can I get an FHA loan without PMI insurance?

[Anonymous]

Can I get an FHA loan without PMI if I have 30% down?   I have credit problems which is why I am thinking of FHA.  No lates in the last 18 months.

thanks!!

[Anonymous]

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love2golf wrote:

Can I get an FHA loan without PMI if I have 30% down?   I have credit problems which is why I am thinking of FHA.  No lates in the last 18 months.

thanks!!

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No pro here, but AFAIK if LTV is 80% or less (30% DP= 70% LTV) there is no requirement for PMI.

GL

[Junejer]

Anderson's correct. Below 80%, no PMI required.

[sh9730]

Not true with FHA loans. ALL FHA loans have Mortgage Insurance UNLESS you are doing a 15 year loan with 20% or more down (could be 10% down but I think its 20).  But on any 30 year loan they require MI for 5 years (approx). 

[sh9730]

However, if you are worried about being able to GET MI (because of your lower credit scores), dont be.  All the new rules for MI do not apply to FHA loans (yet).

[Junejer]

Sux hard. I have to read my aunt's paperwork tomorrow. This might be why her payment is hurting. So, if I have 50% down, I still need PMI?

[sh9730]

Yep...thats the way I understand it....and Ive been reading ALOT about FHA mortgages from numerous sources lately as I am about to embark on that same journey...

[SanDiegoEngineer]

Been looking into these as well.  

As I understand it, the only way to get around the FHA's mortgage insurance is to have both:

1)  a LTV below 90%   AND

2)  a term of 15 years or less.

So there is no way to get a 30 year FHA mortgage without insurance.  If you can swing a 15 year, then it can be done with the right down payment.

As a side note, the FICO score requirements for PMI don't apply to FHA because the FHA mortgage insurance isn't technically PMI (provided by an outside insuror) - it's their own in-house insurance.  If you qualify for FHA at all, you qualify for their insurance.