Another FHA Article
June 1st, 2008 Categories: FHA
FHA and The Salt Lake Real Estate Market
I have been talking about FHA loans since last summer and the role FHA will have now that the market has shifted. FHA is not as sensitive to FICO scores. This does not mean you can have bad credit and still get a loan. Some people have lower FICO scores not because of a less than desirable payment history. Believe it or not there are still people that do not use credit to buy things other than a house.
FHA only requires a 3% down payment and it can be a gift, a grant or Down Payment Assistant Program aka DPA.
Some people interpret this as a Government bailout and the Government is making bad loans. FHA DOES NOT LOAN MONEY, FHA is an insured loan that is funded by the mortgage insurance premiums of the borrower. The reason FHA works is very simple, it is what is called a full doc loan. Meaning full documentation, all things must be verified. You know trivial things like employment, rental history…
FHA has loosened up in the past few years on some physical requirements. They used to be so stringent that it didn’t make sense. Things like a handrail going to a basement could not be raw wood or a small crack in a window of a detached garage. The purpose of the requirements is to assure people were buying safe homes.
The latest is the increase in the loan limits. This one is huge, there are a lot of people that have homes that were considered a jumbo and therefore the loans had higher interest rates. Even with mortgage insurance FHA loan will be better than most conventional products that have 10% or less down. After all why shouldn’t someone with a good credit history good income minimal debt and a fair down payment get a good interest rate?
I have written quite a few pieces on FHA and still say when choosing a mortgage company make sure they are an FHA approved lender. For more read 8 Reasons Why You Should…
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8 Reasons Why You Should Use An FHA Approved Lender In Salt Lake
October 22nd, 2007 Categories: FHA
8 Reasons Why You Should Use An FHA Approved Lender
- 1. FHA Approved Lender Can Offer You Conventional Products, But A Non FHA Approved Lender Cannot Offer You FHA
- 2. FHA Approved Lender Has To Have A $250,000 Net Worth, 20% Has To Be Liquid
- 3. FHA Approved Lender Has To Have A Written Quality Control Plan.
- 4. FHA Approved Lender Has To Go Through Annual Audits Of Their Files
- 5. FHA Does Not Use FICO Score*
- 6. FHA Allows The Seller To Contribute Up To Six Percent For The Buyer*
- 7. FHA Allows The Down Payment To A Be Gift*
- 8. FHA Allows Co-Signers
I only refer FHA Approved lenders to buyers. FHA is not always the best loan out there. However when it is the right one, conventional won’t touch it. Referring to item number one, a lender that is FHA Approved has all the products of the non FHA lenders, but the non FHA lenders don’t have FHA. That fact alone is enough to only refer FHA approved lenders.
Does that mean those lenders that are not FHA approved are not as good? Absolutely NOT. There are plenty of great non FHA approved lenders, they just have less to offer.
In the recent past the Salt Lake City Real Estate market was very strong (Salt Lake 3rd Quarter Report) and conventional loans were lax, so FHA was not used to often but is coming back read FHA Roaring Back To Life In Salt Lake
*(Restrictions apply)
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