Yesterday I talked with a buyer at Caribou Coffee in Boystown. He’s interested in buying a condo in Andersonville or Rogers Park using Federal Housing Administration (FHA) financing. FHA mortgages allow down payments as low as 3.5%.
Unlike houses, not all condos are FHA approved. In Andersonville and Rogers Park most condos aren’t FHA approved. The process to get a condo development FHA approved takes around 6 months.
My search would be easier if listing agents always noted FHA financing for their FHA approved condos in their listings. However, I find that some Realtors either don’t bother to ask the sellers if their condos are FHA approved or they just don’t put it in the listing.
So I’ll be narrowing down the choices between those condos advertised as FHA approved and the list of FHA approved condos I’ve compiled from various sources. It is possible to get a spot approval for an individual condo, but it takes time and the condo association must meet several requirements.
Similar Posts:
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- Rogers Park condos & townhouses for sale
- Evanston vs. Rogers Park for 2 Bedroom 2 Bath Condos
- Rogers Park 3 bedroom condo prices well below those in neighboring Evanston and Edgewater
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When the market was hot, most of us forgot that there was an “FHA list” since the buildings were selling-out so quickly. And there were many lender’s doing FHA-style loans without the FHA strings.
Now we are back at looking at the % or ratio of rental units to owner occupied, and the financial health of the condo association. All listing agents need to make the call to the condo people to check on FHA approval and investor/owner occupied ratios to make sure that, after finally getting an offer, that it will go through!