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How Long do I Have to Wait – FHA?

Toby — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:52:49 +0000

Here are the FHA Guidelines for Georgia Short-Sale, Foreclosures and Bankruptcy. Other than VA, FHA is the most lenient when it comes to these situations. Most of the time, this will be the route we go, as far as getting you a new Atlanta home loan. One question we get asked a lot is, “what about a loan modification?” Unfortunately it is treated just like a foreclosure, 3 years.

Georgia 203K loan • Georgia Mortgage Blog• Atlanta Refinance• USDA Rural Development

How Long do I Have to Wait to Buy a Home?

Toby — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:38:08 +0000

Here is a great chart my company put together on how long you have to wait after a Georgia foreclosure, short-sale, or bankruptcy. This chart is for people trying to obtain Georgia conventional loans only. Different guidelines will apply to other types of mortgages. I will post those at a later date.

Georgia 203K • Atlanta Refinance • Atlanta FHA • Atlanta Jumbo Loan

Time to Buy a Home in Atlanta, GA

Toby — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 20:22:25 +0000

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

“With home sales starting to improve, and with prices now possibly forming a bottom, real estate could well be the asset class that represents…the best low-risk buying opportunity out there today.”

DONALD TRUMP

I’m pretty sure this is a great time to go out and buy a house. And if you do, in 10 years you’re going to look back and say, ‘You know, I‘m glad I listened to Donald Trump.’

- January 2011

WALL STREET JOURNAL

“If prices come down another 10% but interest rates increase by 1 percentage point, that would mean the same monthly payment today versus waiting.”

Atlanta Jumbo Loans ♦ Georgia Realtor ♦ Georgia VA Loans ♦ Atlanta Builder

GA Home Buyers May get an Extension on the Federal Tax Credit

Toby — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 02:00:53 +0000

Today the Senate passed a bill 60-37 to extend the tax credit for first time home buyers from June 30, 2010 to September 30, 2010. This is only for home buyers that went under contract on or before April 30, 2010. Many lenders and people in Congress feel this is necessary due to the amount of home buyers that may not close on time to receive their $8,000 tax credit. The national association of realtors is estimating as many as 180,000 homebuyers are at risk of not closing on time.

There are many reasons for the delays. One of the most common is waiting for a home to be completed. There was such a surge of buyers trying to get new homes and take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit that builders have their contractors working day and night to meet the June 30th deadline. As new construction goes, there have been a lot of construction delays. The second most common delay is short-sales. Short-sales can take months to get approved. Buyers put contracts in before April 30th hoping to hear back soon whether their offer was accepted, but they are hearing back too late. We have many Georgia home buyers that have just heard back this week and due to volume there is no way they will close by June 30th. Most Georgia lenders have been running 45-60 days to close loans and now there are only 10 business days left in the month.

The bill still has to pass the House, so we are all anxiously awaiting a decision. Congress said they had hoped to have this passed this week, but it may spill over into next week. There is a lot of support behind the bill but some in Congress are worried about the cost of the extension. It is estimated the extension will cost $140 million which is tough to stomach in this time of rising federal deficits.

Let us know what you think. Should Congress extend or let it expire?

Cost for GA Home Loans Going Up

Toby — Wed, 19 May 2010 01:41:25 +0000

On May 12, 2010 Georgia’s Governor Sonny Purdue signed a bill raising the Georgia per loan fee from $6.50 to $10.00. This fee will be collected by Georgia mortgage lenders and bankers and is remitted to Georgia’s Department of Banking and finance for each residential mortgage closed in Georgia. Although the $3.50 is not a big increase in fees to borrowers, it is another way that the mortgage consumer is hit with higher cost when obtaining a loan. Because of all of the new compliance laws and regulations, mortgage companies are having to hire compliance officers and more processors.
The loan process is taking longer than ever to process a loan, which means the number of loans a processor can process is declining causing companies to add staff to keep up. The downside of compliance and more regulation is increased cost to the consumer. Georgia Home Buyers can expect to see higher fees when they purchase or refinance a loan. Also, buyers that try to obtain a Georgia home loan can expect loans to take a little longer to process for most mortgage lenders. However, Academy Mortgage is still offering its 18 day close guarantee.

Although compliance and regulation are needed in the mortgage industry, hopefully we can find a happy median where cost doesn’t rise too high for the consumer.

Tax Credit is Extended for some Georgia Home Buyers

Toby — Mon, 03 May 2010 22:11:12 +0000

As most people in the real estate industry are aware, the first-time homebuyer and move-up tax credit expired on April 30th, 2010. What most people don’t know, it was extended for certain federal and military personnel. If you were in the military or are a federal employee that was serving outside the United States from December 31, 2008 and ending May 1, 2010, you may be eligible. The time overseas would have to have been at least 90 days. The extension was for 1 year, so the eligible buyer would have to go under contract by April 30, 2011 and close by June 30, 2011. The extension can also apply to the spouse of a qualifying military or federal person. Only one spouse is required to be overseas during the time period, to claim the tax credit.

