If you've asked three lenders what credit score you need for an FHA loan and gotten three different answers, you’re not doing anything wrong. It’s confusing, but that's how the system works. One lender might tell you there's no minimum, one says 580, one says 620, and none of them explains why they disagree. It's enough to make anyone feel like the whole thing is rigged against them.
FHA loans exist precisely for buyers who feel shut out of conventional financing due to lower credit scores, limited savings balances, a higher debt load (and higher debt-to-income ratio, or DTI). The core FHA loan requirements are a credit score of 580 for a 3.5% down payment, 500–579 for 10% down, and a debt-to-income ceiling that works more like a ladder than a single cutoff.[1]
FHA is a low-down-payment loan, not a no-down-payment loan. You'll still need at least 3.5% down, plus closing costs on top of it. That single misunderstanding has wrecked more first-time budgets than any credit score.
Below is what each requirement really means, what it costs in dollars, and how to tell whether the requirement your lender gave you is an FHA rule or the lender’s rule.
What is an FHA loan, and how does it work?
The Federal Housing Administration doesn't lend you money. It insures loans made by approved lenders, which is a small distinction with a big consequence: Because the federal government backs the loan against default, an FHA lender can say “yes” to a borrower file that a conventional lender would turn down.[1]
Here’s why there can be confusion around FHA mortgage requirements. The FHA sets a floor: the minimum a borrower has to clear. Individual lenders can build on top of that floor with stricter rules of their own, called overlays. That's why two FHA-approved lenders might quote you two different minimum credit scores. Keep the word overlays in your back pocket; it's the thread that ties this whole article together, and we'll come back to it more than once.
FHA loans tend to be a strong fit if you're a first-time buyer with limited savings, if your credit is on the lower side and conventional financing is out of reach, if your DTI is higher than conventional underwriting is comfortable with, or if you're leaning on gift funds or down payment assistance to get to closing.
FHA loan requirements at a glance
| Requirement | FHA baseline | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Credit score | 580+ for 3.5% down; 500–579 for 10% down; below 500 generally ineligible | Your score sets your down payment, not just your approval. Most lenders add overlays that raise the practical floor. |
| Down payment | 3.5% (580+) or 10% (500–579) | On a $300,000 home, that's $10,500 or $30,000, before closing costs. |
| DTI ratio | 31/43 baseline, stretching to 40/50 (manual) or ~46.9/56.9 (AUS) with compensating factors | A ladder, not a single cutoff. Stronger files stretch higher. |
| Mortgage insurance (MIP) | 1.75% upfront + 0.55% annual (most buyers) | Non-cancelable if you put less than 10% down. Built into nearly every FHA payment. |
| Property use | Primary residence only | No second homes or investment properties. Move in within 60 days. |
| Property standards | FHA appraisal for safety, soundness, and security | The home has to pass, not just you. |
| 2026 loan limits (one-unit) | $541,287 floor / $1,249,125 ceiling | Set by county, based on local home prices. |
| Source: HUD[1] [2] [3] | ||
FHA credit score requirements
A score of 580 or higher unlocks the 3.5% minimum down payment. A score between 500 and 579 still qualifies, but the down payment jumps to 10%. Below 500, you aren't eligible for FHA-insured financing at all; that's a hard floor in HUD's rules, not a lender preference.[1]
That down-payment jump isn't a rounding difference. On a $300,000 home, it's the gap between $10,500 and $30,000.
| Down payment on a $300,000 home | 580+ credit score | 500–579 credit score |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum down payment | 3.5% | 10% |
| Cash required | $10,500 | $30,000 |
We'll carry that $300,000 home through the rest of the article so you can watch the costs stack up.
Why you're seeing different minimum credit scores
This is the question underneath the question. You don't really want to know FHA's minimum; you want to know why everyone quotes you a different one.
The answer is overlays. As Chloe Shubin, VP of operations and strategy at Griffin Funding, puts it, a 580 score satisfies HUD's minimum but not necessarily the lender's, and plenty of lenders set their internal guidelines at 620 or higher. Qualifying for an FHA loan on paper doesn't mean every lender will work with your specific credit situation, so it pays to shop for one that will. That's why the "practical floor" for FHA sits closer to 580–620 than the official 500. It's a lender behavior, not an FHA rule, and knowing the difference changes how you shop.
Real approvals below 620 happen all the time; they just depend on the rest of your file. Paul Ferrara at Avenue points to a borrower with a 588 FICO who got approved on the strength of 14 months of cash reserves. Brett Johnson at New Era Home Buyers describes a 605 FICO approval carried by 15% down plus six months of reserves. Both approvals landed after Fannie Mae removed its 620 credit floor in November 2025, and both make the same point: overlays and compensating factors decide these files, not the raw score.
So if you've been staring at your score feeling like you shouldn't even bother, that instinct is worth resisting. The number is a starting point, not a verdict.
Why you and your lender see different scores for the same profile
There's a second layer of confusion here: The score you see on Credit Karma isn't the score your mortgage lender pulls. As Jeffrey Hensel, broker associate at North Coast Financial, describes it, free consumer apps typically show a VantageScore, while mortgage lenders pull specific FICO versions (FICO 2, 4, and 5). The gap runs "sometimes 30 points, sometimes 60."
You can pull your actual credit reports from the three bureaus for free at AnnualCreditReport.com, the federally authorized source. Just know it gives you reports, not scores, so it's the place to hunt for errors rather than to preview your mortgage FICO. You can sometimes get access to one of your bureau FICO scores through credit cards or banks, or you can set up accounts at each of the bureaus to check where you are.
FHA down payment and cash to close
Your down payment and cash to close is where the rubber of your budget meets the road of your mortgage loan.
