fha loans: Yogi Berra and FHA Loans - 02/14/12 12:26 PM
It’s déjà vu all over again at least twice a day when you live in the house that FHA built. In my opinion, that’s because there’s typically such a good deal of commotion about FHA rules that the commotion tends to distort the reality.
Case in point of course is the deal with seller-paid contributions. I am typically asked twice daily to confirm the change to the current six percent of the purchase price for the seller contribution towards prepaid expenses, closing costs, discount points etc., to the buyer’s bottom line. It’s still six percent. FHA’s projected change back in July … (2 comments)
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fha loans: Florida Mortgages and The Loch Ness Monster - 01/11/12 09:01 PM
Despite the veritable murkiness of the rules regulating the mortgage industry, every week I get asked the same questions from Realtors about down payments. So every week these questions just reinforce the fact that there’s still confusion and that the mindset that “FHA is the only way” still exists.
In the wonderful world of mortgages everyone’s story is different and things are not always what they appear to be. Ironies exist. The assumption that you’ll come out ahead by financing with an FHA mortgage is not necessarily true.
Conventional loans with 5% down do exist and are still the gold standard … (0 comments)
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fha loans: Two FHA Loans Can be Better Than One - 09/15/11 03:15 PM
Hey all you Realtors out there…I think you know I’ve always had a great deal of respect for how difficult your job is. You really bear the lion’s share of responsibility for getting a real estate transaction underway:
You unravel client wish lists to ascertain what they’re really saying You conduct comprehensive searches to come up with a selection of properties that meet all the criteria You negotiate prices and repairs You draw up contracts that protect your client and uphold the laws of the state AND you keep a vigilant eye on the drop dead dates so the time sensitive … (3 comments)
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fha loans: The Fall of the FHA Empire? - 07/11/11 09:03 AM
Before “Too Big to Fail” became a cringe-inducing colloquialism, we had “armor that cracked” and the “mighty that fell”. Do we now have a front row seat for The Fall of the Roman (FHA) Empire?
FHA Loans were once the best game in town. If you had less than 20% to put down, FHA was your man. But now… 5% down with a conventional loan may ultimately be the cheaper/faster/better alternative than going the FHA Way.
If you’re deciding your mortgage loan based on sheer costs (and most of us are!):
FHA Loan
$100,000 property 3.5% down - Need 1% of … (3 comments)
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fha loans: Florida Mortgages and Making it Happen - 03/22/11 03:53 PM
Say what you want about the Florida real estate market, but from where I sit, these are some really good days. They are typically enjoyed when everyone does his or her job and delivers whatever paperwork or proof that's their responsibility to deliver so the gears remain greased and the show goes on.
This is not to say that Florida mortgage processes themselves are not without their challenges...one of them is getting FHA condo deals done. But you know what? They can get done if a mortgage lender steps up...and frankly, that's something me and my team pride ourselves on.
Case … (0 comments)
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fha loans: FHA: Just Ain't Going Your Way? - 03/15/11 03:00 PM
Well, they're at it again...cue the clowns. The FHA has once again increased their premium - yes, for the second time in 6 months, the FHA's mortgage insurance costs are changing.
While the effective date is April 18th - I just need to clear up some confusion: this actually means that you have to have a fully executed contract, the application done, everything dotted and crossed and turned into the lender so he or she can submit it so you can receive the FHA case number. This all has to be accomplished prior to April 18th.
If you receive your FHA … (0 comments)
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fha loans: Florida Mortgages and The Price We Pay - 01/20/11 11:07 AM
Nothing wrong with learning lessons, some of them just come at a tremendous cost...like $13.6 billion.
The FHA's annual independent financial report spouts all sorts of happy statements like "it is stronger today than it was last year" and about how the "FHA's capital reserves held steady" and stuff like that.
All good news, but there's also the seedy underbelly about how the seller-financed down payment assistance loans produced $6.6 billion in claims (and counting!!) and could actually wind up costing the agency in the neighborhood of $13.6 billion. That's some neighborhood!
