What is the Federal Housing Administration?

The Federal Housing Administration, also known as "FHA", provides insurance on home loans made by approved FHA lenders throughout the United States. FHA insures home loans on single family and multifamily homes including manufactured homes and hospitals. It is the largest insurer of home loans in the world, insuring over 34 million properties since it began in 1934.

Section 203b FHA mortgage program is the most frequently used. You may use this FHA loan program to purchase a new or existing one-to-four family residences, including manufactured homes, in both rural and urban areas. A section 203b FHA fixed mortgage loan may be repaid in monthly mortgage payments over 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 years. The common down payment is 3% if you're receiving any help from the seller. Otherwise, it will only be 2.25%.

Section 234c FHA Loans provides mortgage insurance for homebuyers who wish to buy a unit in a condo project. The condo may consist of more than one building, such as a group of row apartments, high-rise buildings, townhomes, or any combination of these structures. Any condo project must be approved by HUD. Lenders may also perform spot approvals on a new project.

You may also do a streamline FHA refinance if you already have an FHA loan. No Credit, No Appraisal, and No income docs are collected. Some lenders may impose their own guidelines.

The FHA has insured over 34 million FHA home mortgages and 47,205 multifamily project mortgages since 1934. FHA currently has 4.8 million insured single family mortgages and 13,000 insured multifamily projects in its portfolio.

Current FHA home loan rates are steadily dropping, and may continue to do so throught this year.