FHA
What is the Federal Housing Administration?
The Federal Housing Administration, generally known as "FHA", provides mortgage insurance on loans made by FHA-approved lenders throughout the United States and its territories. FHA insures mortgages on single family, multifamily, manufactured homes and hospitals. It is the largest insurer of mortgages in the world; insuring over 34 million properties since its inception in 1934.
What is FHA Mortgage Insurance?
FHA mortgage insurance protects lenders against loss if the homeowner defaults on their mortgage loan. The lenders bear less risk because FHA will pay the lender if a homeowner defaults on their loan. Loans must meet certain requirements established by FHA to qualify for insurance.
Why does FHA Mortgage Insurance exist?
Unlike conventional loans, FHA-insured loans require small down payments. There is more flexibility in an FHA loan than conventional loans in calculating household income and payment ratios. The cost of the mortgage insurance is passed along to the homeowner and typically is included in the monthly payment. In most cases, the insurance cost will drop off after five years or when the remaining balance on the loan is 78 percent of the value of the property-whichever is longer.
How is FHA funded?
FHA operates entirely from self-generated income and costs the taxpayers nothing. The proceeds from the mortgage insurance paid by the homeowners are captured in an account that is used to operate the program entirely. FHA provides a huge economic stimulation to the country in the form of home and community development, which trickles down to local communities in the form of jobs, building suppliers, tax bases, schools, and other forms of revenue.
History of the Federal Housing Administration
Congress created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) in 1934. The FHA became a part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Housing in 1965.
When the FHA was created, the housing industry was flat on its back:
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Two million construction workers had lost their jobs.
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Terms were difficult to meet for homebuyers seeking mortgages.
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Mortgage loan terms were limited to 50 percent of the property's market value, with a repayment schedule spread over three to five years and ending with a balloon payment.
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America was primarily a nation of renters. Only four in 10 households owned homes.
During the 1940s, FHA programs helped finance military housing and homes for returning veterans and their families after the war.
In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the FHA helped to spark the production of millions of units of privately-owned apartments for elderly, handicapped and lower income Americans. When soaring inflation and energy costs threatened the survival of thousands of private apartment buildings in the 1970s, FHA's emergency financing kept cash-strapped properties afloat.
The FHA moved in to steady falling home prices and made it possible for potential homebuyers to get the financing they needed when recession prompted private mortgage insurers to pull out of oil producing states in the 1980s.
By 2001, the nation's homeownership rate had soared to an all time high of 68.1 percent.
The FHA has insured over 34 million home mortgages and 47,205 multifamily project mortgages since 1934. FHA currently has 4.8 million insured single family mortgages and 13,000 insured multifamily projects in its portfolio.
In the more than 60 years since the FHA was created, much has changed and Americans are now arguably the best housed people in the world. FHA has helped greatly with that success.
Why choose an FHA loan?
There are lots of good reasons to choose an FHA loan, especially if one or more of the following apply to you:
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You're a first-time homebuyer
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You don't have a lot of money to put down on a house
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You want to keep your monthly payments as low as possible
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You're worried about your monthly payments going up
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You're worried about qualifying for a loan
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You don't have perfect credit
You're worried about what will happen if you fall behind on your payments.
If any of these things describe you, then an FHA loan may be right for you. Why? FHA-insured loans offer many benefits and protections that you won't find in other loans including:
Lower cost: FHA loans have competitive interest rates because the Federal government insures the loans for lenders. Always compare an FHA loan with other loan types.
Smaller down payment: FHA loans have a low 3% down payment and the money can come from a family member, employer or charitable organization as a gift. Other loan programs don't allow this.
Easier qualification: Because FHA insures your mortgage, lenders may be more willing to give you loan terms that make it easier for you to qualify.
Less than perfect credit: You don't have to have perfect credit to get an FHA mortgage. In fact, even if you have had credit problems, such as a bankruptcy, it's easier for you to qualify for an FHA loan than a conventional loan.
More protection to keep your home: The FHA has been around since 1934 and will continue to be here to protect you. Should you encounter hard times after buying your home, the FHA has many options to help you keep you in your home and avoid foreclosure.
