FHA, known as the Federal Housing Administration, offers a mortgage loan requiring borrowers to have mortgage insurance on the loan. The FHA loan originated during the great depression and has contributed to the growth of the housing market ever since. Read More
Fannie Mae has recently changed a policy that was very difficult for many people. This policy, imposed during the height of the financial 2008 crisis, was intended to be temporary in nature. So it was expected to change at some point, but it sure did take a long time. The policy formerly said in order to rent out your current primary residence Read More
FHA (The Federal Housing Administration), is soon going to raise their mortgage insurance costs, again. FHA is the largest insurer of low down payment mortgages, and it has been announced recently that they are in trouble, and may be in need of a taxpayer bailout. This told me at that time that their fees would increase soon, and soon has finally arrived. The FHA mortgage fee details are: Read More
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 More
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 More
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 More
Appraisers are held to a higher standard of property condition on FHA appraisals. I regularly get some of the most…I’ll say “interesting” appraisal conditions on an FHA loan. It is as if Read More
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 More
Last week the House of Representatives passed a bill giving HUD the OK to increase the monthly mortgage insurance on FHA loans to 1.55% from the current .55%. Huh? This is really extreme, and to me is akin to FHA taking itself out of the market! Read More
If you have an FHA loan, you have probably heard you can do an FHA streamline refinance. This FHA loan is a type of refinance where you can refi without an appraisal. Read More
