Articles Tagged With: FHA Appraisals

April 18, 2025

Before You Fill Out FHA Home Loan Forms

Are you ready to apply for an FHA mortgage? You’ll want to make sure you have done a few important preliminary steps before you submit an application. The most basic thing to start with is knowing what type of home loan you need. If you plan to buy a condo unit your FHA loan will be a different variety than if you need to buy a manufactured home, for example. That may sound like some of the most basic home loan advice out there, but what is not so basic is knowing that there are nuances for some of these loans you need to know. A condo unit must typically be part of a project that is on or added to the approved list for FHA loans. But did you | 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...

September 26, 2024

FHA Home Loans: Why You Want To Haggle With The Seller

By Bruce Reichstein

Many first-time home buyers hate the idea of negotiating, haggling, or otherwise trying to adjust the price of the home with a seller. In a seller’s market there’s not much negotiating possible, it’s true. But when conditions are more favorable for the borrower, negotiating may be to your advantage. Why Should A First-Time Home Buyer Be Willing To Negotiate With The Seller? The most apparent reason to haggle with the seller of the real estate you want is to get a lower price. This becomes even more crucial if the appraisal comes back lower than the property’s asking price. The buyer cannot be forced to close the deal in cases where the home’s appraised value is lower than the asking price. The FHA home loan itself will be issued for | more...

September 3, 2024

Preparing For Your Home Loan

By Joe Wallace

The real estate market is typically in flux, thanks to various factors. In a given week, month, or year, you may encounter market conditions more favorable to you as a buyer or to the seller. When assessing the current real estate market dynamics, learn whether the county you want to buy a home in is a buyer’s market, seller’s market, or balanced market. The nature of the market is typically determined by some variables, including the supply of homes compared to the demand. In a buyer’s market, more homes are available than buyers, giving buyers more negotiating power. In a seller’s market, there are more buyers than homes available. That provides sellers with the advantage. Neither side has a significant advantage in a balanced market because conditions are more “neutral” | more...

August 12, 2024

Reverse Mortgages: HECM and Non-FHA Options

By Joe Wallace

Reverse mortgages have become increasingly popular as a retirement financial planning tool. They give homeowners a way to access their home equity without having to make monthly payments, and that equity can come as a lump sum of cash or installment payments, or via a line of credit. Some disbursement options may be open to all applicants, others may depend on circumstnaces. When looking into reverse mortgage options, you will come across two main types: FHA reverse mortgages, also known as Home Equity Conversion Mortgages, and non-FHA reverse mortgage options offered by conventional lenders. The FHA HECM is a reverse mortgage with a government guarantee. That government backing provides the lender with some protection in the event of loan default, making it easier for the lender to approve the loan. | more...

July 22, 2024

Refinancing A Conventional Loan To FHA

By Joe Wallace

Do you need to refinance out of an adjustable-rate conventional loan? Do you want a potentially lower mortgage rate? Do you need to take equity out of your home in cash? Refinancing from a conventional mortgage to an FHA loan can offer several advantages for borrowers with such financial needs and goals. The advantages include the possibility of qualifying for lower interest rates than some conventional loans and getting a more predictable mortgage when refinancing out of a traditional or FHA ARM into an FHA fixed-rate loan. You can also use an FHA cash-out refi for debt consolidation or tap into your house’s equity. Qualifying For An FHA Refinance Loan To be eligible for an FHA refinance loan, there are requirements similar to some purchase loans: Costs Associated with FHA | more...

July 17, 2024

FHA Loans: What To Do After Closing Day

By Joe Wallace

Buying your home with an FHA mortgage involves finding the right lender, making a down payment, saving for and paying closing costs, and taking the keys to your new home on closing day. However, it’s crucial to anticipate potential challenges that may arise after moving in. Did You Get A Home Inspection And An Appraisal? It’s highly recommended that you get a home inspection as a standard part of buying a house. Making the purchase contingent on the inspection and appraisal outcomes can offer protection that you won’t realize until long after closing the loan. While an FHA mortgage safeguards against lower appraised values through an “escape clause” for situations where the house appraises lower than the asking price, adding a contingency clause for inspection issues is wise. Inspectors might | more...

June 26, 2024

FHA Home Loan Planning

By Joe Wallace

If you want to buy a house with an FHA mortgage, there are some simple steps to take as soon as possible in the planning and house-hunting stages. There are also a few things to avoid, as we examine below. Budget And Save Money Early Smart borrowers build in some extra funds to cover unexpected costs toward owning a new home. You likely don’t expect the appraisal to include instructions on dealing with evidence of termites or what the FHA calls “wood-destroying pests.” Some wind up paying for or negotiating with the seller to pay for an exterminator. This is just one example of unexpected costs you may need to pay on your way to owning your own home, and adding some extra money just in case is a smart | more...

June 25, 2024

What To Look For When House Hunting

By Joe Wallace

If you are looking for your first home, there are areas of every house you should consider including in your mental checklist of features to look at during a real estate open house or a private viewing of a sale property. What follows is not a complete list but a great place to start when looking for potential deal-breaker problems lurking in the house you want to purchase with an FHA mortgage. The Condition Of The Walls And Ceiling Homes that have been flooded or experienced significant plumbing issues could have signs of water damage in areas like the basement, stairs, and walls throughout the house. Look for stains, patches of wall that don’t quite match the others, warped wood, poorly closed doors, etc. Staining and the smell of mold | more...

June 12, 2024

FHA Appraisals: What To Remember

By Bruce Reichstein

The FHA appraisal is one of the most important pre-closing day aspects of your home loan process. Without an appraisal, your lender can’t know if the home meets minimum basic standards for safety, remaining economic life, and serviceability. The lender also can’t make a realistic judgment about the fair market value of the home without an appraisal. What should you know about this process and how it affects you? FHA appraisals are a tool for the lender and not a tool for the borrower. You may be privy to the results of the appraisal, but that does not mean it was designed to help you as a borrower. It is not meant to tell the borrower anything actionable, especially where the condition of the home is concerned. That is the | more...