Can You Get an FHA Loan on That Sacramento Home?

Many homes in Sacramento can meet guidelines for buyers to get an FHA loan.

Whether you can get an FHA loan on that home in Sacramento depends partly on the financing terms offered in the listing. And that depends on whether the listing was completed correctly by the listing agent. Some agents use templates; they don’t always proofread the documents before obtaining signatures and uploading the information into MLS, so they make mistakes. They might say a home is for sale with FHA terms when it is not or they might eliminate that form of financing when they meant to include it.

On top of this, if you ask the Sacramento listing agent if you can get an FHA loan on that home, some of those agents will undoubtedly not know the answer. If you ask if the listing is correct, the listing agent also might not recall whether she listed it with or without FHA terms. So it can be pointless to ask the listing agent these questions, and you also take a chance that the listing agent might tell you no, absolutely no FHA financing, when that could be a false statement as well. See the dilemma?

For example, take a condo complex in which many of the units are not owner occupied. In other words, the rental units exceed the number of owner-occupied units. That percentage alone is often enough to make the complex not a viable situation for an FHA loan, but that is not always the case. There are some complexes in which a buyer can obtain an exemption and still purchase the home with FHA financing.

The person to ask about that is your mortgage lender. I also know a Wells Fargo loan officer who has recently cleared underwriting with an FHA loan on a condo complex that is mostly occupied by tenants. That complex is not on the FHA approved list, either, so you can’t rely on that list.

If it’s a home that is listed without FHA terms, a buyer might consider whether she is willing to bring the home up to FHA standards in order to write an FHA offer that the seller will accept. Perhaps the home was built prior to 1978 and has peeling paint on the eaves. A buyer can offer to paint the eaves to get an FHA loan, relieving the seller of the liability and hassle, and that offer might go through.

But the one thing you don’t do is write an offer with an FHA loan requirement for a home advertised without those terms by assuring the seller you will take care of any issues and then later refuse to comply. Make sure you know what you are getting into when you initially view the home. If your agent can’t explain FHA repair guidelines to you (some cannot), ask your mortgage lender for assistance. Video record the home, note defects, tally the expenses and be fully informed prior to making an offer.

Be ready for a weird thing to pop up in underwriting because it can happen. But if you want the home, that’s what you do. If you need help buying a home in Sacramento, call the Elizabeth Weintraub Team at 916.233.6759.