Articles Tagged With: FHA Mortgage

March 2, 2023

Myths About FHA Refinance Loans

There are plenty of misconceptions about refinancing real estate. If you have a house you want to refinance, it’s good to learn what you can and cannot do with an FHA refinance loan before you start shopping around for a lender. And you WILL want to shop around. FHA Refinance Loan Myths: You Have To Keep Your Original Lender You can refinance your home with another lender offering more competitive terms, rates, or perks for borrowing with that financial institution. FHA Refi Loan Myths: You Have To Refinance Into A Fixed-Rate Mortgage Borrowers can choose an FHA Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) at refinance time if the lender offers such a loan. Not all participating lenders will, which is another reason to shop for the right lender. Refinancing an ARM into | more...

The FHA Loan That Helps You Build On Your Own Lot

January 13, 2023

FHA One-Time Close Construction Loan Limits Are Higher In 2023

By Bruce Reichstein

If you want to build a home from the ground up using an FHA One-Time Close Construction Loan, there’s good news for you in 2023. Your buying power has increased thanks to FHA loan limits published at the start of the new year. The Department of Housing and Urban Development issues updated FHA loan limits on an annual basis. The limits vary depending on whether the housing market in a given zip code is considered typical, high-cost, or low-cost. In 2023, the limits for all FHA forward mortgages (including FHA One-Time Close Construction Loans) increased in many areas across the USA. FHA loan limit calculations include a nationwide forward mortgage limit ‘floor’ and ‘ceiling’ for a one-unit property. If you want an FHA One-Time Close Construction Loan in 2023, the | more...

January 10, 2023

Rent Or Buy? FHA Loans Can Help You Own Your Home

By Joe Wallace

Is it wiser to rent or to buy your home? For some borrowers, it makes more sense to make a mortgage payment than to commit to a monthly rental payment. These borrowers should definitely explore their FHA home loan options and compare the cost of renting to the costs of owning. FHA Loans Can Help You To Stop Paying Rent Buying your home with an FHA mortgage means no more waiting for the landlord to repair crucial areas of the home. Homeowners are free to schedule or make their own repairs or upgrades without having to wait for someone else to get around to scheduling those necessary appointments. Buying a home with an FHA mortgage means no more apartment hunting, paying application fees or security deposits, etc. FHA Mortgage Loans | more...

December 28, 2022

Buying A Home In 2023

By Joe Wallace

Are you making plans to buy a home with an FHA mortgage in the new year? Your timing might be better than you think; housing markets are cooling which may lead (over time) to lower prices, decreased demand for houses on the market, and more negotiating power for the buyer. But there are a few important questions. How long does the market improve before we see conditions begin to level off? There is no way to predict what might happen going forward, and it’s important to compare and ask lenders about what rates might do in the months leading up to your FHA loan application in 2023. It is unrealistic to expect your lender to be a fortune teller, nobody knows when home loan interest rates might recover closer to | more...

December 21, 2022

New Mortgage Rules And Your FHA Home Loan

By Joe Wallace

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has weighed in on certain mortgage lending practices with an eye on reform; in 2022 it moved to require lenders to enhance loan approval policies related to a type of mortgage known as bank statement lending. These are loans include rules that allow the lender to review the borrower’s bank statements as a source of income for the borrower. Bank statement mortgage loans are, according to the publication National Mortgage News, offered to about 100 thousand borrowers per year, worth up to $25 billion in loans. In October of 2022, CFPB revised its regulations for these mortgages. Lenders are now required by the CFPB to confirm the data on bank statements used to verify income. Specifically, the lender is required to determine that the | more...

December 19, 2022

FHA Adds HECM Relief For Those Financially Affected By COVID

By Joe Wallace

Some homeowners might be surprised to learn about new financial relief for the financial effects of COVID-19, but the FHA and HUD made an announcement in the last month of 2022 — there are new options for those who struggle financially due to COVID. Specifically, there are new options for relief for qualifying senior citizens trying to keep their homes while struggling to make property tax payments on homes securing Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) loan payments. The issue for these homeowners? One requirement of the FHA HECM program is that the borrower stay current on all so-called property charges such as property taxes and homeowner’s association dues where applicable. In ordinary circumstances, if an FHA HECM borrower does not stay current on these charges, they face loss of the | more...

December 14, 2022

Why Was My FHA Loan Application Denied In 2022?

By Joe Wallace

Are you in the process of getting ready for a home loan? There are plenty of home loan industry trends to pay attention to when you are in the planning stages of buying a home with an FHA mortgage. Among them are mortgage interest rates, home sale prices, and then there are the costs associated with the loan such as appraisals and title searches. Many industry players observe these trends. One of them is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which examines a variety of issues related to buying and owning a home on behalf of consumers. CFPB Reviews Mortgage Data In 2022 CFPB has published observations about the first and second quarters of 2022. Among those observations? The causes of home loan application denial during those periods. What were | more...

December 12, 2022

Housing Market And Home Equity: What You Need To Know In 2023

By Joe Wallace

The mortgage industry has been coming down from the highs of summer, 2022. Fed actions to raise interest rates had an effect on the housing market (indirectly–the Fed sets the rates on federal loan funds, not mortgage loan interest rates) and as a result, conditions have started to cool to the point where mortgage rates actually dropped in December. Slowing Demand As the housing market cools, a course correction for home equity is an important factor to think about. According to certain mortgage industry sources, there are plenty of indicators that home equity is indeed starting to come back down. Lower demand and lower prices can translate into lower equity. Consider what the publication Mortgage Industry News printed about a report by CoreLogic in 2022: By the end of the | more...

December 9, 2022

HUD Announces Energy-Efficient Initiatives

By Bruce Reichstein

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced a climate forward green housing initiatives as part of an update to the HUD program known as the Rate Reduction Initiative, or RRI. RRI supports the HUD Climate Action Plan. That plan was created to foster “climate resiliency, reduce greenhouse emissions, and pursue environmental justice in housing” according to HUD.gov. RRI relies on partnerships with public housing providers, with one stated goal (among many) of encouraging the reduction of public housing utility costs beyond what may already be required by state law, saving money, and helping the environment at the same time. The RRI plan encourages public housing agencies to negotiate special rates with utility companies, or purchase energy through a third-party broker. It also encourages arrangements between utility companies and | more...

December 7, 2022

Mandatory or Optional? FHA Home Loan Issues

By Joe Wallace

What is mandatory and what is optional when you apply for an FHA home loan? You will find a lot of advice on the internet about buying a home. You can haggle over the home sale price, for example, and negotiate things like seller concessions. But what about the not-so-obvious details? What is required and what is not? Mortgage insurance on your FHA mortgage, for example, is mandatory. To a point. All FHA forward mortgages (also known as purchase loans) require you to pay for mortgage insurance on your FHA home loan each month. That said, it may not be mandatory for the full duration of the mortgage. That may depend on how much you put down and the term of the loan you may have the option to cancel | more...