Are you currently considering refinancing your home? Maybe you have heard how interest rates are a 5 year lows or that FHA refinance loans and their updated programs have become wildly popular. Lucky for you, both of those things are true making for an excellent refinance opportunity. And it is no more difficult to apply for an FHA Loan than it is for a Conventional Mortgage.
Before you decide to refinance, you should know the basic requirements for FHA Mortgages. To be eligible for FHA Refinance Loans, your monthly housing costs (mortgage principal and interest, property taxes and insurance) must meet a specified percentage of your gross monthly income. This is called the “Top Ratio” and it should be below 31%. You must also have enough income to pay your housing costs plus all additional monthly debt. This is called the “Bottom Ratio” and it needs to be below 43%. These percentages may be exceeded with compensating factors.
Are you looking to refinance your home and don’t know where to start? Look into FHA Refinance Loans as they are perfect for almost any situation.
There are many types of FHA loans and home refinancing through them has many advantages. Research the various types to see which will work best for you. Here I will just give a basic overview of each one.
An FHA (Federal Housing Administration) refinance can be a great option for people in various scenarios. There are two types of FHA refinancing loans: 1.) cash out refinancing and 2.) streamlined refinancing. In either scenario the home owner must have some equity in their home to be able to participate in such a plan. In addition, they must also use the home as their primary residence to qualify for the refinancing. Refinancing allows a person to benefit from the investment they made on their home allowing help in many different stages of people’s lives. Some use the FHA loans for cash out refinances in an effort to send their child to college, while others use the money for home repairs. Other examples of how the loan can benefit someone are special vacations, and even consolidating other bills.
FHA refinancing differs slightly from conventional refinancing loans. A person’s income and credit will be viewed more leniently or not at all with an FHA refinance. FHA refinance loans allow bad credit refinancing. FHA guidelines evaluate the “big picture” of the borrower’s credit history, so if there are isolated incidents of credit problems, they are often over looked. The credit qualifying guidelines are also much more relaxed with a FHA loan even with past bankruptcies and foreclosures.
In cash out refinancing FHA Refinance the home owner usually has a home that has increased in value. The refinance can take place if the home owner purchased the home a year or more ago. They are able to take out the refinance loan for more than what they owe on their home (up to 85% of the appraised value of the home plus closing costs), so they can pay back their original mortgage, end up with a new mortgage and have money to spare. The extra money is actually the equity that the homeowner has built up over the years in their home. After their equity has basically turned into money, they can use it for the needed use at the time.
