Beth and other FHA Loan-ees

Mrs.Forger

I think I just made up the word "Loanees."

Anywho, could you guys tell me a little about FHA loans? What does FHA mean? Do you have to pay PMI? Is 3% the minimun you put down or the maximum? Could you choose to put down more? Any other pluses/minuses?

TIA!

Steffie17

I was wondering about this as well.?

LeesheBee

Educate me too please!!  Thanks!

wystiria6

this is a great site

http://www.hud.gov/buying/loans.cfm

but to answer your question you can ut more down 3% is the min. also they have recently raised the amount you can takeas a mortgage. you do need to do more rigorous insections and all citations need to be taken care of before the deal goes thru anyway take a look at the site.

 

I do not have an FHA - but some of my family did this to get their first house and it really helped them

lady481

I did CHFA for my first house.  I know I had to put down 3% but I had the option of doing more.  I'm pretty sure I paid PMI, but when they calculated everything it really didn't add that much to the payment.  As soon as the value of the house was high enough, I called them and they did another appraisal.  That got rid of the PMI within a year or two.

The inspections are more rigorous with FHA loans.  An FHA inspector will also come out (in addition to your regular inspector).  According to my realtor, these inspectors are all over the board as far as what they pick apart.  You could have one really by the book that says A-Z need to be fixed.  Or one that doesn't say anything.  DH and I had an offer on a house that we would have done FHA, and that inspector just said something about peeling paint on the 3rd floor.  He didn't say anything about the clay tile roof that was falling apart to the tune of $60K or the knob and tube wiring.  So, you just never know!

jess98ac

Definitely check out the site from Christy.  Also, my biggest piece of advice is that when/if you decide to look into it more, go with a broker/lender who has done a lot of them.  They're trickier on the lender's side, it takes a little more paperwork, and they're easy to mess up without proper experience.  However, they're a FANTASTIC program for a lot of people!!  Anyone in the Hartford area can page me if you want recs of good people to use for them when you're ready!

EMERALDEYEZ13

I have one of those loans too, I think at the time I did 5-10% down, but could have done more. Since it wasnt 20% there is PMI on the loan...not all banks will take it off with a higher appraisal. even though my house is now appraiased higher I still have PMI because I havent paid down the intitial loan to 20 % yet. PMI is about 50 per month. I think it sucks, I would rather pay that towards the house or taxes/insurance. But they wont let me until I have paid down more on the loan (my loan is through Sovereign)

IfIHadItAll

Honestly, I dont know that much about my loan...Jake knows more. All I know is that we only had to put down 3%. And we have to pay MIP (not PMI). I forget what the difference is. Talk to a loan officer or broker or whatever and I'm sure they can help...I have looked at the link Wyst posted but its more than likely very helpful!