Monday, April 12, 2010

Buying short sales with FHA home loans

With thousands of new home entering the foreclosure process every month in each market area the question arises ever more frequently, “Can I use an FHA loan to purchase a short sale property?”


For the readers not familiar with short sales let us first define the term as it applies to real estate. As “short sale” on real estate is when the existing lien holder(s) agree to accept a lower amount than is currently owed on the existing loan(s).

If you need an example suppose the home owner has only one mortgage for $350,000 (existing payoff) on a home. Perhaps that home is currently valued only at $275,000. The home owner cannot refinance, the lender has failed to modify and foreclosure is looming so the lender agrees to accept a sales price equal to the current appraised value even though it is a full $75,000 lower than (short of) the payoff.

Answering the question, “can an FHA loan be used to purchase a short sale”, really is too simple. The answer is “yes” provided the property and transaction fall within FHA insurance guidelines. Remember FHA has maximum loan amounts, guidelines for property type and guidelines for property use.

For more information visit http://www.themortgagemark.com/ or email me at mwilkins@capitalfmc.com

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