There was some confusion as to how long the latest FHA loan limit increase is going to last, which I blogged about here. Was it through the end of 2011, or 2 full years through 2013, or just through next year and it ends 2012? So the verdict is in, and the latest FHA loan limit increase expires at the end of 2012. So come December 2012, there will be another political fight, Read the rest of this entry »
Some things are permanent, and some are temporary. The cardboard house in this picture, I'd speculate that it is temporary, very temporary. The recent FHA loan limit increase, the one that the NAR (National Association of Realtors) was busy patting itself on the back for having lobbied for it, and helping to get it passed; it seems to be temporary. So what is all of the fuss over. For now, we have one extra month of getting loans done at the higher loan limit, that is a big deal? The NAR, however, said the loan limit increase is good for two years. Here is their announcement: Read the rest of this entry »
Each mortgage lender has dozens of loan programs, and there must be hundreds of lenders. We work with 50 lenders or so, and each lender may have a different interpretation or guideline for each facet of the loan; related to credit, income, appraisal, assets and debt ratios. Imagine the hundreds or even thousands of permutations, Read the rest of this entry »
No, it is not the boom market of 2000-2005 where crazy loan programs allowed anyone to get a home loan with no cash and no income. But there is a way to get a loan with no cash out of pocket, or at the very least, very little cash out of pocket. Read the rest of this entry »
Effective April 18th 2011, FHA will increase the Monthly Mortgage Insurance cost, the Up Front Mortgage Insurance Premium will remain the same. Below are the details Read the rest of this entry »
When you get an FHA loan you are getting a loan that is insured against loss by the federal government through mortgage insurance, you are not getting a loan directly from the federal government. It is this mortgage insurance that many people do not know how or when to get rid of. Read the rest of this entry »
It is now confirmed that FHA is set to change its mortgage insurance on October 4th 2010. There is good news, and bad news. The good news is that the Up Front FHA Mortgage Insurance Premium is being reduced, but the bad news is that the monthly mortgage insurance is going up. Read the rest of this entry »
A long expected shakeup in the way FHA calculates its Mortgage Insurance Premium is expected to take effect on September 7th, 2010. (*UPDATE: I now hear FHA will make these changes on all new FHA loans effective October 4, 2010). I first wrote about this here. Now the proposed changes have taken on a new cost structure. Read the rest of this entry »
You would think the above photo is a representation of how FHA appraisers are instructed to view most properties. I regularly get some of the most…I'll say "interesting" appraisal conditions on an FHA loan. It is as if Read the rest of this entry »
Many people do not realize when they are buying a property that has been "flipped". What does "flipped" mean? To me it means that a real estate investor bought a house that was run down Read the rest of this entry »