Line F
FHA
The route people take when the down payment is the obstacle. It is genuinely easier to board, and genuinely more expensive to stay on.
- Insured by
- The Federal Housing Administration
- Minimum down payment
- 3.5% at a 580 score, 10% from 500 to 579
- Mortgage insurance
- Upfront and annual MIP
What the program actually says
FHA does not lend. It insures the lender against loss, which is what lets lenders accept a smaller down payment and a thinner credit file.
The published minimums are 3.5% down with a credit score of 580 or above, and 10% down for scores between 500 and 579. Individual lenders routinely set their own higher overlays on top of that.
There is an upfront mortgage insurance premium of 1.75% of the base loan amount, normally financed into the balance, plus an annual MIP collected monthly.
On a 30 year FHA loan with less than 10% down, the annual MIP stays for the life of the loan. Put 10% or more down and it falls away after 11 years. Getting out of it earlier means refinancing into a different program.
The home has to meet FHA minimum property standards and be appraised by an FHA approved appraiser. It has to be your principal residence.
FHA sets its own county by county loan limits, separate from the conforming limits.
See what the payment does
Illustrative figures only. What that means.
Principal and interest, worked from numbers you choose. It carries no program specific mortgage insurance, fee or premium, because those depend on your file rather than on arithmetic.
10.0% of the price
A worked number, not a quote or an offer.
Principal and interest, monthly
$0
Property tax, homeowners insurance, any mortgage insurance and any HOA dues sit on top of this figure. They vary far too much by address for a national number to mean anything.
- Loan amount
- $0
- Loan to value
- 0%
- Total interest over the term
- $0
- Total of payments
- $0
Below 20% down, a conventional loan normally carries private mortgage insurance until you reach 20% equity. It is not in the figure above.