Unless you've just come out of hibernation from the winter, you might have noticed that we have hit a bit of a "rough" patch in the real estate market. One of the problems facing Realtors, Loan originators & borrowers a like is finding the right financing. In the past borrowers had a plethora of programs to choose from, but now not so much. Many of the programs of the past including no doc, stated income state assets, no money down programs borrowers either have to jump through a million hoops to get to or are no longer available.
Of the favorite programs for credit challenged borrowers and first time homeowners the only man left standing after the debacle has been FHA programs and until March everyone was biting their finger nails awaiting the court's decision on whether programs such Nehemiah that allow the seller to contribute towards the buyer's down payment would stay in existence. IT DID and now FHA has turned into the poster child for borrowers' dreams of obtaining reasonable financing. Can FHA fill its new shoes? Without some major overhaul and more staffing I seriously doubt it. Currently if you are doing an FHA loan for purchases they are working on loans submitted 2 weeks ago and counting. If you are trying to do a "quick close" FHA is not going to be your savior. As a Realtor I love FHA because it helps people qualify that other wise might not. As a taxpayer, I'm not sure I'm loving the possibility of FHA being used as a bailout as so many of these new bills call for.
What do you guys think?
Here's a great article that goes into more detail about problems facing FHA:
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