If you’re in the market for a condo in the Seattle area and currently only qualify for FHA financing, it’s possible that your search may not turn up many places if your criteria in the MLS search tool marks FHA only as a parameter. It’s worth it to expand your search and to determine if a property that might otherwise only be considered under conventional financing might fit by getting a spot approval completed.
Here are some of the typical items found on those checklists:
Legal docs of the HOA cannot contain first refusal or restrictive covenants.
The Master Association must be complete and no additional phases or annexation is pending.
Common areas must be under control of the HOA for at least 1 year.
At least 51% of units must be owner occupied.
90% of the units must be sold (if new or conversion).
No single person or entity can own more than 10% of the units, unless building has fewer than 10 units.
There are at least 8 more questions on a list that I had looked over for a past client’s sale of a condo unit but I won’t put them all down here. Most lenders who work with FHA loans should have access to the specific list that they need for their underwriting guidelines.
Happy condo hunting!
