What is a FHA Renovation (203K) loan?

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), part of United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), will provide Mortgage Insurance on loans that meet their Credit Guidelines so that Private Lenders can make first mortgage loans to Borrowers. One such loan program is the FHA 203K Renovation loan.

A 203K loan will allow you to purchase your home and make most renovations you feel necessary.  At closing, the Seller will be paid in full and Freedom will hold the construction money in escrow. Your contractor will be paid from escrow upon completion of work. Typically, the contractor will be paid in draws – after a percentage of work is completed and signed off by an inspector. Prior to each draw, an inspector will review the work for completeness and the Title Company will update the Title Policy to make sure it’s clear of any liens.

Repairs must be greater than $5,000 and your home will be appraised on as completed basis, factoring in your renovations.

The loan amount will cover the purchase price of the home plus the cost of the renovations and must be under the FHA Loan limit. This limit is determined by HUD and is set at the county level.

An FHA approved Consultant will work with you to create a “work write-up”. The write up will contain information on what repairs you are doing to the property and the estimated cost of said epairs. This write-up can be used in your Contractor bid process.

You will work with both a consultant and contractor both of which must meet the lender minimum set of standards.

The Mortgage Network of Ohio, Inc. will underwrite your loan and approve you for a final loan balance that will cover the purchase price, total rehab cost and contingency reserve.

Your down payment must be a minimum of 3.5% of the Purchase Price + Total Rehab amount.

The FHA 203K loan program is great way to purchase your home and make renovations all with the convenience of one loan and with a minimum down payment of 3.5%.

Low Rates not turning into Buyers

Over the past months mortgage rates just kept getting lower and lower (down to 3.125% for some 15-year loans).  The result of these plummeting interest rates? Nothing.  The number of home loan applications for lenders across the industry has not resulted in the uptick everyone thought it would.  Blame it on consumer confidence, the economy, whatever you want.  Regardless of the reason, we are left with struggling brokerage houses, desperate banks, and consumers that would just as soon remain  in the status quo, than take advantage of, what anyone in the know see as, the absolute best time in many of our lives to take advantage of refinancing or buying a new home.  If you're reading this, you are sitting in the choir listening to my preaching.  So what now?  Supply is up, demand is down, so why are prices on the rise?  Let's call it "anti-economics".

But, fear not.  There is help, not from the government, not from the banks, and not from anyone, save for you.  Yes, you.  Imagine, if everyone knew what we in the industry know.  We would all be flooded with applications, finding ourselves in a deluge of prospects.  It's up to you to educate your community about the situation we are all in.  It's up to you to restore confidence in the real estate and financing industry.  Not one other person is going to do it for you.  Find any way you can to communicate with prospective buyers.  Note that I said "communicate with" not "advertise to". 

Advertising has it's purpose, but there's another avenue, likely more productive avenue.  By engaging with more people, we are able to teach them and that's exactly what they need.  Accept it or not, real estate financing is seen as complex and corrupt.  The old adage of "one bad apple spoils the bunch" is widely held for a reason.  But hey, there's a lot of good apples left in this bunch, let's teach people that.

Home Buyer Training Session

Wednesday, October 20 from 6-8pm OR
Saturday, October 23 from 9:30 am to 11:30 am
To be hosted ar Group Realtors 8280 Montgomery Rd #306
Cincinnati Ohio 45236
RSVP Sharron @ 513 578 2633 or Jeff @ 513 607 6079

Straight Talk: Jumbo Loans

The highest loan amount for a “regular loan” is often called the conforming loan limit, and is announced by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae each January. This year again, the conforming loan limit announced by both Fannie and Freddie for single family residences was $417,000. Any loan that is above this loan amount is considered a jumbo loan.  With Jumbo Loan you have 10, 15, 20 or 30 year terms to choose from and generally speaking, jumbo loans programs can either be fixed or adjustable and may have an interest-only option available.

The jumbo loans will typically have a slightly higher interest rate than a conforming loan. But as we compare a jumbo loan with a conforming loan, you will find the jumbo loan products can offer a wider range of flexibility when it comes to payment options the borrower may want. I will analyze your current financial situation and understand what you are trying to accomplish financially for the future, and then secure you the best jumbo loan program available. Some of my borrowers have decided to “pay down” their mortgage balance so it fits into today’s conforming loan pricing and guidelines at incredibly low rates.