September 24th, 2009 1:20 PM by Susan Larson
For those of you thinking about refinancing from an FHA to an FHA loan, should consider doing this very soon. On January 1st, FHA will be changing their guidelines. We were able to roll in the closing costs without having to order an appraisal as long as we did not exceed the old loan amount. The new guidelines will state that if closing costs are to be rolled into the new loan, an appraisal must be ordered. Since we all know that the values are lower now, you may not be able to refinance. Therefore, I would suggest to take advantage of this now, while you still can.
FHA will also be tightening up the guidelines for Reverse Mortgage loans as of October 1st. They will be lowering the amount that you will qualify for by about 10%. The lender's must order your FHA Case number from FHA prior to October 1st. Therefore, please do not wait, you could be losing quite a bit of money that you would be eligible for today, but not after October 1st.