@sports1965 wrote:i ll just say this
FHA HELPS Home buyers with credit issues and lack of a big downpayment get into a home of their own .
For those reasons alone i would say FHA products are AWESOME
^^^I agree with this. There are many reasons to choose an FHA loan in certain circumstances. Here are a few of the more popular reasons:
1) Lower down payment 3.5% rather than 5%
2) Interest rate is lower on FHA loans than conventional loans. Conventional loans are credit score sensitive - the lower your score the higher the rate. if you have scores in the 640 range the PMI on conventional loans is very, very expensive. The MIP on FHA loans is fixed for everyone, no matter what your score is as long as you qualify for an FHA loan according to the banks' requirements.
3) If you are recovering from a foreclosure or bankruptcy, you can get a mortgage in a shorter time period than a conventional loan.
4) The DTI for both front end and back end ratios allowed for FHA are much higher than for conventional loans. FHA max is 45.99% for front end max and 56.99% back end.
5) You can have a non-occupant co-borrower for FHA and not for conventional.
6) You can get 100% gift funds for FHA, but you need to have at least 5% of your own money for conventional.
There are more reasons, but those listed above are a good start. I bet Shane or dallas or dpeezy can add to the list 