FHA Mortgages Make Homes Affordable For First Time Homebuyers

Call Tami Winbury Keller Williams Realty 805-798-3412 DRE#01878369 to assist First time Home Buyers in Ojai and Ventura real estate.

Have you been renting your home or apartment? Are you looking to start building equity in a home of your own? Home affordability has increased significantly over the past several years, and mortgage rates are pretty close to historical lows. Even if you don’t have a lot of money for a down payment, but you have a good credit history, you may be able to qualify for an FHA mortgage.
There are a lot of benefits to getting a mortgage insured by the FHA. Probably the most attractive feature to many people is that the FHA only requires a minimum down payment of 3.5% of the purchase price of the home. Most other sources of financing will require a down payment of 20% or more. Another benefit of an FHA mortgage is that the credit score requirements are somewhat more lenient than they are from traditional lenders.
As private capital dried up as a result of the housing crisis, the number of loans originated through the FHA increased significantly. As this occurred, the number of FHA loans that went into default increased as well. This has caused the FHA’s capital reserves to fall below the minimum levels mandated by Congress. As a result, there are some lawmakers who would like to raise FHA minimum down payments to 5 percent or more. While this move does not appear to be imminent, it is worth being aware of.
Another potential change to the FHA lending program that borrowers should be aware of is that the maximum FHA loan limit is going to fall from $729,750 to $625,500 at the end of September (unless conforming limits are extended, which is possible). In some high cost markets (such as parts of New York City, Miami, Boston, California, Boulder, and Washington D.C., among others) , FHA loan limits were temporarily increased in 2008. Now these higher loan limits are set to expire. If you live in one of these markets, and were thinking about using the FHA for financing, you probably want to make a purchase or refinance prior to October 1.

Today’s rate on a 30 year fixed FHA mortgage is 4.250 percent with an APR of 5.563 percent*. To find out if you qualify for an FHA mortgage today, call one of our licensed mortgage professionals at 877-868-2503 at to begin our free pre-approval process.
Mortgage rates are always changing.

Tami Winbury Keller Williams Realty
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