Get Your FHA Mortgage Application Started -- Fees Increase 1/2 Percent Starting Monday, April 5, 2010

Starting Monday, April 5, 2010, getting an FHA mortgage in Philadelphia and throughout the nation will be more expensive for borrowers. Combine that with the short period of time left for the tax credit program and its shaping up to be a busy week for buyers.

In new guidelines set forth earlier this year, the FHA announced plans to raise additional revenue and reduce the overall risk of its mortgage portfolio.

The changes include the following:

1. Increase Upfront Mortgage Insurance Premiums from 1.75% to 2.25% for everyone
2. A plan to reduce seller concessions from 6 percent to 3 percent
3. An increase in minimum downpayment for FICOs 580 or lower

For your own loan, to avoid being subject to higher loan costs, make sure to have your FHA Case Number assigned prior to Monday, April 5, 2010. That means you'll want to give a full mortgage application before the weekend so your lender can register your loan in time for the deadline.

But don't leave your application to the last minute.

Friday is Good Friday so most banks will be closed. Your true FHA deadline, therefore, is Thursday April 1.

Also worth noting is that the FHA isn't done with its changes.

In its policy statement, the group also announced its plans to petition Congress to raise monthly mortgage insurance premiums. The FHA's formal request, in summary:

1. Raise monthly premiums by roughly 0.30%, or $25 per $100,000 borrowed per month
2. Lower upfront mortgage insurance premiums by 1.25%, or $1,250 per $100,000 borrowed at closing

For now, the request is neither approved nor acknowledged by Congress. It's merely a request. And in the event that Congress does approves it, the FHA reserves the right to change its projections. Either way, it means higher costs for consumers.

The best plan, therefore, is to get your FHA mortgage into underwriting ahead of the switches because borrowing money will be harder, and more costly.

Better Housing News Flashes - From 1935

75 Years ago, in 1935 a suffering housing market was being returned to normal through a new housing stimulus package based upon the creation of the Federal Housing Administration and the use of mortgage products that allowed people to pay off the debt during the term of the loan.

From the Internet Archive's Prelinger Archives comes this reminder that housing always recovers first, and that even in times that seem to be challenging financially, recovery begins when people take advantage of new programs to get the benefits of home ownership.

I hope you enjoy this film as much as I did - whether its watching the construction process, the latest amenities in the house (like the built-in ironing board and cabinets in the kitchen) or the billboard at the end showing the price, down payment and monthly payments for a new detached single family home - and remember, 75 years from now people may be just as amazed at the values in our housing market!

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• 3% home-price gain eyed for 2010 (lansner.freedomblogging.com)
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• Down-Payment Standards Eased (online.wsj.com)