The FHA loan is a government loan put in place to help people buy homes. Most of the rules are common sense, but we thought we would list them anyway.

1.) You cannot use an FHA loan to buy an investment property or a second home. The idea that our government would spend tax dollars to help people buy vacation homes in Miami Beach seems like an odd one, but this question still comes up occasionally.

2.) You cannot take out an FHA loan if you have unpaid judgments on your credit report, haven’t paid your income taxes, or have defaulted on your student loans. If you have not filed a tax return in ten years, you will not be able to get a loan from the Federal Housing Administration.

3.) FHA mortgage loans always require “full documentation”. This means that you have to prove your earnings with pay check stubs and tax returns. You need to provide bank statements. You cannot qualify for an FHA loan if you work under the table or you are self-employed and you hide most of your income. You need to pay taxes if you want to get help from a taxpayer-paid program.

However, regarding the documentation: if you throw all of your pay check stubs and bank statements in the trash, Arizona Wholesale Mortgage can help you gather what you need to qualify for an FHA loan. We can contact your bank to get your statements and we can contact your employer to get your payroll information.

Everyone does not save every single check stub and bank statement. We understand that and we are happy to help.

There are loans called “stated income loans.” These are generally for self-employed people who pay themselves.

Unfortunately, if you are self-employed and you cannot show income, you will not be able to qualify for an FHA mortgage.

However, you absolutely can get an FHA loan if you are self-employed! You just need to show your income with tax returns. The underwriter will use the adjusted gross income from your 1040 tax return to determine your qualification amount.

* Your credit score can be as as low as 580. The national average credit score is 625.

If you do not have any credit at all, we can still qualify you for a loan. We can use alternative examples of your good payment history. For example, we can get a letter from your landlord stating that you have paid your rent on time for the past 12 months.

We can also use utility bills. Many utility companies, including SRP here in Arizona, allow you to log in to their website and download a utility reference letter that is generated for your particular account. It is so common for first time home buyers to request a letter of reference from their utility company, that the utility companies have automated the process!

* Closing costs can be financed on FHA loans. This means that you can come to the closing table with less cash.

* FHA loans have lower monthly mortgage insurance premiums and, under certain conditions, automatic cancellation of the premium.

* FHA loans have a more flexible underwriting system than conventional loans.

* The Federal Housing Administration limits the amount lenders can charge for some closing cost fees.

We can’t think of any disadvantages at this time.

Here are some more links, should you have any questions that we did not answer already.

If you would like to see what the loan limit is in your particular county, you can visit the FHA loan limit page here.

FHA stands for Federal Housing Administration. You can visit the Arizona Department of Housing here, but the Arizona Department of Housing does not offer loans.

You can read about the FHA program on Wikipedia here.

Read the latest FHA News from Google.

Frequently Asked FHA Questions, from the Department of Housing’s FHA Outreach Program.

This page is meant for FHA loan officers and mortgage brokers, but if you are good with complex financial documentation you can read about the FHA Documentation Matrix, which is used by mortgage processors to qualify borrowers for an FHA loan.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHA) is another government entity with the initials FHA, but please do not call them about your home loan needs. They get cranky. Same advice goes for the Florida Hospital Administration at FHA.org.