Kate Ford asked:


1934.

America is swallowed up in The Great Depression. Only 40% of America is a homeowner.

The normal mortgage is limited to 50% of the home’s value. If you want to buy a home, that means you must come up with a 50% down payment.

The 30 year fixed rate mortgage, considered the staple of mortgage financing today, doesn’t exist. Home loans are fixed rates for only a few years, ending in risky unmanageable balloon payments.

Banks are scarce that will help homeowners searching for mortgages.

Unemployment becomes the norm. More than 2,000,000 construction workers alone are jobless.

The Federal Housing Administration with its FHA mortgage loans is conceived in this setting.

In 1934, the federal government created the most successful government program in history, the Federal Housing Administration, also known as FHA. The purpose – to revive the dream of homeownership.

FHA has continued to the housing rescue many times throughout its history just as it did during the Depression.

After World War II, housing was in short demand. Veterans returning from the war wanted to settle down but there was a shortage of housing and mortgage financing.

Again FHA came to the rescue. FHA home loans made it possible for returning Veterans to get mortgage financing for their families after the war.

In future eras, low to moderate income workers, senior citizens and the physically challenged benefited from FHA’s energy. Apartment dwellings were created in mass, providing safe and secure housing for Americans who might have gone homeless. FHA had come to the rescue again.

In the 1970′s, the American economy ran rampant with out of control inflation. Energy costs threatened to undo our economy.

FHA appeared on the scene providing emergency financing for apartment owners strapped for cash. FHA helped keep them above water lessening the chance of greater financial disaster.

In the 1980′s, private mortgage insurers were pulling out of any states in America whose economies were prominently connected to oil production. Recession was reeking havoc but FHA moved to steady decreasing home prices by insuring FHA mortgage lenders against loss.

The success of FHA home loans has made the United States the best housed country in the world. By 2001, 68% households purchased their homes.

But here is the most amazing part of all. FHA is not taxpayer funded. It is not subsidized by the Federal Government. It is totally and completely funded by insurance premiums collected directly from FHA borrowers.

Today, FHA is coming to the rescue again. We are all well aware that the housing market is in the dumps. Selling a home is difficult. Refinancing is also difficult. Lenders have disappeared and money is tight.

George W. Bush has enacted Hope For Homeowners in recent days. This program was created specifically for borrowers facing difficulty making mortgage payments. When Hope For Homeowners begins in the last quarter of ’08, homeowners can take advantage of FHA home loans to finance into secure home loans.

More over, the Federal Housing Administration has greatly expanded loan limits to aid in stabilizing the housing and home loan industry.

Watch for more of my articles on FHA where I will highlight the benefits of FHA-insured refinancing and tips for qualifying to buy a house with FHA home loans.



ALVA

Lannie B asked:


I recently applied for a FHA loan to buy a home in another state b/c my husband’s job is relocating him. We own a home in our current state, and the loan officer said we were approved after submitting documentation (W-2s, pay stubs, etc) verifying we had the income/assets to carry the costs of two houses. Our FHA financed home in our new state will be our primary residence; we likely plan to rent out our current home to wait out the bad market. Our LO said we don’t have to list our current home as an investment property since we haven’t listed it to rent. He also said that they pretty much don’t care what we do with the current house since our income shows we can carry both mortgages and still fall in line with their desired DTI ratios. I’m just worried things will fall through b/c they’ll decide for some reason we can’t have two mortgages. Is this a senseless fear?

FREDRICK

Alan Lim asked:


FHA home loans are mortgages that are insured by the United States government, more particularly the Federal Housing Administration. FHA in itself does not make the loans. What they do is that they insure the loans that were in turn, given out by their qualified group of commercial lenders.

With the introduction of the FHA home loan, a lot of low-income Americans were able to secure a loan to purchase their homes. FHA home loans are conceptualized in 1930′s during the time of the Great Depression. The government acted to subsidize loaning programs through FHA in response to the growing rate of defaults and foreclosures.

The good news is that FHA is for every American. But they have to follow the set guidelines in applying for it. To know if you qualify for an FHA home loan, here is a checklist that you can use. See for yourself if you can take advantage of FHA’s easy mortgage loan plans.

1. First and foremost, you should have a steady employment history. By this, you should be able to prove to the agency that you have at least two years of service with your current employer. Stability of job and income is the main factor. That’s the primary requirement of FHA.

2. You should have an increasing income, or at least, a consistent one. So that FHA can correctly assess your capability to pay, you should show them that in your current job, you are earning a fixed amount. And if in case it is not the case, your income should follow a steady rising pattern, not a fluctuating one.

3. You should be able to boast about your credit history. Your credit report definitely says a lot about your financial status. It is FHA’s requirement that all their applicants are in good credit standing. And not only that, they also require that there is not a single payment over due for more than a month within the last two years in their credit reports.

4. You should also show that you’ve got no history of bankruptcy. Or even if you had, it should be at least two years before. You should also show and that you already had regained financial stability for the past two years. You should be in a good credit standing for two consecutive years.

5. Your foreclosures, if any, should be three years old at the very least. This one follows the same principle as the bankruptcy rule stated above. It is a must that for the past three years, what you have is a good credit standing.

6. You can only apply for a loan that is 30% of your total monthly income. If you have everything else worked out, remember this last important detail: FHA will approve you a loan corresponding to your gross income. So, do not apply for one that exceeds 30%. Your application will just be denied. Look and settle for a house that is just within the set limits.

These are the different points to consider when applying for an FHA loan. You should qualify in the every step stated here. These are the exact guidelines that FHA is currently following.

But you have to know that pre-qualifying for the loan is just the first step. It is not a guarantee of anything. All it means is that FHA will merit a review of your application and proceed from there. Your dream of buying the perfect house is still in the cooking stages, so to speak.

Pre-qualification is the first step to getting a loan, though. Needless to say, it is an important step altogether. If you don’t pass the pre-qualification stage, there is no way that you will be able to purchase the house that you always wanted, at least not through FHA.

What the pre-qualification step really does is that it assesses your income, your assets, and your ability to pay. After which, you are to show it to the lender waiting on the wings. Then they further study your case. You’ll get the loan once they see that you are indeed, financially stable.

With all these said, go ahead and start evaluating yourself for an FHA home loan. Take advantage of what they are offering today. This is your chance to own the house of your dreams. Take it while it is still there.



JUSTIN