Make sure your loan officer has done FHA loans before!

Good luck with that!  We had a loan broker on a deal who had never done a chaffa loan.  Unfortunately, she forgot some things (was trained incorrectly)  and it took the title company and us to absorb the extra costs.  The deal went through, but the signing wasn't the most pleasant experience.  I no longer feel bad asking the insulting questions anymore.  Better prepared and ready than to get that horrible surprise.

P.S.  Tell your new agent that we all learn from these things.  When I trained new agents, I would tell my most embarrassing real estate stories so they wouldn't think that mistakes are never made.  I guarantee this or something like it will never happen to him again. 

Hi Kathy.  It is definately a complicated world out there for a new agent.  Very important that new agents partner with experienced lenders.

Kathy

I know that this comment is dated from your original post, but hope that it adds to AR.

Yes, you are correct.  Especially in today's market with even sometimes persistent changes to guidelines.  This is my 38th year in lending, and I have seen much during that time.  I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I am in firm belief that in order for us to be one of the successful ones, we must shift to a " Back to Basics " approach.   FHA, being one of them.  FHA was one of my key surviving staples, during the downturn of the nineties.

In respect to your comment relative to experience, even before the FHA case number was obtained from HUD, any prudent lender would certainly check the approved list of condos.  In fact, I also advise any Realtor who is submitting an FHA offer, to enlist their lender of choice to check this prior to writing the offer.

Even though I have been advised in my career by a few listing agents that the project was approved,  I always recheck anyways......so should any other lender since there have been those occasions where HUD has removed the Condo Project from this list for reasons that HUD deemed appropriate.  An example would be litigation.

I would like to think that your escrow has closed by now; if not, best of luck.

Wayne

Hi Kathy: Condos aren't very common in the Charlotte NC area and I've never even sold one. Townhomes, single family, multi family, vacant land, etc...but no condos.  Thanks for sharing this experience, you definitely learn something new every day!

The need for a loan officer experienced with FHA is important for all buyers.  An loan officer who is inexperienced with FHA loans can definitely mess up a deal!!  I've seen several loan officers make FHA closing date promises that they can't keep.

Before the mortgage crisis there were so many conventional loan programs available to buyers with less than stellar credit, that we didn't see very many FHA loans.  But, now it is a completely different story!  They are calling FHA the new B/C.  I've had several FHA deals already this year.  We're all about to become FHA experts!