The FHA does not give money to people for a home and it does not set the interest rates on mortgages it insures. FHA insures loans for lenders against defaults. For the best interest rate and terms on a mortgage, you should compare mortgages from several different lenders. An FHA-approved lender can help you start the loan application process.
You may use an FHA-insured mortgage to purchase or refinance a new or existing 1-4 family home, a condominium unit or a manufactured or mobile home (provided it is on a permanent foundation).
What kinds of loans does FHA offer?
Fixed rate loans - Most FHA loans are fixed-rate mortgages (loans). In a fixed rate mortgage, your interest rate stays the same during the whole loan period, normally 30 years. The advantage of a fixed-rate mortgage is that you always know exactly how much your monthly payment will be, and you can plan for it.
Adjustable rate loans - Most first-time homebuyers are a little stretched financially, so they want payments as low as possible at the beginning. With FHA's adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), the initial interest rate and monthly payments are low, but these may change during the life of the loan. FHA uses the 1-Year Constant Maturity Treasury Index (1 Yr CMT the most widely used index, to calculate the changes in interest rates. An index is a measure of interest rate changes that determine how much the interest rate on an ARM will change over time.
The maximum amount that the interest rate on your loan may increase or decrease in any one year is 1 or 2 percentage points, depending upon the type of ARM you choose. Over the life of the loan, the maximum interest rate change is 5 or 6 percentage points from the initial rate, again depending upon the type of ARM you choose. The advantage of an ARM is that you may be able to afford more house because your initial interest rate will be lower, as will your payment.
Purchase/rehabilitation loans - Sometimes you might see a home you'd like to buy, but it needs a lot of work. FHA has a loan for rehabilitating and repairing single-family properties called the SF Rehabilitation Loan program (203k). You can get just one mortgage loan which includes the mortgage and the cost of repairs combined. The mortgage amount is based on the projected value of the property with the work completed, taking into account the cost of the work. The advantage of this loan is that you can buy a home that needs a lot of work, but you still have only one mortgage payment, and you can complete the repairs after buying the home.
Indian Reservations and Other Restricted Lands - A family who purchases a home under this program can apply for financing through a FHA approved lending institution such as a bank, savings and loan, or a mortgage company. To qualify, the borrower must meet standard FHA credit qualifications. An eligible borrower can receive approximately 97% financing. An eligible party can produce a gift for the down payment. Closing cost can be financed; covered by a gift, grant or secondary financing; or paid by the seller without reduction in value.
How do FHA loans compare to conventional loans?
Conventional loans usually require a larger down payment. And, if you have less than perfect credit you may not qualify for many conventional loans and find yourself being offered loans with higher interest rates and/or fees than you expected. The best thing to do is compare the cost of the conventional loan to an FHA loan line-by-line. What are the fees on each? What is the interest rate? How much is the mortgage insurance on each? How much down payment is required? For some borrowers, a conventional loan may be less expensive. For many others, it will be more expensive than FHA.
Do you have to buy mortgage insurance on an FHA loan?
Yes - as you will with most all of them. There is an up front mortgage insurance premium equal to 1.5% of the loan amount that is paid at settlement. In most cases, this mortgage insurance premium is included in your loan amount, so you are really paying it over the life of the loan. In addition, on loans with a term of greater than 15 years and a loan-to-value ratio of 90% or greater (meaning you are borrowing more than 90% of the value of the home), you will pay an annual mortgage insurance premium of 0.5% of the loan amount in monthly installments.
Example:
Up Front Mortgage Insurance Premium
Mortgage amount: $100,000 X 1.5% = $1,500 @ 6.5% for 30 years = $ 9.48 per month
Annual Mortgage Insurance Premium
Mortgage amount: $100,000 X 0.5% = $ 500/12 months = $41.67 per month
Total Mortgage Insurance Premium $51.15 per month
Most loans require mortgage insurance when your down payment is less than 20% of the sales price. On conventional and subprime loans, mortgage insurance is provided by private companies. Whether private mortgage insurance is less than, equal to, or more than FHA loan insurance will depend upon the loan program and your qualifications.
Compare the cost of FHA over the life of your loan and how much it costs monthly to subprime and conventional types of loans. With the protection you get with FHA - it's a very good deal.
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