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The Florida USDA loan is designed for low to moderate-income families who wish to purchase a home in designated rural areas of Florida.
There are several benefits of the Florida USDA loan. Some of the benefits are:
There are several other benefits to the Florida USDA loan.
No, you do not have to be a first-time homebuyer to qualify for the Florida USDA home loan. Florida homeowners who wish to purchase a new home may do so using the USDA home loan product. If a homebuyer currently owns a home, they must sell that home prior to buying a new home with the USDA loan product. It's not uncommon to see where they close on the sale of their current home the day before or the day of the closing of their new home.
Yes, homebuyers are required to escrow with the Florida USDA rural development loan. Your loan officer can get you the exact numbers, but it is usually around 14 months of homeowner's insurance and 3-6 months of taxes. This will keep you from coming up with large sums of money on a yearly basis for taxes and insurance. When you sell your home, you will get the escrow account refunded back to you.
The USDA mortgage allows 6% seller concessions. What this means is the seller of a property can pay up to 6% of the sales price toward closing costs and pre-paid's. For example, if the sales price is $135,000, the seller can pay up to $8,100 towards the buyers closing costs and pre-paid's. In most cases, this would usually be enough to cover everything.
Yes, while it's not required, homebuyers may put money down with the Florida rural development mortgage. The benefit of doing this is it will lower the homebuyer's monthly payment.
The Florida USDA home loan does not have a pre-payment penalty. Homeowners can pay extra each month if they choose to do so. By paying extra, a homeowner can avoid paying interest on those dollars about and beyond their regular payment. If a homeowner decides to pull their mortgage off in full at one time, they may do so without any penalty as well.
Searching for USDA eligible properties in Florida is easy to do. The USDA eligibility map located on the USDA website is straightforward to use. Searchers need to enter the property's address, and the map will indicate if a property is eligible. If you do not have a property identified yet and what to see what areas qualify, that is easy to do. You can zoom in on a certain area, and the map is color-coded to identify the eligible areas.
Yes, you can get a Florida USDA home loan on a property with a pool. The pool has to be in proper working order with no defects or safety issues.
The minimum credit score needed for the Florida USDA mortgage will vary from lender to lender. The USDA does not have a minimum requirement; instead, they leave this up to the individual lender. Most lenders have their minimum scores in the 620-640 range.
Yes, homes with septic tanks are eligible for the USDA loan Florida. It is not uncommon for homes in more rural areas to have septic tanks.
Yes, every USDA loan transaction requires an appraisal. Your loan officer will typically handle this part for you. They will order a standard uniformed appraisal report.
The USDA home loan does not have a maximum allowable amount of acreage requirement. There could be issues that home buyers need to be aware of when it comes to extra acreage. Finding comparable sales can be a challenge for appraisers when there is excess land. The other issue is when the value of the overall transaction trends more towards the land than the home. The standard rule of thumb is 30%. This means that no more than 30 of the overall value should be in the land. The USDA home loan is a single-family residential loan and not a land loan.
Yes, the Florida USDA home loan allows homebuyers to participate even when they have limited credit on their credit report. When a homebuyer has limited credit, the USDA home loan allows them to provide alternate lines of credit. These are things that are typically paid on a monthly basis but do not appear on your credit report. Examples are cell phone bills, utility bills, and auto insurance.
No, interest rates on the Florida USDA rural development loan are typically in line with other government-backed loans such as VA and FHA. Rates will vary from lender to lender, but due to the competitive nature of the mortgage industry, there is not usually a big difference between lenders. It is always a best practice to speak with your loan officer about rates.
This is going to be up to the individual lender to determine if they charge an application fee, so it is always best to ask your loan officer. Most lenders do not charge such a fee.
The USDA home loan Florida charges a guarantee fee. This is somewhat similar to mortgage insurance. The guarantee fee is found in two places. There is a 1% upfront guarantee fee, and there is a yearly guarantee of .35% that is paid out monthly.
Some products and services may not be available in all states. Credit and collateral are subject to approval. Terms and conditions apply. This is not a commitment to lend. Programs, rates, terms and conditions are subject to change without notice.