FHA Plans to Lower Seller Concessions This Summer

The Federal Housing Administration, which currently offers one of the most popular types of home loans (FHA), is changing one of its most celebrated aspects this summer, at least that's what the rumor is.  The aspect I am referring to is the maximum amount of allowable seller concessions, which permit property owners to pay for some of the services and fees connected with the loan transaction.  Inspections, origination, escrow and title fees are just a few of the costs that can be paid via seller concessions, and the new change is expected to receive some backlash as the summer progresses. HOW LOW CAN THEY GO? The amount of the rumored change would drop the allowable amount of seller concessions from 6% of the sales price down to 3%, which is still enough to cover all the closing costs on a loan of approximately $250,000, but anything less than this will force buyers to pay at least some of their costs out of pocket. WHY WOULD THEY DO SUCH A THING? The FHA is making this change in an effort to protect the value of the homes it has loans on.  When a seller ...

Beware! FHA Guidelines To Change in April!

The FHA, who lately has originated almost a third of all home loans, is overhauling its system come April 5th of this year.  Why would this be done when its loan program is so successful, so popular?  Mostly this is being done in an effort to bolster it's balance sheet and falling capital reserves.  In other words, the FHA is attempting to position itself better to "manage its risk while continuing to support the nation’s housing market". Unfortunately this also means that it will become increasingly more difficult to secure an FHA loan.  Ugh.  So without further ado, here are the changes: Maximum seller contributions are reduced from 6 percent to 3 percent An increase in Upfront Mortgage Insurance Premiums from 1.75 percent to 2.25 percent A Congressional request to increase monthly mortgage insurance premiums even higher The good news is that the biggest expected change (the proposed increase for the FHA minimum downpayment) didn't make the final cut.  Luckily this means you can still get into a home with 3.5% down.  Whew. Also, the FHA'S NEW GUIDELINES institute a minimum FICO score of 580 to make this 3.5% downpayment, while requiring 10 percent down for any applicant whose ...

90 Day Flipping Rule Suspended For One Year!

Great news for investors!  Admitting that it is in fact possible to buy, rehab, and sell a property in less than 90 days, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has suspended it's infamous 90 day seasoning requirement!  This is also great news for home buyers, as this suspension should effectively allow quite a few more houses onto the market that otherwise would be just "seasoning" (aka sitting) on the market for 90 days.  Before we get into this too deep, lets first get an idea of what this seasoning requirement originally entailed.  Basically, since 2003, the FHA has required that a house is "seasoned" on the market for 90 days before it is allowed to be resold.  This means that an investor or any other person who purchased a property had to wait for approximately 3 months before they were allowed to sell the house to an FHA insured buyer.  More than anything, this was done to prevent people from buying a house and immediately selling it at an inflated price to a naive or uninformed buyer.  Luckily, over the past several years, most of the riff raff has been weeded out of ...

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Here at DFW Mortgage Guide we have numerous loan programs that can be custom-built to fit your situation, whatever it may be. We serve the Dallas Fort Worth area metroplex exclusively, so you know you are dealing with a company that knows the area. We also work with over 20 lenders and have access to almost any loan program available.  These include: PERMANENT FINANCING MORTGAGES We offer a multitude of Mortgage programs for Dallas Fort Worth including conventional fixed rate mortgages, FHA Loans, VA, Jumbo, ARM's, USDA, Interest Only, investment properties, condominiums, and many more! HOME IMPROVEMENT MORTGAGES Whether you are looking to purchase a home that needs improvements, or if you need to do some work on your existing house, we have options available for first and second lien home improvement mortgages. HOME EQUITY MORTGAGES We offer Cash-Out Mortgages for primary homes, second homes, and investment homes, as well as interest only HELOCs for primary residencies. SECOND LIEN MORTGAGES We also offer stand alone second mortgages and second lien mortgages closed concurring with first lien ...