ARCHIVED BLOG POSTS
2014
6
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Hamden Connecticut Condo Sales As part of my marketing efforts, I work to compile data for condo sales in various towns in Connecticut. I try to pick towns that have a lot of condominiums to provide comparison data between projects that are FHA approved condos and those that are not. Hamden CT C...
06/29/2014
Reverse Mortgage (HECM) New Principal Limit Factors Yesterday, FHA released Mortgagee Letter 2014-12, Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) Program: New Principal Limit Factors in which it has revised the Principal Limit Factors (PLF). This letter provides guidance which supersedes that contain...
06/27/2014
FHA Condo Approvals – What About Pending Litigation? I have often heard that if a condominium association is currently involved in litigation, it results in an automatic Rejection for an FHA Condo Approval. In fact, I read an article earlier this week that mentioned this. It is simply not true. ...
06/27/2014
FHA Site Condominiums – Can the Association Mow the Front Yards? I typically write 3-4 articles per week about FHA and VA condo project approvals. By far, the most common inquiries that I receive are about what qualifies a project as a site condo in the eyes of FHA. I received such a call from ...
06/25/2014
Can We Cap the Percentage of Investors in Our Condominium? Today I received an inquiry about leasing restrictions, particularly placing a cap on the number/percentage of units that can be leased. It was unclear to me as to whether she was inquiring about how this applied to an FHA or VA condomin...
06/24/2014
8
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I Hope That I Wouldn’t Have Said That All of us have said stupid things at one time or another. I bet every one of us can think of a time when words were coming out while our brains were yelling “No no no no no!! Don’t say that!” All of us are in sales all of the time. Some of us have sales po...
06/24/2014
10
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FHA/VA Condo Approvals – What Sets Us Apart? In her June contest, Debbie Reynolds asks What Sets You Apart: Your Value-Added Benefit. As an FHA/VA Condo Approval Specialist, I have worked diligently to set myself apart from the competition but if I had to choose one thing to write about, it woul...
06/22/2014
VA Condo Approvals – When an “Approval” May Not Mean What it Says Last week, I was on the phone with one of the VA Staff Appraisers regarding a condominium project that appears to be approved by the VA. On the VA’s site, there are roughly 600 condominiums in Connecticut that are approved. Once ...
06/22/2014
New Guidelines for FHA Reverse Mortgages (HECMs) HUD released two Mortgagee Letters this week that provided new guidance for the Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs or reverse mortgages). Mortgagee Letter 2014-11 deals directly with program changes. Mortgagee Letter 2014-10 reminds mortgage...
06/19/2014
8
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What is a VA Condominium Project Approval? The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) maintains an Approved Condominiums List. The purpose of the list is to track condominium projects that have met the VA’s set of minimum standards. Without obtaining a VA condo project approval, VA loans are not a...
06/18/2014