Articles Tagged With: Credit Requirements

November 29, 2018

Refinance Loans, Millennials, and Remodeling

Published reports about home loan trends include stats indicate that more than 85% of home buyers or home owners in the Millennial age range will be undertaking renovation, fixer-upper, or remodeling projects in the next three years. These borrowers scour social media such as Pinterest to find decor, design, and layout ideas; these borrowers don’t seem to mind spending a bit extra to add just the right features to a home. Is there an FHA mortgage loan for these people? The FHA Rehabilitation Loan If you need to buy and remodel a home, the standard FHA mortgage is not the right type of loan to ask for. Instead, ask your loan officer about an FHA 203(k) Rehabilitation mortgage, which is available to help buy and repair or remodel a home | more...

November 13, 2018

FHA Home Loans For 2019

By Bruce Reichstein

What are your FHA home loan options in 2019? Those looking to start house hunting in the new year should know about FHA loan guaranty limits and how those limits can change from year to year. This is a very important detail of the home loan process you should know before starting the search for your dream home. FHA loans have limits that are set periodically and can change from year to year. For many years, the basic limit did not change, and in high or low-cost areas the limits are naturally different but the amount of those respectively higher or lower limits don’t always change. However, in 2018 FHA loan limits did change, and borrowers found they had increased limits according to FHA Mortgagee Letter 2017-16. The national limit | more...

November 5, 2018

How Do I Know If I Qualify For An FHA Mortgage?

By Bruce Reichstein

How do you know if you qualify for an FHA mortgage? There are several minimum requirements you should know, but keep in mind that we are not discussing an individual lender’s standards (which will vary depending on the lender) but the FHA Single Family Home Loan program’s basic rules. When you talk terms with a participating FHA lender, you can discuss what additional requirements may apply with that financial institution. The Basics FHA home loans are for financially qualified borrowers regardless of their status as first time buyers or experienced home owners. There is no minimum or maximum income dollar amount specified for FHA home loan approval. Borrowers may be eligible even if they have a bankruptcy or foreclosure in their history as long as good credit has been re-established | more...

September 24, 2018

Types of FHA Mortgages: New Purchase Loans

By Joe Wallace

Looking for the right FHA mortgage loan for you? There are many different options available if you need to buy a home with an FHA loan including mortgages that allow you to buy and repair a home at the same time, and loans that allow you to build a home from the ground up. FHA Loans: What Is A Forward Mortgage? Once you start shopping around for a home loan, you will encounter terminology related to your home purchase. Some of the most common are “forward mortgage” and “purchase loans”. These two terms basically indicate that the loan is meant to buy a home rather than refinance it or apply for an FHA Reverse Mortgage which gives cash to the borrower secured by a home that is nearly paid off | more...

September 19, 2018

How Do Student Loans Affect My FHA Mortgage?

By Bruce Reichstein

How do student loans affect your FHA mortgage? Is it harder to get FHA loan approval if you have student loan debt? What if the debt is not currently due or being paid in monthly installments? FHA loan rules in HUD 4000.1 (the FHA loan handbook) address these issues. Student loan debt is in a category of its’ own thanks to rule changes a few years ago taking student loans into account during the review for credit worthiness. Student loans once upon a time were in a category called “deferred obligations” because it was possible to have a student loan debt and not be required to pay at that moment; the amount of the deferred obligation was taken into account in a certain way by the lender. But after the | more...

Conventional Loan Interest Rates Make History, FHA Loan Rates Still Incredibly Low

September 4, 2018

Five Things You Should Know About FHA Refinance Loans

By Bruce Reichstein

Five things you should know about FHA refinance loans include the fact that you can find an FHA mortgage to refinance any typical home loan, you can get a refinance loan with cash out, and you can refinance a home to remove an ex-coborrower, spouse, or other persons from the mortgage. #5: FHA Refinance Loans Are Available For Both Existing FHA Mortgages And Non-FHA Mortgages You may only refinance a mortgage using an FHA refinance loan, but the types of mortgage you can refinance include FHA, VA, conventional, USDA, etc. You do not have to have an existing FHA mortgage to apply for FHA refinancing. You are required to occupy the home being refinanced with the FHA mortgage, and refinance loans for secondary residences may be limited depending on the | more...

August 17, 2018

Am I Eligible For An FHA Mortgage After Foreclosure?

By Joe Wallace

“Am I eligible for an FHA loan after a foreclosure?” That is a more common question than some realize, and FHA loan rules in HUD 4000.1 address this question directly. The answer depends greatly on circumstances, how much time has passed since the foreclosure action, and how the borrower has worked to re-establish good credit. FHA Home Loan Rules On Foreclosures HUD 4000.1 contains the FHA loan rules that govern loan approval when the borrower has a foreclosure on their credit history. Much depends on how much time has elapsed since the foreclosure; HUD 4000.1 instructs the lender: “A Borrower is generally not eligible for a new FHA-insured Mortgage if the Borrower had a foreclosure or a Deed-in-Lieu (DIL) of foreclosure in the three-year period prior to the date of | more...

July 26, 2018

FHA Home Loans And First Time Home Buyers

By Joe Wallace

FHA home loans are perfect for many first time home buyers who are looking for low down payment requirements, forgiving credit score guidelines, and a home that features refinance options later down the line for cash-out, rehab and repair, etc. But does a house hunter have to be a first-time home buyer to qualify for an FHA mortgage? The short answer is no. FHA mortgage loans are for any financially qualified borrower, first time buyer or not. That said, first-time home buyers may find an advantage when it comes to local or state down payment assistance programs. FHA mortgages require the down payment to come from approved sources; those sources may include down payment assistance from agencies that provide such funds in accordance with FHA requirements. Down payment assistance must | more...

June 22, 2018

Are There FHA Home Loans For Borrowers With No Credit?

By Bruce Reichstein

Are there FHA home loans available for borrowers who have no credit? Some home loan applicants may have little or no credit activity and worry that there may be no provisions in FHA loan rules for such circumstances. What does the FHA loan handbook, HUD 4000.1, say about this issue? FHA loan rules state that the lender is required to pull credit data for all FHA loan borrowers. Whether you need a new purchase home loan, an FHA One-Time Close construction loan, an FHA cash-out refinance loan or any other mortgage (except for an FHA Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan which has no FHA-required credit check requirements in most cases) a credit report will be pulled for each borrower obligated on the mortgage. In cases where the credit report shows | more...

May 16, 2018

FHA One-Time Close Construction Loans And Other Government-Backed Mortgages

By Bruce Reichstein

House hunters looking for government-backed mortgages (as opposed to conventional mortgages which may have higher down payment requirements and other features) have a variety of options to choose from. Are you in the market for an FHA construction loan such as the FHA One Time Close construction mortgage? Do you need to build instead of buy? FHA One-Time Close / Single-Close Construction Loans Borrowers who choose the FHA One Time Close / Single-Close mortgage are applying for a single mortgage loan covering both the construction phase and the mortgage itself. These loans are for those who want to build a home from the ground up, and there are additional requirements for these loans regarding escrow, inspections, and when mortgage payments are scheduled to being. One Time Close (OTC) loans or | more...