complicate the home loan process. Knowing these issues can help you navigate them if there is one that applies to you. It’s easy to assume you don’t have a hidden problem waiting to slow do your home loan process, but some of these issues are a surprise to future borrowers and they spend additional time sorting them out. Do You Owe Any Tax Liens? | more...

March 8, 2022

FHA Loan Questions And Answers

By Joe Wallace

There are a lot of myths that are still circulating about FHA home loans. What do you need to know about these loans to separate the facts from the fiction? True Or False? FHA Home Loans Are For New Buyers Only False. Some people mistakenly believe you can only qualify for a mortgage guaranteed by the FHA if you are a first-time homebuyer. This is not true. You must financially qualify for the loan like any other mortgage program but you do not have to be buying a house for the first time. True Or False? FHA Loans Require Mortgage Insurance True. FHA mortgages issued today have mortgage insurance requirements for either 11 years or the full duration of the loan depending on how much you put down, the term | more...

March 4, 2022

FHA Home Loan Options For New Borrowers

By Joe Wallace

FHA home loan options for new borrowers and first-time homebuyers vary. There’s a misconception that FHA mortgages are only for first-time borrowers, and another misconception is that FHA loans somehow favor first-time borrowers with better rates, terms, or other factors. But the truth is that FHA mortgages are NOT just for first-time homebuyers. You can be approved for an FHA mortgage without being subject to income caps or restrictions. Need-based requirements do not apply for FHA loan approval. And there’s another truth-the FHA loan program itself does not offer more favorable terms for first-time applicants than for anyone else. All applicants who are financially qualified can apply for an FHA loan or refinance loan. That leads to some confusion among borrowers who see lenders offering first-time buyer incentives. The fact | more...

February 23, 2022

FHA Manufactured Home Loans: Questions And Answers

By Joe Wallace

FHA home loan options include loans for manufactured housing, modular homes, and what some still refer to as “mobile homes”. FHA home loan rules for manufactured housing include age and foundation requirements as well as minimum sizes. If you aren’t sure how to proceed when trying to apply for a manufactured home loan, here are some common questions asked about these types of FHA mortgages. Are FHA Manufactured Home Loans The Same As FHA 203(b) Mortgages? Not exactly. The FHA loan program allows the purchase of a modular home or a manufactured home that is not on a permanent foundation at the time of creation. The manufactured home must be placed on a permanent foundation as a condition of loan approval and the timing of this must be agreeable to | more...

February 17, 2022

Planning An FHA Mortgage

By Joe Wallace

When you decide to buy a home, you don’t just walk out and make an offer on a home. There is a planning and saving stage, a house hunting stage, and an application stage of the home buying process. That’s a bit of an oversimplification of how it works, but even as such it shows that there’s a lot to buying a home–the more planning you can do, the better off you will be. One important issue related to the planning stage of the home loan process involves your budget. Figuring out how much home loan you can afford isn’t just about how your finances look today. You will need to look to the future in terms of your job, your income, any raises or promotions that might affect how | more...

February 16, 2022

The FHA Borrower’s “Secret Weapon” For Closing Costs

By Bruce Reichstein

Do you know about one of the secrets of managing your closing costs for an FHA home loan? We’re talking specifically about seller contributions to your closing costs for your FHA purchase loan–what the seller is permitted to contribute under the rules for your FHA mortgage. Buying a home requires more cash than some borrowers expect–at first. There are appraisals and home inspections to pay for, sometimes a pest inspection may be needed, and you may also have to pay or anticipate paying some taxes, compliance inspection fees, and more. Negotiating with the seller to pay a portion of your closing costs is (believe it or not) fairly common in the mortgage industry. Individual sellers and individual house hunters alike may need some time to get used to this idea | more...

February 9, 2022

Do You Need To Fix Your Credit Before You Buy A Home?

By Joe Wallace

There are plenty of third parties who promise to fix your credit for you, for a price. But did you know you can do your own type of credit repair without having to pay or coordinate with anyone else? You should definitely try working on your own credit before you try to pay someone else to do it for you. But how is it done? The first thing to remember is that you need TIME. Don’t assume you can fix your credit scores and loan repayment history while you’re working with your loan officer to get your FHA mortgage application approved. You will need to start working on your credit far earlier than that, as it takes time for credit reports to notice the work you’re putting in (on-time payments, | more...