If you are a realtor and live near a military base or work with a lot of military or federal personnel, this is good information to know. Most agents are unaware of this extension and this information will give you an advantage over the competition. Some agents are worried about what will happen after the tax credit goes away. This can be a whole new niche for you and you can start marketing it before your competition does.

USDA and Flood Insurance, Problems for GA Homeowners

Toby — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:17:12 +0000

The two most important issues facing Georgia home loans right now are USDA rural development and flood insurance. USDA loans have become wildly popular in the last two years due to the fact it is one of the only 100% loan programs left. In the middle of March USDA announced that they anticipate running out of funds by the end of April. This has happened in the past and funds were allocated quickly, but this time may be different. It does not appear that congress is going to reallocate funds this time. They will let funding run out and buyers that would like to get a USDA rural housing loan, may have to wait until October or November. This would be devastating to the rural housing market in Georgia.

Flood insurance is also a big issue right now. On March 28, 2010, congress let the National Flood Insurance Programs authority expire. This has not happened since 2002 and some speculate that the lapse was because Congress was focusing on getting the health care bill passed. When the NFIP’s authority expired, they now do not have the authority to issue new flood insurance policies or renew old ones. If this is not corrected soon, it could cause problems when trying to obtain a Georgia home loan. If the property you are trying to buy needs flood insurance and you cannot obtain it, you may not be able to close on your GA home loan.

What can we do? If you are a Realtor®, NAR has set up a call to action form that you can send to your congressmen. Follow this link to the form - NAR Call to Action

If you are concerned potential home buyer, write or call your congressmen. Let them know these issues are important to you.

USDA Rural Development is Running out of Money

Toby — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:26:03 +0000

On March 9, 2010 we received a letter from USDA Rural Development stating that they anticipate running out of funds by the end of April 2010. If your USDA loan is in processing or you are looking for a home and plan on using USDA, this can be frightening news. It is actually quite common for USDA for run out of funds. It seems like this happens once or twice a year. Since USDA is one of the few 100% financing loans still available, it has become quite popular in recent years. When they run out of funds, Congress has to appropriate more funds to them, which usually takes a week or two. This is not guaranteed to happen, but has in the past.

If they do run out of money, you should be prepared to react if necessary. Your choices would include waiting until funds are appropriated or maybe switching your loan to an FHA or VA loan. The negative to an FHA loan would be the fact that you will now have mortgage insurance and have to come up with the 3.5% down payment. Keep in mind, this is all happening as everyone is trying to take advantage of the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit, that expires April 30th. You don’t have to close by April 30th, but you do have to be under contract. The end of April is likely to be a chaotic time for most lenders, so plan appropriately.

Financing Condo’s in Georgia is Getting Tougher

Toby — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:24:30 +0000

On February 1st a new FHA ruling took effect regarding condos. A Condominium has to be approved by FHA in order to allow for FHA Insurability. There is a list that lenders check to see if condo project is approved. If the project is not approved, lenders would try to get a “spot approval,” so that we could proceed with the loan. Spot approvals are now, no longer allowed. HUD decided they did not want to be in the business of approving condos anymore, so they put the burden back on the lender.

The process of approving condos can be very expensive and time consuming, so lenders are trying to figure out how to best handle this. If you are considering buying or selling a condo, this is something you will need to research upfront. This change is a major opportunity for condo complexes that are already approved. Agents need to advertise the fact that their condo is FHA approved. If you need help figuring out if a condo is approved, contact me and I will look it up for you.

Getting a condo FHA approved that is not on the list can take up to 6 weeks. Agents need to find out right away if a Georgia condo is approved before listing a condo or showing a condo. A lot of condos are not on the list. I would dare to say more Atlanta condos are not on the list than are. Call me today to find out.

Changes Coming to GA FHA Loans

Toby — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:55:30 +0000

On January 2oth, FHA announced they will be making some changes in the upcoming months. They are looking to strengthen FHA’s capital reserves, which have diminished over the past several years due to the high number of foreclosures. They plan to make changes in 4 different areas:

Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) will be increased from 1.75% to 2.25%. On a $100,000 loan this would mean a $500 increase in the upfront MIP premium. This will supposedly take place in the spring.
They will require 10% down if a borrower has a 580 score or less. We are not yet sure what kind of effect that this will have. Most lenders already require a 620 credit score, so this may not affect anything or it may cause lenders to loosen up their requirements on scores. Time will tell on this one. It is anticipated this will take place in early summer.
Reduce seller concessions from 6% to 3%. FHA feels that the current 6% level is creating incentives to inflate appraised value. This is also supposed to take place in early summer.
FHA wants to increase enforcement on FHA lenders. They plan to do this by publicly reporting lender performance, monitoring lender performance and compliance. They are also trying to get legislative approval to increase enforcement on FHA lenders. FHA wants to make lenders liable for loans they originate and underwrite.

One final thing FHA has been testing the water with is raising the 3.5% down-payment to 5%. This will definitely eliminate a lot of potential buyers. This is not official yet, but may be coming soon.

All of these changes will most likely make it more difficult for buyers to obtain a Georgia FHA loan in an already tight credit market. If you are thinking about getting a home, now is the time to do so. The credit markets continue to tighten and there does not appear to be relief in sight.