Tag: mortgage insurance fee

FHA Says “No” to Lower Fees

~ Carolyn Warren ~ 2 Comments

Denied-e1323804074518-300x241Lenders asked FHA, the Federal Housing Administration that offers home buyers low-down mortgages, to lower their monthly mortgage insurance fee. The rationale behind the request was this:

1) FHA’s profits are up and the administration is operating comfortably in the black, and

2) FHA changed their rules so that the mortgage insurance fee is permanent and cannot be waived no matter how much equity the homeowner accrues. With a conventional loan, the mortgage insurance fee stops once the home owner has 20 – 22% equity; but with FHA, it lasts for the life of the loan.

In response to their request, lenders received a big, fat NO. Carol Galante, the FHA Commissioner, said the current fees are “absolutely necessary,” and that “now is not the time to roll back premiums.”

In the future, FHA hopes to launch a program that will further increase the quality of loans. This program will be paid for by a fee to the lenders.

I have to ask, if lenders receive a new fee from FHA, who do you think they are going to pass that additional cost onto?

Now that this FHA program (commonly called a first-time home buyer’s loan) carries higher mortgage insurance fees and permanent monthly fees, how much more will home buyers accept before they say “NO” to FHA and choose a conventional loan instead?

Currently, a conventional loan requires a 5% down payment instead of 3.5% down for FHA. But if the monthly fees (on top of the upfront FHA fee) grow too high, home buyers may well decide the extra time it takes to save for the larger down payment is worth the wait.

 

Home Buyers: FHA Mortgage Loan Rules Change Today

~ Carolyn Warren ~ Leave a comment

house in country This is no April Fool’s Joke: The price of getting an FHA loan — commonly called a first-time home buyer’s loan — has gone up today.

FHA (Federal Housing Administration) is a government sponsored enterprise that provides money to banks and mortgage lenders. This price increase comes from FHA; therefore, it doesn’t matter which lender you choose, the price increase is now set by federal banking law.

Change #1: Begins April 1, 2013

For all FHA loans with a down payment less than 5% down, the monthly mortgage insurance fee (MI) has increased. Fortunately, it is a small increase of 0.1%. Previously, the monthly MI was calculated at 1.25% of your principal and interest payment. Now it is 1.35%.

This small increase to all home buyers will add up to a lot more profit for FHA, who has been struggling since the mortgage meltdown to be profitable.

Most home buyers taking an FHA loan are putting down 3.5%. That is the #1 attraction to the FHA loan. If you have 5% to put down, you’re going to want to take the conventional loan instead. The only reason a person with 5% to put down would take the FHA loan rather than the conventional loan is if their credit could not qualify for conventional. FHA is more generous with credit requirements.

If your FHA loan hasn’t closed yet, but your loan officer got the FHA case number prior to today, April 1st, then your MI will be at the lower rate of 1.25%.

Change #2: Begins June 3, 2013

This is the biggest and worst change. For a 30-year fixed rate with less than 10% down, FHA will collect the monthly MI payment for the life of the loan.

This means you do not get to cancel the MI fee when you have 22% equity. You could have 90% equity and you will still be paying that pesky MI fee that protects the lender in case you default on the loan.

Setting You Up to Refinance

If you take an FHA loan, it’s like you’re being set up to refinance when you have sufficient equity (and credit) to get into a conventional loan. The problem with refinancing is that there is a cost to getting a new loan and you have to start all over again at the 30-year mark (unless you take a shorter term loan).

If the FHA loan is the only one you can qualify for, then it’s better than missing out on becoming a home owner and acquiring more personal wealth through real estate ownership. However, since you will probably want to refinance or sell in the not-so-distant future, your focus needs to be on paying the lowest lender fees possible.

There are still a lot of needless junk fees being charged today. This is one reason I offer my Cost Estimate/Good Faith Estimate review and consultation service. Just last week, I saved a home buyer $751 in lender fees through this service. So please, do your proper shop-and-compare before committing to any certain lender. And then, if you are buying with the FHA loan, you can be confident you know the rules and are getting the best deal you possibly can.