Articles in Category: Fixed Rate Mortgage

July 30, 2025

Home Loans And Your Credit Score: The Cost Of Your Mortgage

Did you know that credit scores affect more than the approval or denial of your FHA mortgage application? Your overall costs for the mortgage over the long term will depend in part on your FICO scores, as we’ll explore below. The better your credit scores, the more competitive the rates and terms may be for the FHA loan. FICO Scores And Your Down Payment You have not one, but TWO FICO score standards to meet when you want to apply for a large loan such as a mortgage. The first standard is from the FHA itself (these are the FHA minimum requirements for the Single Family home loan program), and the second is your lender’s standards. These will vary from lender to lender. And your lender’s standards may or may | more...

July 17, 2025

Buy Your First Home With An FHA Mortgage

By Joe Wallace

Do you want to purchase your first home? Borrowers looking for a starter home often turn to the FHA loan program because of its low 3.5% down payment requirement for borrowers with qualifying FICO scores. And thanks to protections for the borrower such as no penalty for early payoff of the loan and the ability to refinance the FHA mortgage into a new FHA loan that can result in a lower mortgage rate or monthly payment when using an FHA Streamline Refinance loan. Qualify For An FHA Mortgage What do you need to qualify for an FHA loan? For best results, at least two years in the job market and FICO scores that are in the 600s or better. FHA loan rules say you can technically qualify for an FHA | more...

June 24, 2025

Comparing FHA Home Loan FICO Score Requirements

By Joe Wallace

If you’re thinking about buying your first home, you’ll want to consider your options carefully, compare lenders, and compare loan products. No two home loans are exactly alike, and many borrowers find that some mortgage loan options are better for their circumstances than others. We examine some of the similarities and differences between FHA loan FICO score requirements and other types of home loans. Is an FHA mortgage right for you? Or do you qualify for other options in addition to an FHA mortgage? True or false? Your credit score is usually the first thing lenders check when you’re buying your first home. True! Your credit score is often the first thing lenders check. This highlights the importance of your credit score in the initial stages of applying for a | more...

June 12, 2025

What To Think About When Comparing FHA Lenders

By Joe Wallace

Why do we say choosing the right lender for your FHA home loan is essential? Because no two financial institutions are exactly alike, you may find a lender willing to offer the type of mortgage you need at an affordable interest rate. But until you compare offers, how will you know if you have realistically set your price point and target interest rate? It’s not just whether the lender offers the type of FHA mortgage you need–such as an FHA condo loan or an FHA One-Time Close Construction mortgage. It’s also whether the lender is offering you a competitive interest rate. When rates trend higher, does your selected loan officer reprice the interest rates or up the closing costs instead? If you don’t know, you won’t know how to compare | more...

May 28, 2025

Paying Off Your FHA Home Loan Early

By Joe Wallace

Are you considering paying off your FHA home loan early? How much do you know about the process, how it works, and how to go about it? There’s more than one way to pay off your FHA home loan ahead of schedule. Take our quiz to see how prepared you are to begin the process. True or False: The primary motivation for homeowners to pay off their mortgage ahead of schedule is typically to qualify for a larger loan on a new property. Answer: False. While owning a home outright improves one’s financial standing, the most common primary motivations for early mortgage payoff are to save a significant amount of money on interest payments over the loan’s duration and to achieve the financial freedom of being debt-free sooner. True or | more...

April 22, 2025

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 an important aspect of home loan approval. However, those scores do not tell the entire story. Experian reminds us | more...

March 1, 2025

5 things to know about FHA Appraisals

By Joe Wallace

What do you need to know about FHA appraisals? There are plenty of details to be concerned with depending on the nature of the property you want to buy but some issues loom larger than others. FHA Appraisals Are Not Home Inspections That’s an obvious one. The FHA appraisal is meant as a tool for the lender and not the borrower. What’s not so obvious? The appraisal process does not require the appraiser to be an expert in all systems of the home. That means your roof may have problems the appraiser can’t identify, or the HVAC system might be experiencing symptoms unfamiliar to your appraiser. In some cases, the appraiser might not even set foot inside a building to be appraised. It’s not so hard to understand why you | more...

February 28, 2025

What Kind Of House Can I Buy With An FHA Mortgage?

By Joe Wallace

What kinds of homes can be purchased with an FHA mortgage loan? You can build a home from scratch using an FHA Construction mortgage, but may people want to buy existing property and what kinds. Eligible Property Types For FHA Mortgages FHA loan rules in HUD 4000.1 state clearly that certain kinds of property are permitted and certain kinds are not. These rules on eligible property types that can be purchased with an FHA mortgage loan are found in HUD 4000.1, and include the following guidance you should know: FHA programs “differ from one another primarily in terms of what types of Properties and financing are eligible. Except as otherwise stated in this SF Handbook, FHAs Single Family programs are limited to one- to four-family Properties that are owner-occupied Principal | more...

FHA Loan Approval and Late or Missed Housing Payments

February 11, 2025

What Hurts Your Chances For FHA Loan Approval

By Joe Wallace

What can stop your FHA home loan from getting approved? Knowing what the lender will do when confronted with common home loan problems can be half the battle for some. In 2025 house hunters need to be more vigilant than ever to protect their credit and their ability to obtain it. If you can anticipate the lender’s expectations for things like credit, verifiable income, reliable credit history, and other factors you can get a lot closer to loan approval. What You Should Know About FHA Home Loan Minimum FICO Scores Borrowers with FICO scores below 500 are not eligible for an FHA mortgage loan. Borrowers with credit scores above 500 but below 580 may technically qualify but these applicants must put 10% down rather than the lowest down payment possible | more...

January 13, 2025

FHA Home Loans: How Much Income Do You Need To Qualify?

By Joe Wallace

Many future homeowners want to know about the income requirements for an FHA loan–are you worried that you won’t qualify for an FHA mortgage because you don’t earn enough each month? And then there’s the opposite problem–a misconception that you can earn “too much” to qualify for an FHA mortgage as though this program had income limits. FHA loans do NOT feature income limits and this program does not require you to qualify based on financial need. FHA Loans Are For All Financially Qualified Applicants There is no minimum income requirement for an FHA mortgage, and there is no upper limit or income “ceiling”. FHA loans are not targeted for any one income bracket. FHA loans are designed with more lenient FICO score minimums in mind, but that has nothing | more...