FHA Home Loans

FHA home loans offer first time homebuyers and people with bad credit an opportunity with affordable home financing and low FHA home loan rates. Millions of first time homebuyers got started with a FHA home loan. These government home loans promote fair lending with flexible credit guidelines. First time home buyers like FHA home financing because the loans only require a 3.5% down-payment and the interest rates are low. FHA home loans offer interest rate protection, because borrowers who have a FHA loan can refinance with a FHA streamline. Streamline loans automate the loan process and enable FHA borrowers to refinance quickly and cost effectively if FHA home loan rates drop.

Low FHA Home Loan Rates for Americans with All Types of Credit!

How to Qualify for a FHA Home Loan

With less stringent loan qualifications than most conventional mortgage products, many people are turning to FHA home loans. FHA loan programs are popular for first time home buyers, because they only have to come up with a 3.5% down payment. However, no matter how many homes you have owned, you may be eligible for a FHA mortgage. How to qualify for a FHA loan is a big question for home owners who have not used these great mortgage products. All borrowers must be able to document their income and employment. Unlike some other mortgage products, applicants are usually allowed to use gift money for FHA down payment requirements.

If you want to know how to qualify for a FHA loan, start with collecting the documents you need. Borrowers must be able to document their income. You have to have been employed for the last two years, and it is best if it was with the same employer. Your income from the last two years must have remained the same or increased. You do have to come up with a 3.5% down payment, but applicants are usually allowed to use gift money for FHA down payment costs. These minimal requirements mean FHA home loans are popular for first time home buyers.

The Federal Reserve has done its part to help with the mortgage credit crisis in an effort to spur mortgage refinancing by lowering interest rates, but many people say that's not enough, so the Federal Housing Administration, or FHA, has been called on to loosen FHA home refinance standards and make it easier for people to do an FHA mortgage refinance, particularly if they have an adjustable rate mortgage that started with a low "teaser" rate and then went up drastically .

Compensating Factors that may help 1st time homebuyers

• Consumer has demonstrated ability to satisfactorily pay new housing expense = proposed monthly home expense over the past 1-2 years
• Borrower makes a large down payment of 10% or more towards the purchase
• Borrower's potential for increased earnings as indicated by job training/education in borrower's profession
• The house is being purchased as a result of the relocation of the primary wage earner and the secondary wage earner has an established work history and will return to work in a similar occupation.
• Alternative credit can be used to build a credit history

Home owners must also have at least 3% equity in their property. This means that in order to borrow the FHA insured maximum amount of $362,790, the property would have to appraise for at least $374,000. The borrowers have to document their income and employment and their proposed payments must be less than 43% of their gross income after monthly expenses like car payments and credit card bills.

For many homeowners who are in default or facing the prospect of foreclosure, $362,790 is just not enough to cover their existing mortgage. Congress is being urged to raise the maximum FHA loan guarantee to $417,000 which is the limit for conforming loans that can be sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but even this is not enough for many home owners in high cost areas like California, so this program is not for everyone, but the best estimates are that somewhere between 80,000 and 240,000 families will be able to benefit from these new quick and efficient government refinance loans.

Therefore, a new program has been introduced, called FHA Secure. This is sort of an FHA streamline program and it can bring relief to many desperate home owners. These new, quick and efficient government refinance loans are designed to help people refinancing ARM or Adjustable Rate loans into stable, fixed rate home loans. They offer rate and term refinancing only, no cash out and borrowers must have good payment history. Traditional FHA mortgage options are not available to homeowners who are behind on their payments, or are in foreclosure, but these new loans are different.

These new, FHA streamline loans are designed to loosen the rules. Homeowners can be behind on their payments or even in foreclosure, if they have an adjustable loan and their payments have gone up so much that they can't afford them. But they must have had no late payments for at least six months before their loan adjusted and the payments went up, otherwise they don't qualify.

The interest rates for FHA refinance and home purchase loans remain competitive and comparable to conventional Fannie Mae mortgage rates.

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Because of plummeting home values and high adjustable rates, many consumers are inquiring about the FHA Secure options that are offered to homeowners who were never late prior to their mortgage adjusting.

FHA Loan Blog - Read, Comment and Post Questions about Home Buying and Loan Refinancing.