FHA Mortgage Guide

What is a “high cost” area if you want an FHA mortgage?

That’s a question raised by Jim, and the practical answer is this:

Under today’s system, a single-family home in a “high cost” area can get an FHA mortgage equal to 87 percent of the conventional loan limit, or $362,790. The ceiling in “low cost” areas is 48 percent of the conventional loan limit, or $200,160. The limits are 50 percent higher in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

But, which areas are high and which are low? The answer seems to change because I see notices from HUD where low-cost areas have been redefined into high-cost communities. For this reason, the best approach is to go to the FHA Loan Limit Page and check the community where you want to finance or refinance.

Also, of course, check with local lenders.

We now have a new stage in the foreclosure war: More begging.
On August 31st the President announced his anti-foreclosure program including the newly-developed FHASecure mortgage from HUD. The President’s plan was a voluntary effort which required nothing of no one but did produce a lot of news releases and resultant media coverage.
The obvious problem is […] read more

Carl Pruitt makes an interesting point regarding the new popularity enjoyed by the FHA loan program.
“These numbers on FHASecure are definitely not adding up correctly!” he says. “However, I know that it is true that many are avoiding the necessity to use FHASecure because they are refinancing before they become delinquent. I believe all the […] read more

Over at Calculated Risk, one of my favorite blogs, Tanta makes an interesting point. She discusses the case of a borrower who was foreclosed, yet title to the property did not change for years — meaning the defaulting owner remained responsible for property taxes, maintenance and other costs.
“Reading things like this, says Tanta, “also […] read more

Jen Jones offers a view which should be discussed. She says:
“Mr. Miller, so many of these homeowners in trouble bought their homes with 0 down and refinanced over and over cashing out all of their equity year after year. Will they be eligible for the FHA Secure program or any other bail-out assistance? Unfortunately this […] read more

For much of the past year weekly application reports from the Mortgage Bankers Association have shown an increase when compared with a year earlier. This morning, however, MBA came out with stats showing a huge drop.
Given the current state of the housing market it seems difficult to imagine why applications would have been up at […] read more

CNBC Reporter Diana Olick reported on her blog that “here’s the truth: FHA Secure has receive about 3,000 applications from homeowners who are delinquent on their loans and has closed on about 600 since September, that answer from an official HUD staffer who gave me the actual numbers after more than one request.”
How did HUD […] read more