Jim Buchta over at the Star Tribune in Minnesota recently wrote an interesting article on FHA loans and buying foreclosed houses:
A low-cost Federal Housing Administration mortgage and a bargain-priced foreclosure in St. Paul seemed like the perfect combination for first-time buyer Damon Kelly, but an FHA rule aimed at preventing property flipping nearly derailed the sale.
That rule says that the FHA will not approve a mortgage on a property if titled ownership of that property has changed within 90 days prior to the signing of the purchase agreement.
Confusion about the true ownership of the house raised questions about whether Kelly’s house met those requirements and, just a couple of days before closing, Kelly was forced to extend the lease on his apartment an extra month.
“It was quite confusing,” he said. “And extending our rent out another month didn’t help our pocketbooks.”