You are here: Home / Archives for FHA Streamline Mortgage

FHA Streamline Mortgage: Check Rates Often

April 9, 2009 By 2 Comments

Because the FHA streamline mortgage program is so easy to do, many times it may make sense to participate in the FHA streamline mortgage program more than once in a relatively short period of time. There are no time restrictions on how many times you can do an FHA streamline mortgage – only that it makes financial sense each time you do it.

No matter where you live, you can check out interest rates on a daily basis. Sometimes Arizona mortgage rates will be different than California mortgage rates – so be sure to check local mortgage rates, not national ones.

If 2 years ago, you got an FHA loan at 7% – that was probably a pretty good rate at the time. If then 12 months later, you participated in the FHA streamline mortgage program and got your rate down to 6%, that was also probably a pretty good rate at the time. Now that interest rates are hovering in the 5% range… it may well make quite a bit of sense to participate in the FHA streamline mortgage program again.

When trying to decide if it makes sense to participate in the FHA streamline mortgage program, make sure that you weigh out the benefits (how much money you will save each month) vs. the costs (how much it will cost you out of pocket and/or how much will be added to your loan) and if the benefits are more than the costs?

It makes the decision easy.

Filed Under: FHA Streamline Mortgage, FHA Streamline Program, FHA Streamline Refinance Tagged With:
FHA streamline quote

FHA Streamline Refinance: No Credit Score Required

April 8, 2009 By 2 Comments

As the credit crisis has tightened, many lenders have started requiring a certain credit score (580, 620, etc.) if you wanted to participate in the FHA streamline refinance program.  Many lenders have… but at least one lender has not.

You see – the FHA streamline refinance program was originally designed to allow people who are currently in an FHA loan to be able to lower their interest rate and get a new FHA loan with as little hassle as possible. This is where the term “streamline” comes in – because the documentation is supposed to be minimal — or streamlined.

So – when a lender tells you that a minimum credit score is required on an FHA streamline refinance, it is not FHA that is setting up that rule, it is the lender who has that rule. FHA will insure a streamline with no credit score – only a verification that you haven’t violated the criteria for late payments in the last 12 months.

The 3 main criteria that anyone must meet in order to be eligible for the FHA streamline program are:

You must live in the property

You can’t have more than 2 30 day late payments on your loan in the last 12 months

The benefits of the transaction must outweigh the costs of the transaction – also known as the “net tangible benefit” test.

Can the FHA streamline program help you lower your mortgage payment and put you in a better overall financial situation? Be sure to speak with a FHA streamline expert to find out.

Filed Under: FHA Streamline Mortgage, FHA Streamline Program, FHA Streamline Refinance Tagged With: , ,
FHA streamline quote

FHA Streamline Program: Many Lenders Now Require Minimum Credit Scores

February 26, 2009 By 2 Comments

The FHA streamline program was designed so that people were in FHA loans could take advantage of lower interest rates when they were available without having to completely re-qualify for a new loan. This meant that there was no credit-score requirement for the FHA streamline program, the only thing that lenders required was a “verification of mortgage” where they could verify that you had made your last 12 months payments on time.

Now, some lenders are changing this.

Some lenders now require that you have a minimum credit score when going through the FHA streamline program – some require it to be 580, and some are even requiring that you have a minimum of a 620 credit score.

Notice that we used the word “some” lenders.

Not all lenders are requiring that you have a minimum credit score when you go through the FHA streamline program – so if your lender is one of the ones who is starting to require it and you have a credit score that doesn’t meet their criteria, be sure to ask another loan officer if they can help you. There are still a handful of lenders out there who do not require a credit score when going through the FHA streamline program.

Is your lender telling you that you don’t have good enough credit to participate in the FHA streamline program? Contact the FHA streamline experts at 480.374.0303 and lower your monthly payment with the FHA streamline program – without needing a credit score to qualify.

Filed Under: FHA Streamline Mortgage, FHA Streamline Program, FHA Streamline Refinance Tagged With: , , ,
FHA streamline quote

FHA Streamline Mortgage: How Much Does It Cost To Lock Your Interest Rate?

February 10, 2009 By 1 Comment

When doing an FHA streamline mortgage, one of the criteria that you must meet in order to be eligible is that you must be putting yourself in a better financial situation – often times this means lowering your interest rate. During the application process for the FHA streamline mortgage program, one of the most important steps is when your loan officer actually “locks” your rate in with the lender – meaning that is the rate that you will be getting at the closing table for your FHA streamline mortgage.

How much does it cost when you lock your rate for the FHA streamline mortgage program? It shouldn’t cost anything if you are locking for a normal period of time. A “normal” lock period is 30 days. The lock periods generally fall into these categories: 15 days, 30 days, 45 days, 60 days. If you want to get a 45 or 60 day lock, sometimes the loan officer will “charge” you to lock the rate because it costs more from the lender, but this is not usually a fee that you will pay out of pocket – it can be rolled into your FHA streamline mortgage.

So when doing an FHA streamline mortgage, it shouldn’t cost anything out of pocket when you lock. If your loan officer is telling you that it is going to cost money to lock your rate and wants you to write a check… it might be time to speak with another FHA streamline mortgage specialist who can better answer your questions – and not charge you to lock of course.

Filed Under: FHA Streamline Mortgage, FHA Streamline Program, FHA Streamline Refinance Tagged With: ,
FHA streamline quote

FHA Streamline Mortgage: Is It Normal To Pay Fees When Doing A FHA Streamline?

February 5, 2009 By 1 Comment

FHA Streamline Mortgage: Are Fees Normal?

Nobody works for free. Banks don’t work for free, title companies don’t work for free, the government doesn’t work for free – and all of these entities are involved when you do an FHA streamline mortgage.

The key when doing the FHA streamline mortgage is to know who is paying the fees that are associated the loan — you or the lender. If you are paying, with the FHA streamline mortgage, it is possible to be able to roll them into your loan so that you have “no out of pocket closing costs” – which is different than “no closing costs”.

If the lender is paying for the closing costs with your FHA streamline mortgage, that would be a true “no closing costs” loan. Why wouldn’t you want to do a “no closing costs” loan with an FHA streamline mortgage? Because you will be put into a higher interest rate in exchange for the bank paying your closing costs.

Depending on your situation, the no closing costs option can make sense when doing an FHA streamline mortgage – but you need to weigh your options carefully. Most people enlist the help of a FHA streamline mortgage expert to help them decide which is a better option for them – speak to an expert now at 888-448-2669.

Filed Under: FHA Streamline Program, FHA Streamline Refinance Tagged With:
FHA streamline quote