• FHA requires a 3.5% Investment into the Property, which is lower than the 5% charged on most Conventional Loans.
• The down payment for a FHA loan can be a gift (for more info about FHA Down Payment requirements click here).
• FHA loans, in today’s lending environment generally require 12 months of clean credit, and a credit score of at least 620.
• FHA will consider part time jobs if you’ve only had that part time job for 18 months – most other underwriting requires you to have a 24 month history of working 2 jobs. (and let me just say, if you are a single parent working 2 jobs – God Bless you! WOW! Talked to a Dad today who is doing that!)

CHILD SUPPORT or Alimony

You have to have evidence that you have received child support, on time, for a year for it to count as income. One of the most common problems we see is when a mom will get a child support check, cash it, and deposit part of the check into their account.  In order to have EVIDENCE that you are receiving that income, we need to have bank statements that reflect the entire “check.”  We suggest that mom’s deposit the child support check into their account at the same time each month.  DITTO with Alimony.

We must have evidence that you will receive Child Support or Alimony for at least 3 full years after the date of closing.  Let’s say you receive $300 for each of your 2 children until they are 18.  So if you have a child who is 12 and a child who is 16 – we would only count the 12 year old’s portion of your support in qualifying you for the mortgage.

If you PAY Child Support or Alimony… we are only going to count that payment against you (like a car loan) if you have more than 9 months of payments left per your agreement.  If you are behind on Child Support or Alimony, and the court is garnishing wages for those payments, we would need 12 months history of that “work out” being made on time.  You will need a credit score of at least 620.

Non-Occupying Co-Borrower

You can purchase a home without being married to the other borrower. You could buy the home with your parents (for instance), and they would not have to live in the home. We would take all of their income, all of your qualifying income, all of their debts and all of your debts, and see what the ratios look like.  Having someone purchase the home with you helps from an Income Qualifying standpoint.  Having someone else purchase with you will not help a single parent with CREDIT issues.

Purchasing a home with someone who is NOT a family member would require that the other person live in the property with you. Again, you take all of their income, all of their debts and add it to yours… and their credit needs to be at least as good as no late payments in the last 12 months and at least a 620 credit score. (Don’t have a 620 score yet?  Click here for tips you can start doing today to improve your credit score! 8o))

RoomMates

We are seeing a ton of single parents who are living with OTHER single parents.  If you HAVE a roommate, or if you are GOING to have a roommate – it is very very difficult for us to count that income.  If the roommate is not going on the mortgage loan with you, 99% of the time we can not count that rental income.

Previous Mortgage

If you and your Ex owned a home, and the mortgage was NOT in your name – there’s nothing to worry about.

If you owned a home, and the mortgage was in BOTH names, and you Quick Claim Deeded the Property over to your Spouse… you are STILL responsible for the mortgage.

If the Seperation Agreement says that the SPOUSE is responsible for the mortgage payment -and you were ON the mortgage loan… you are STILL responsible for the mortgage. Unless you have been TAKEN OFF of the mortgage – let’s say the other person refinanced the mortgage and took your name off, or if you sold the home, you are still responsible for the mortgage.

If there was a Short Sale, or Foreclosure on that home, and you were on the mortgage, (even if you did not live there at the time and you the separation agreement said you were not responsible for the mortgage) click here for more details and time lines.

HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS!

Less income, in today’s real estate market – buys MORE home. With Interest rates in the 4% range, and home prices coming so far down – a parent who makes $38,000 with no more than $350 a month in debt can purchase a home in Raleigh with 4 bedrooms, a 2 car garage, in a NICE neighborhood for around $200,000.  The TOTAL payment, Taxes, Insurance, Mortgage Insurance, Homeowner dues and ALL on one we looked at for a mom yesterday was $1050 a MONTH!

So, if you make $35,000 – and receive $300 a month in child support… you could purchase a nice home, and you could GET a room mate to help you make your payments!  NOW really is a great time to purchase a home!

If you are a Single Parent, interested in buying a home, call Steve and Eleanor Thorne at 919-694-5058.  Each situation is different.  Let us help you with a plan that will mean you can purchase a home! We know the FHA guildelines in NC and we love helping people buy a home for their family!

You can use the program, as a parent, to help your student or child get into their First Home!  The downpayment is 3.5%, and it can be a gift from a family member.  They also allow the parent, or family member, to go on the loan to help with qualifying!

The program can also be used to help an elderly parent who might have a limited income live an independant life style!

FHA Mortgage Loans also offer flexability when it comes to new credit - meaning if you have not been in the work force for YEARS, you might not have a very high score – not because you’ve missed a payment, simply because you don’t have a really long credit history!

Borrowers who work second jobs, also find FHA is quicker to accept income from that second job – meaning sometimes only 18 or 20 months of second job income history is required!

We’ve closed over a THOUSAND FHA mortgage loans in our history as Loan Officers!  It’s a GREAT program, with HUGE benefits!  Call Steve and Eleanor Thorne to get pre-qualified today!

If you want to use your 401K Account to access the money for your downpayment consider this:

401K Funds

With FHA, you can use 401K funds in the form of a loan or a withdrawal for required funds to close.  We also use them quite often to simply document reserves with no intent to withdraw the funds.  It can sometimes make a difference if your debt-to-income ratio is a little higher than the guidelines.  If we use 401K funds for either source of funds to close or for reserves we still need to obtain proof of the terms under which funds may be withdrawn.  Like the bank statements, provide all pages of the most recent statement that clearly shows your name, employer, statement period, any outstanding loans you have, vested balance, and the specific type of assets held in the account.  I know this may sound like common sense but you would not believe how many people have sent me just a screen print snapshot from accessing their account online that has nothing on it to clearly identify who it belongs to. 

When withdrawing funds to close, the proceeds check must evidence sufficient net proceeds (after penalty for early withdrawal and federal taxation) to close the loan when combined with other verified liquid assets.

When borrowing against an employment savings plan, a copy of the loan agreement and proceeds check are required.  Also, it is important to note that loans against 401k or similar employment savings plans are not counted as an obligation in calculating debt ratio for an FHA loan

If you have questions about purchasing a home in Cary, NC using the FHA Mortgage Loan Program, please call Steve and Eleanor Thorne, Mortgage Planners, Cary, NC  919-649-5058.  We have the Best Rates!