FinancialEdge: Requirements For A Post-Housing-Bust Mortgage

With all of the talk about foreclosures and stagnant home sales it is easy to overlook the fact that people are still out there trying to buy houses. For the vast majority of people, buying a house still means qualifying for a mortgage. With that in mind, what does it take to get a bank to sign off on a mortgage these days?

FHA Still in the Game 

It would take a separate column to detail all of the differences between Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The FHA does not make loans, does not buy mortgages and operates basically as a government-subsidized mortgage insurance company. The FHA is still operating and homebuyers can still get FHA-insured loans. Mortgage qualification rules are still changing in the wake of the subprime crisis and there is still some confusion between proposed rules and implemented rules. Moreover, there is a difference between FHA minimums and the minimums of the banks that write FHA-insured mortgages. (Don't be overwhelmed when filling out these forms. For more, see Understanding FHA Home Loans.)

Read the full column here:
http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0911/Requirements-For-A-Post-Housing-Bust-Mortgage.aspx#axzz1Z4sq1iTA