Buyers using an FHA mortgage who are shopping for condos (or patio homes, or townhomes) need to be aware there’s a list of FHA-approved communities. If the community is not on the FHA-approved list, your FHA mortgage money might not be good there.
Bookmark this website and check for FHA-approved status before you fall in love with something you can’t actually buy. And keep an ear to the ground for anticipated changes to the FHA mortgage program. Most watchers expect higher down payment minimums, decreases in allowed seller concesssions, costlier mortgage insurance, and tougher credit score requirements. Our blogging lender friend Justin McHood writes about expected FHA rule changes on his Arizona Mortgage Team blog.
Need help? Want advice? Call or email me anytime. I do lots and lots of condo shopping with my buyer clients, all over the Northeast and Northwest parts of the Valley. From downtown Phoenix & Old Town Scottsdale all the way up to Desert Ridge, Peoria and Cave Creek, if it’s a condo, I’ve probably seen it.
Heather Barr is a Realtor. She's a chow hound, a gym rat, and the only political junkie in the USA who can actually keep her political views to herself. Instead, she focuses on educating her clients about the often-confusing world of residential real estate.
Tagged as:
FHA
Question: Could a qualified person get a $8,000 tax credit to buy a $10,000 house?
Answer: In short, no. You can’t get $8,000 for buying a $10,000 house. Why?
There’s no minimum purchase, but the tax credit is written as “10% of the purchase price, up to $8,000″. Thus, if you spent $10,000 on a home, you’d get 10% of that price - or $1,000 - as a tax credit.
One other important point: there’s no such thing as a $10,000 home in metro Phoenix that one would actually want to live in. If it’s priced at $10,000 it’s either uninhabitable or located in an area where even the criminals are afraid to walk the streets at night. Phoenix is no different from any other big city in the US: the really cheap real estate is really cheap for a reason.
See this post for an example of a Phoenix-area house listed for sale at $12,500 — http://thephoenixagents.com/the-highs-and-the-lows-3/
.
This was originally a comment I wrote in reply to a reader who emailed me about our post explaining one aspect of the $8,000 federal tax credit for new home buyers.
Heather Barr is a Realtor. She's a chow hound, a gym rat, and the only political junkie in the USA who can actually keep her political views to herself. Instead, she focuses on educating her clients about the often-confusing world of residential real estate.
Tagged as:
Personal Finance
