Articles Tagged With: FHA 203k Mortgage

Coronavirus And Home Loan Appraisals: What You Need To Know Now

April 24, 2020

FHA Home Loan Approval Rules And Income Verification

Can all of your income be used to qualify for an FHA mortgage? If you need to buy a home soon, it’s important to understand home loan approval rules, especially in times of economic uncertainty. There are some forms of income that don’t qualify to be counted as “verifiable income” for the purpose of establishing the borrower as a good candidate for loan approval. There is specific criteria for the kinds of earnings you can use to qualify, and specific criteria for the types of earnings that the lender cannot count as part of your monthly predictable pay. Understanding those income rules is very important, especially now. Many Americans are receiving unemployment, government stimulus checks, and other financial resources. But not all money can be used toward your verifiable income, | more...

April 15, 2020

Facts About FHA Mortgage Loans

By Joe Wallace

FHA home loans and refinance loans are complex, and the less you know about how the process works, the harder it can be to make sense of your loan. What you don’t know about home loans can make a big difference in the price you pay, the terms you accept, and more. FHA Loans: Credit Checks Are Very Important Credit counts. How much do you want to pay in interest and money up front for the down payment? Your credit score affects the cost of your loan. How can you get financially ready for your home loan application? Do not begin the FHA loan application process with fewer than 12 months of on-time payments. You should make on-time, every time payments on all financial obligations with no late or missed | more...

April 3, 2020

Protect Your Credit During The COVID-19 Emergency

By Bruce Reichstein

What can you do to protect your credit during the coronavirus pandemic? Millions of Americans have applied for unemployment, foreclosure relief, and other measures, but what do consumers need to know about protecting credit during a time of dramatically reduced income? Check Your Credit There is plenty of time during a shelter-in-place order to apply for the free copies of your credit report you are entitled to each year. You can get a copy of your credit report for free from the government’s official source for Americans to get those free credit reports, AnnualCreditReport.com. Review your credit report for errors, identity theft, and outdated information. You must dispute any inaccurate information on your report to improve your credit scores (which may have been lowered as a result of that inaccurate | more...

March 25, 2020

Refinance Loan Options You Should Know

By Bruce Reichstein

At one point during the coronavirus crisis, refinance applications spiked. Some sources report that spike hitting over 100% at the height of the application surge; people rushed to take advantage of sub-three-percent mortgage loan interest rates. Part of the surge may also have been due (this is speculation) to a misconception that when the Fed performed emergency interest rate cuts, it directly cut mortgage rates. The Fed doesn’t function that way, but the misunderstanding of how the Fed works may have contributed to the overall impression that refinance loan rates were going still lower. In the news, talk of an economic recession puts fear in the minds of some homeowners; what can you do to protect your bottom line in a time when many businesses are temporarily closed and paychecks | more...

March 10, 2020

Is It Safe To Go House Hunting During The Coronavirus Outbreak?

By Joe Wallace

Is the housing market is in “disarray” in the wake of the coronavirus? Some think so, sharing stories of lenders refusing new loans, mortgage rates moving contrary to their traditional patterns in the presence of influences that normally tend to put upward or downward pressure on those rates, etc. And then there’s the coronavirus itself, bringing cancellations, disrupted travel plans, and slow sales due to reduced demand. But even with all this, house hunting and real estate sales continue. But what can a home loan applicant do when they are afraid of catching coronavirus (however justified those fears may or may not be) or even just the garden-variety flu? Technology provides the answer for some in the form of the virtual real estate tour. Virtual tours can take the form | more...

March 4, 2020

Low Mortgage Rates and Refinance Options

By Bruce Reichstein

On Tuesday, March 3, the Fed announced an emergency rate cut, and the reaction to that included mortgage loan interest rates hitting new and historic lows. The Fed does not set mortgage loan interest rates, but investor reaction to the announcement of the rate cut did affect mortgage rates, and the net effect was that FHA home loan interest rates remain (at the time of this writing) below the three percent range. And conventional mortgages are holding at the bottom of the three percent zone. These rates, plastered all over the internet, are provided assuming ideal scenarios, but even the average borrower will find the current lower mortgage rate trend to be to their advantage. New Purchase Loans And Refinance Loans Are Affected For those who are interested in refinancing? | more...

February 12, 2020

Why Buy A Home In 2020?

By Bruce Reichstein

There are many reasons why it’s smart to think about looking for a forever home in 2020; owning instead of renting, the ability to freely customize your living space, being able to apply for cash-out refinancing to convert part of your home’s value into cash, and never having to wait for a landlord to fix a problem in the home. But in 2020 there’s another reason to consider owning a home soon; a Zillow.com report indicates that 2020 is going to be a good year for home values depending on the housing market. The Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey from the 4th quarter of 2019 includes data that indicates U.S. home values may grow by 2.8% in 2020. Rising or hot-again housing markets in the new year include Austin, Texas | more...

Credit Requirements For Your FHA Home Loan In 2020

February 6, 2020

Buy Or Rent? The Cost Gap Gets Narrower

By Bruce Reichstein

Do you want to own a home or rent one from someone else? According to a Realtor.com report from the fourth quarter of 2019, the cost gap between being a renter and a homeowner is lower, and it may be even more affordable to own your own home in smaller rural areas. Why? According to Realtor.com, “After years of escalating home prices making the cost to purchase a home more expensive than renting in many of the nation’s largest counties, rising rents, lower mortgage rates, and moderating home prices made purchasing a home in Q4 2019 more attractive compared to last year.” That report adds that in more than 80% of American’s largest counties it may still be more expensive to own instead of rent. Findings from the Realtor.com report | more...

January 15, 2020

FHA 203(k) Rehab Loan Standards

By Bruce Reichstein

FHA 203(k) rehab loan standards include a list of things that can be done with a 203(k) rehab loan and a list of ineligible projects. Borrowers should know ahead of time what is allowed and what is not with these FHA rehab loans. FHA Loan Rules For Renovation, Improvements, Add-Ons In general, FHA home loan programs such as the Energy Efficient Mortgage (which can be used in conjunction with an FHA 203(k) loan) and the FHA 203(k) and FHA 203(h) rehab loan feature a list of approved uses for loan proceeds. There’s a prohibition against cash back to the borrower on these transactions except where it is needed to pay for materials and labor; even then a borrower cannot “profit” from the loan. FHA loan rules require escrow accounts to | more...

January 7, 2020

FHA Rehab Loans Versus FHA 203(b) Loans

By Bruce Reichstein

When shopping for real estate, most borrowers are thinking of the kind of mortgage such as the one known as an FHA 203(b). That’s the loan you want when shopping for a house you want to buy as-is; one that meets FHA appraisal standards and requires little to no work on the property to make it eligible for a 203(b) forward mortgage. Then there is another type of home loan option available to FHA borrowers; the FHA 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgage, which allows you to buy a fixer-upper and have it brought up to FHA appraisal standards and local code requirements. The FHA 203(k) Rehab Loan is good for both new purchase and refinance applications. Regardless of whether you buy or refinance with an FHA Rehab Loan, you are permitted to | more...