Articles Tagged With: FHA Loans

January 16, 2024

The Rent Versus Buy Question In 2024

Do you look at today’s mortgage rates, the housing market, and current economic headlines and wonder why you should consider purchasing a home in the new year? You aren’t alone. There are several economic factors at work in the American housing market. In 2024, one of those factors has to do with the difference between the cost of renting compared to owning a home. That gap has always been there in one degree or another. However, in the year 2024, that gap seems more attention-worthy. Especially for anyone struggling to decide which makes more sense, renting or owning a home. Compare The Numbers Forbes.com notes that home loan interest rates and home loan prices changed so much in the previous year that there seems to be a widening gap between | more...

January 12, 2024

FHA Loan Rules For Eligible Property Types

By Joe Wallace

FHA loan rules are found in HUD 4000.1, the FHA Single-Family Lender’s Handbook. Those rules include a list of property types you can and cannot buy with an FHA home loan. We examine the types of properties you cannot purchase with an FHA mortgage below. Knowing loan program rules is important if you’re a new house hunter. Do you need a government-backed loan like an FHA 203(b) purchase loan? Or a VA home loan? It’s true that certain restrictions and requirements for conventional home loans are different than the ones for FHA mortgages, but the gist is that house hunters need to know the rules of the home loan they want. For example, do you want to build a home using a One-Time Close construction loan? You may be limited | more...

January 9, 2024

Remodeling Options With An FHA Loan in 2024

By Joe Wallace

The FHA 203(k) rehabilitation mortgage is a type of FHA loan you can use to buy and renovate a home, or refinance an existing mortgage and improve the property at the same time. Buy Or Refi? Do you want to buy a fixer-upper home with an FHA 203(k)? Do you need to refinance your existing mortgage and renovate? These are both possible. The options for 203(k) refinancing also include the ability to refinance a non-FHA mortgage into an FHA loan, and you also have the ability to finance certain closing costs. The FHA 203(k) purchase loan offers borrowers a chance to buy a house that would normally not pass an FHA appraisal. Under the FHA rehab loan program, you can hire builders to do renovations to bring the house up | more...

January 3, 2024

Buying An Older Home With An FHA Loan

By Joe Wallace

FHA home loans come with a myth or two. For example, the notion that only first-time home buyers can get an FHA loan. That is a myth. Also NOT TRUE? The idea that a house can’t be past a certain age to qualify. This myth isn’t as widespread as the first-time home buyer one, but the fact is, only SOME property types have a specific age requirement Manufactured homes have a specific age requirement other FHA loans don’t carry. An FHA-eligible mobile home or manufactured housing must be built after June 15, 1976 or it cannot be purchased with an FHA mortgage. Existing construction properties under the FHA single-family home loan program don’t have that age issue. Age or Remaining Life? The FHA lender’s handbook specifies that all houses purchased | more...

January 2, 2024

FHA Refinance Options For 2024

By Joe Wallace

Many expect home loan rates to start falling in 2024. Some potential FHA loan applicants want to know what kinds of refinance opportunities wait for them as the housing market recovery gets underway, however slowly. We explore some of the options below. FHA Refinance Loan Options You have multiple choices when it comes to FHA single-family home loan refinance options. They include FHA cash-out refinancing, FHA streamlines refinance loans, and no-cash-out FHA refinances loans. You can refinance an existing property with an FHA 203(k) rehab loan that lets you refinance and renovate simultaneously as an alternative option. Streamline Refinance Loan Option In Early 2024 Mortgage loan interest rates are too high at press time to consider using an FHA streamline refinance option. FHA streamline refi loans are for those who | more...

December 22, 2023

FHA Loan Prep Versus Holiday Spending

By Joe Wallace

House hunters who want a home in the new year, have many financial issues to worry about. One seasonal issue is holiday spending, and if you overextend yourself in December it can lead to more than financial stress. Fortunately, there are things you can do to manage credit issues and keep them from being a liability at loan application time. Don’t Allow Missed Payments What makes a late or missed payment can vary depending on the creditor. Do you know the current due dates on your bills? Have you arranged to make a partial payment rather than miss the deadline if you can’t make the full payment? These are all steps that can help you get closer to a loan next year. Consider How You Pay In 2024 Paying with | more...

December 13, 2023

Contingency Clauses To Consider When Buying A Home

By Joe Wallace

Did you know there are ways to protect yourself from buying a home you ultimately decide you do not want? Or ways to make your purchase enforceable only if you sell your current home? You can do this using a contingency clause. These are add-on language to your sales contract specifying the buyer or seller will only proceed with the sale when certain conditions are met. At the FreddieMac official site, we learn, “Contingencies are an expected, normal part of the home buying process, providing both the buyer and the seller a legal way out of the contract if something goes awry.” Consider each of the following options below. One might be very important for your house-hunting journey. Home Sale Contingency Clause If you already own a home, consider using | more...

November 6, 2023

Mortgage Interest Rate Trends In Late 2023

By Joe Wallace

In the last quarter of 2023, the Fed paused its interest rate hike campaign. First-time home buyers sometimes ask whether that means a pause on changes to FHA home loan interest rates. The short answer is no, and we’ll explain why below. Fed Rate Hikes Versus Home Loan Interest Rates The first thing to know? The Fed does not directly control mortgage rates but its actions do affect them less directly. Fed actions to increase rates are aimed at the lender side of the operation; when it pauses rate hikes, the Fed is putting increases on hold that affect how much it costs a lender to loan you money. The lender’s increased costs are passed on to the consumer through higher mortgage rates. What It Means When The Fed Pauses | more...

October 30, 2023

Using Downpayment Assistance With Your FHA Loan

By Joe Wallace

If you want to offset higher interest rates when buying a home, it may be worth your time to investigate your options for a local downpayment assistance program. These are offered in your state, not by the FHA or HUD. Buying a home using downpayment assistance can help you save more upfront on the mortgage but can also be an advantage because you can use the money saved for the downpayment in other areas for your new home instead. Using a DPA may also help you to hang on to more of the money you saved for the downpayment to use toward mortgage payments. It’s a smart idea to pay more than the minimum due each month. It helps you save money over the term of the mortgage. But what | more...

October 26, 2023

FHA Loan Interest Rate Trends Late 2023

By Joe Wallace

In the final months of 2022, housing market watchers thought a housing market recovery would begin sometime after the 2nd quarter of the new year. Sadly, those predictions did not come true. And now, a similar analysis is happening now in ahead of the house hunting season in the spring of 2024. What’s ahead in the new year for mortgages, interest rates, and the housing market? State Of The Mortgage Industry Late 2023 U.S. News and World Report notes that mortgage rates have stayed higher, for longer. And they aren’t the only ones discussing those higher rates affecting the 2024 housing market, too. According to Investopedia, the national average interest rate exceeds 8%. And while that number is subject to change in smaller increments day to day or even month | more...