Showing posts with label FHA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FHA. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
6/29/2010 04:28:00 PM | Posted by
Arbor Mortgage
With the mortgage market tightening up over the last couple of years, many people think their only down payment option for a new home is 20% or more. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Surprisingly, there are many options for low down payment loans.
Zero – That’s right, $0 – down loans
Didn’t zero down loans go away with the mortgage meltdown? No way, there are still some terrific zero down programs available.
USDA Rural Development – The United States Department of Agriculture has a Rural Development loan product that is truly zero down. USDA loans come in 2 flavors – Guaranteed and Direct. The Direct program is for low income buyers and is only available through the USDA offices. The Guaranteed program is available through mortgage lenders or brokers and is for low-moderate income families purchasing in rural/semi-rural areas. Aside from not requiring a down payment, these loans have many other advantages. There is no monthly mortgage insurance, interest rates are very low, and the areas of rural eligibility are very liberal.
Labels:
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
On June 10, the House of Representatives passed the Federal Housing Administration Reform Act (HR 5072) in a practically unanimous vote of 406-4. This law is intended to boost the reserves held by the FHA, which now insures roughly a third of the nation's mortgages.
This vote just finishes what was started back in April 2010, when the up front mortgage insurance was increased from 1.75% to 2.25%. The passage of the bill allows FHA to increase the annual mortgage insurance premium, which is paid monthly, from .50% or .55% to 1.5% maximum. However, FHA says they only intend to raise it to .9% at this time.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Effective February 1, 2010, HUD has suspended the rule that prevented a buyer from obtaining FHA financing on a home which had been owned by a seller for less than 90 days. This guideline was commonly called “the anti-flip rule”. This suspension of the rule or “flipping waiver” is valid for 12 months and is a boon for real estate investors because they can now turn their flips much more quickly by opening up the huge pool of FHA buyers.
Now, this may seem like old news – it’s April already, and this has been out for 2 months. Yet, the lending canvas has been strangely silent on it. Many lenders just aren’t allowing it. They are refusing to honor the flip waivers, because they see the limited time the seller owns the home as a large risk, and possibly an easy area for fraud.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
On January 20, 2010 the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) commissioner David Stevens announced a set of policy changes that will tighten the qualifications even further, making it even harder to obtain a government backed mortgage.
The first change to take effect will be the increase in mortgage insurance premium (MIP). The increase is to build up the agency’s reserves. On April 5, 2010, the premium will increase from 1.75% to 2.25% of the loan amount for single family programs with certain exceptions. This adds $500 to every $100,000 of mortgage loan to a borrower’s closing costs.
Another proposed change requires a minimum credit score for FHA’s 3.5% down payment program. If a buyer has less than a 580 credit score, a down payment of up to 10% may be necessary. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (press release HUD No. 10-016), “This change will be posted in the Federal Register in February and, after a notice and comment period, would go into effect in the early summer”.
The first change to take effect will be the increase in mortgage insurance premium (MIP). The increase is to build up the agency’s reserves. On April 5, 2010, the premium will increase from 1.75% to 2.25% of the loan amount for single family programs with certain exceptions. This adds $500 to every $100,000 of mortgage loan to a borrower’s closing costs.
Another proposed change requires a minimum credit score for FHA’s 3.5% down payment program. If a buyer has less than a 580 credit score, a down payment of up to 10% may be necessary. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (press release HUD No. 10-016), “This change will be posted in the Federal Register in February and, after a notice and comment period, would go into effect in the early summer”.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
About Me
- Arbor Mortgage
- Arbor Mortgage is a Michigan based mortgage lender that has been providing mortgage solutions for more than a decade. Since 1998, Arbor Mortgage has helped more than 20,000 people purchase or refinance their homes. Arbor offers a variety of mortgage programs including FHA, USDA Rural Development, VA, Conventional and Alternative loans.
Subscribe To
Posts
All Comments
