Dguitt, How much were you preapproved for? You stated that you figured you could only afford a home in the $40,000 or less range but is this what you were preapproval for? My son is selling a starter home in Florissant that is in move-in condition. It is more than $40000, and when I pull it up on-line, the estimated mortgage is $428. That is why I'm asking about your preapproval amount. If you have not found a home and would be interested in more information, please PM me.

I can imagine that you are really getting frustrated. If you find a house that may require predication work (work that FHA says has to be done before they will fund a loan for you) there might be a couple of options open to you. Please call me in the morning if you like and with a little more information I might be able to get you moving...good luck!

In the 40,000 or less range in the St Louis market, the majority of the homes need some repairs. Many are foreclosures and short sales or are investment properties that are being disposed of. The majority of the banks and mortgage lenders in this area will typically recommend an FHA loan unless you need to have repairs done to the home, then they will recommend that you go conventional and the banks will not give you those on very low end properties that need a lot of work.

If you don't have the downpayment then you most likely don't have the money to do the repairs to the home either. You need to consider that most of the banks that do the rehab loans (FHA or conventional) will require you to do the work first, then will reimburse you for the work after they inspect it to make sure that it was done properly - the belief being that you will have paid for it with a credit card or the contractor will be willing to wait until after it is inspected for the bank to release funds to pay them - note you can do the work yourself as long as it meet the banks requirements & inspections as well as the municipal building inspector's inspection)

Note that many of the municipalitiies require an occupancy inspection before you can get an occupancy permit to move in in the St Louis area. If the home does not meet the requirements (and most of the $40,000 homes in St Louis do not) then you will have to pay to live somewhere else while you pay the mortgage and pay to fix up the home (or work on it and pay for materials), then pay for the inspection in order to get it to pass the inspection before you can get the occupancy permit and move in.

I am not saying that all homes at $40,000 are not liveable in this area nor am I saying that you cannot find some that are absolutely wonderful, but they are not common in this area. I am saying that FHA and the convention loans both, will not loan you money to buy a home that you cannot move into within a certain amount of time - they would consider it to be investment property and then you are talking about a totally different type of loan then a regular conventional or FHA home loan for an owner occupier, so you may have to do a rehab loan or an investment loan.

Good luck, if you aren't happy with your mortgage lender, you can check with another one, but a reputable lender will most likely tell you the same thing.

Hello buyer I know is frustrating getting these FHA loans accepted by these banks. If this is the only loan you can afford stick to this loan you will find something. There is another loan which is FHA 203k which you can get a buy a home that needs work.Not every loan officer wants to do this loan because its a lot paperwork.
There should be some lenders in saint louis but it can't be wells fargo ,bank of america or chase like large braches. Go to a broker and one of them should help you.Let me know if you can't find one I can referred one to you in california

Talk to your mortgage broker and realtor about buyer assistance money for home buyers in your area. If there is money left in the buyers assistance program for your area and you qualify this will help with your down payment. Also don't forget about the $8000.00 stimulis moneys plan! If neither of these works for you I would suggest going to family and asking for help with a down payment... If you would like another opinion from a mortgage professional in your area I would be happy to suggest a few? Best of luck to you.

Hi! Heres the deal: I do FHA deals all day lately & here is my experience. The FHA inspectors needs to pass the home as "habitable" funtionable" "complete" Here is the things that are common issues with my deals. Thermostates to operate heater/AC, heater & a/c to work, hot water, appliences (dishwasher & stove are considered attached & ned to be there, fridge & w/d dont. general exterior needs to be water tight, windows, generally in good condition, Your realtor & loan agent are right, these things can hang up transaction & be deal breakers with FHA loans.

Dquitt, I think I can answer this for you. You don't have to get a conventional loan as long as the seller of these properties you want to see are willing to do repairs. The type of repairs you will need are called Lender Required Repairs. Most sellers, including banks are okay with doing these repairs depending on what price you pay for their property. If you agree to a price close to their asking price or even over then the seller has more incentive to do the repairs as long as you are committed to buy their property. There are also FHA 203k loans that you may be able to use. These loans are for the amount you need to borrow to buy the property plus the amount for the repairs needed. It sounds like this is something you should be looking into. Good luck in your endeavors. Hope this helps.