I am fairly new to USDA Loans, because in the past they were limited in where they could be done here in Middlesex County, Connecticut, where I do about 90% of my business. However, this loan program is now available in all of Middlesex County except Middletown, and Cromwell. In fact this Loan Program is now available in most of Connecticut. There are only three Counties that now have limited number of towns that it can be done in, Hartford County, New Haven County, and Fairfield County. The rest of the Counties in the State, there are only one or two towns in each County that it is not available.

Here in Connecticut my main go to Loan Product for First Time Homebuyers has been Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) which I have blogged several times in the past about. But the USDA now gives me another Loan Product that will allow a Borrower to do 100% financing, and it is not just for First Time Homebuyers, existing homeowners can also qualify for this Loan Program as well. Also unlike CHFA, USDA does not have Sales Price Limits. Both Loan Programs do have Income Limits. CHFA has higher Income Limits for households of up to three people, but USDA has higher Income Limits for households of four or more people. CHFA allows for higher Debt-To-Income Ratio’s then USDA. CHFA Debt-To-Income Ratio’s are 31/41 for loans that have Downpayment and/or Closing Costs assistance, and 35/45 for loans without Downpayment and/or Closing Costs assistance. USDA has one Debt-To-Income Ratio 29/41 on all loans, but there is a provision for a Ratio Wavier.

This initial blog is just meant to be an introduction to the program, and a quick comparison between State Bonded Loan Programs like CHFA and USDA. I plan on doing a second blog with more detail about the USDA Loan Program. I find that if you try to put too much information into one blog, or make it too long, people are less likely to read it, and this information is to import to be lost in a lengthy blog. By the way some of you that are reading this might recognize this Loan Program by its old name, “The Farmers Loan” because it is only available in Rural Areas with a population of less than 20,000.

I hope this has interested you enough to learn more about this Loan Product, and I will try to provide more detail in a follow up blog this week.

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Info about the author:

George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com