Mercifully outlawed by the FHA, the seller-financed assistance program … (0 comments)
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fha loans: The Tick Tock of the FHA Clock - 12/20/10 02:28 PM
We've talked a lot about FHA and FHA in relation to Florida condo financing, and condo financing as it relates to FHA approvals and Florida condo mortgages...and round and round we go.
Well, once again, we've got the two sharing a headline as a bunch of current FHA approvals are set to expire shortly. This could obviously affect homeowners and Realtors with condos listed for sale.
Just to back up a bit:
In order to obtain FHA financing on a condo unit, the condo project in which the unit exists must be approved by FHA. Our friends at FHA recently switched … (1 comments)
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fha loans: Tampa Realtors and 8000 Pound Gorillas - 10/13/10 04:56 PM
To all you Realtors out there...I do have a really good idea about the stuff that gets dumped on you. While we're in the business of satisfying buyers' and sellers' goals, real estate agents in Florida are in the thick of the machinations of many different processes from loan officers to the termite guys.
Since all the great listing agents (and obviously the buyers' agents too) stay very close in touch with the progress of the buyer's loan, I just want to pass along a few tips (that will potentially save a deal from disintegration) if you're dealing with an unfamiliar … (2 comments)
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fha loans: FHA Repairs and Inspections - Beware of What They Seek - 08/24/10 09:24 AM
Staying ahead of the curve is your best defense in this real estate market. When buying a home with an FHA Loan, it is much easier for buyers to know what they need to look for going in, rather than trying to remember which ones will hit FHA's hot buttons after they've seen 15 homes.
If you're listing the home, I always recommend that this be used as a checklist for the sellers to review so they know what to expect and what to address because FHA requires repairs and inspections of very specific items. HUD is looking to cover three primary … (7 comments)
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fha loans: FHA May Not Be Going Your Way... - 08/06/10 09:12 AM
In previous posts, I have chastised others for taking a rumor and stating it as fact.
As it is, every day I see other Tampa Bay mortgage lenders and Realtors running amok over the industry changes that are true...it is therefore just cruel to frazzle anyone without cause. (I have a large picture window in one of my offices so I literally see people running amok all day long; I'm not exaggerating!)
I digress...FHA and seller paid contributions, we may be headed for another change. This is just a heads up.
The latest adjustment is merely being commented on, it's not … (0 comments)
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fha loans: Real Estate Contracts and Insanity - 07/05/10 10:10 PM
I'm going to call it contract madness or "you'd better please all of the people all of the time or you and your FHA and VA loans will find yourself kicked to the curb with a rubber-stamped DO OVER on your forehead."
Without further delay, here are the latest hot button issues we are hearing regarding real estate contracts:
Issues with legibility - If it can't be read, you're out. FHA and VA will not insure loans if they can't read the property contract, they will make you write it over again. Issues with contract name mis-matches - The names on … (6 comments)
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fha loans: FHA Loans and Anti-Flipping Rules - 03/17/10 09:09 AM
A common misconception that clients have is that the FHA makes loans, we know they don't. They insure loans. And FHA Loans are all about risk tolerance. If there is the slightest chance of rain, they're off the field and back into the dugout.
One real estate arena where they have recently made their presence and power known is in the purchase of homes from flippers. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) put a federal regulation into place to protect home buyers from what they are terming "the predatory real estate lending practice called "flipping" on mortgages insured by … (0 comments)
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fha loans: Buying Foreclosures - De-Flipping the Flippers - 02/02/10 09:31 PM
To all you Realtors out there representing real estate investors, you know how saturated the market is with these opportunities. But enter the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to apply the brakes and give some relief to the traditional home buying-FHA mortgage recipient and the real estate market as a whole.
Traditionally a buyer wanting to use FHA financing to purchase a home meant that the seller must have owned the property for at least 90 days. This kept investors from buying these homes and fixing them up because they would have had to hold them well past … (3 comments)
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