Hi Jeff - I think sometimes, in my experience, it boils down to the lender not wanting to bother with the extra work needed on some loans - too easy to try to lazy approach.  That goes for agents as well.  I've had agent groan when they see my buyer wants to use FHA or some other type of financing that doesn't fit into the easy square mold.  Too bad - if it's better for my buyer to use some other type of financing, why shouldn't they be able to use it?

Ann

ANN.... bingo, you hit the nail on the head.  It boils down to the loan officer being lazy at times. It was extremely easy for many lenders to take a clients info and put into desktop underwriting to get an approval. As long as it said yes, even though the rate would have been a tad higher, they could walk away from that loan and move onto the next then.

FHA mortgages take a lot more work and elbow grease. And the realtors need to start listening and working with loan officers that know the difference and can explain the differences to not only the consumer, but to the realtors.  And I agree with your last statement. It goes back to, not what's easy for me, but what's best for my client.  

Jeff, you are putting out great information with your informative posts regarding FHA.  I hope clients in your markets are fortunate enough to get the message.

Hey Jeff - How ya doing : ) ... I echo Ann's comments, so many times I have run into other agents, who goan when they hear my buyer is going FHA. It all comes down to experience.

Nice post.....it is rare, but definitely doable to get something that high of a ratio done. I still like FHA over Conventional in a myriad of circs.

New title for this blog post... It's a mortgage crap shoot! Never mind. That won't get you as much Google juice ;)

MARK....  thank you very much for that polite compliment.  And yes, the message is getting out there...  thanks

SANDRA.... experience is key.  But also a good loan officer that can explain the difference, the advantages, and that it's even better, because a manual underwrite, once underwriten won't change... a DU decision could change, because conventional guidelines are changing every month.

LARRY.....  Don't get me wrong, it's more than rare to get that kind of back end ratio approved. But each deal is different. My main point was that this person was going to take her client conventional with a much higher rate and payment.  Not thinking it threw, that by lowering the rate, it would lower the debt ratio... and if she played her cards right, she could have made a little more money also...

LISA.....   exactly... in all honesty, I don't write catchy titles for those on AR, so I can get more noticed and more comments... I want more consumers reading my stuff.  Bingo, in regards to the words that I chose.