FHA is not a zero-down loan
FHA loans require a down payment. The minimum is 3.5% if your score is 580 or higher, and there are closing costs stacked on top of that. If a home-buying plan is built on the idea that FHA means nothing down, that plan has a hole in it.
If a true 0%-down loan is what you need, two programs offer it: USDA loans for eligible rural and some suburban areas, and VA loans for qualifying service members and veterans. Both have their own eligibility rules, but neither requires a down payment, which FHA does.
What it really costs to close
Here's the full cash-to-close picture at today's rates. The 30-year fixed averaged 6.71% as of September 3, 2026.[4] Run our $300,000 home through it and the monthly numbers land like this.
| $300,000 purchase at 6.71% | 3.5% down (580+ score) | 10% down (500–579, or to lower MIP) |
|---|---|---|
| Down payment | $10,500 | $30,000 |
| Base loan | $289,500 | $270,000 |
| Upfront MIP (1.75%, financed in) | $5,066 | $4,725 |
| Total financed | $294,566 | $274,725 |
| Principal & interest | $1,903/mo | $1,775/mo |
| Annual MIP | $134/mo (0.55%) | $114/mo (0.50%) |
| P&I + MIP | $2,037/mo | $1,889/mo |
| Source: HUD, Freddie Mac[2] [4] | ||
Two things about that table. First, the $2,037 is not your full payment. Property taxes, homeowners insurance, and any HOA dues sit on top of it, and together they can add several hundred dollars a month depending on where you buy. Second, the down payment is only one piece of the cash you need at the closing table.
The number that catches people off guard is typically closing costs, which typically run 2% to 5% of the purchase price.[5] On a $300,000 home, that's another $6,000 to $15,000. Add the down payment and, in some cases, a few months of cash reserves your lender wants to see, and a realistic cash-to-close figure lands somewhere around $16,500 to $25,500. If you've been budgeting for the down payment alone, that's the gap to plan around now, not at the closing table.
For a fuller breakdown of where those dollars go, our closing costs guide itemizes them, and the home affordability calculator can help you back into a price that fits.
Down payment assistance and gift funds
Down payment assistance (DPA) can shrink that cash-to-close number, and FHA lets you cover your down payment with gift funds from family, too. DPA generally comes in a few shapes: outright grants you don't repay, second mortgages you pay back over time, and silent seconds that come due only when you sell or refinance.
Set your expectations before you count on it. Kristina Morales, licensed loan officer at Loanfully with more than 20 years of banking experience and 7 years in real estate, notes that only about 20% of buyers who look into DPA end up qualifying, that typical grants run $5,000 to $15,000, and that the common catch is a silent second or a slightly higher interest rate on the first loan.
Then there's a trap almost no one warns you about. Most DPA programs cap DTI lower than FHA itself does, often at 45% or below. As Shubin explains, you can be fully eligible for FHA financing and still get cut from a specific assistance program because of the program's own overlay, and nobody tells you that upfront. For context, plain FHA underwritten through the automated TOTAL Scorecard can stretch to roughly 46.9% front-end and 56.9% back-end on a clean file with strong compensating factors, so a 45% DPA cap can sink a file that FHA alone would have approved.
The move here is simple: ask your lender which specific DPA program they're using and what its DTI cap is before you layer it onto your loan. For a wider look at what's available, start with our guide to first-time home buyer programs.
FHA income and DTI requirements
Your debt-to-income ratio is the number that most often decides your file, and it's also where buyers most often overestimate themselves. Let's fix the math first, then explain why your own income estimate is probably too high.
DTI is your total monthly debt divided by your gross (pre-tax) monthly income. If you earn $5,500 a month and carry $2,300 in monthly debts, your DTI is $2,300 ÷ $5,500, or about 42%. Your debts here include the future mortgage payment plus recurring obligations like car loans, credit cards, student loans, and child support or alimony.
Now the part that clears up most of the confusion: 43% isn't a hard wall. HUD's manual-underwriting baseline is 31% for housing and 43% for total debt, and it stretches with compensating factors. Here's what that ladder looks like on that same $5,500 monthly income.[1]
| Underwriting path | Front-end / back-end | Max housing payment | Max total debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual, baseline | 31% / 43% | $1,705 | $2,365 |
| Manual, one compensating factor | 37% / 47% | $2,035 | $2,585 |
| Manual, two or more | 40% / 50% | $2,200 | $2,750 |
| TOTAL Scorecard (AUS), strong file | ~46.9% / 56.9% | $2,580 | $3,129 |
That spread, from $2,365 to $3,129 in allowable debt on the exact same income, is the real reason two lenders give you two different answers about what you can afford. It's not that one of them is wrong. They're running you down different rungs.
One note that carries over from the old rules and still holds: student loan debt counts toward your DTI, but lenders can use either your actual payment or a percentage of the balance, depending on your situation.[1]
How lenders calculate your qualifying income
The income you think you make and the income a lender will count are often two different numbers. Salaried pay is the easy case: annual salary divided by 12. Nearly everything else gets averaged.
Take hourly work. Matt Schwartz, mortgage broker and co-founder of VA Loan Network, explains that FHA averages hourly W-2 income over two years. So if you got a raise six months ago to $28 an hour but your two-year average pencils out to $22, the underwriter qualifies you at $22. The dollars matter here: $28 an hour is about $58,240 a year, while $22 an hour is $45,760. That's roughly $1,040 a month less qualifying income, and at a 43% back-end ratio, it cuts your allowable total debt from about $2,087 to $1,640. That’s potentially $447 a month of buying power, gone, on a raise you already earned.
The same two-year logic gets stricter for gig and self-employment income, which qualifies on your net income, not your gross. Schwartz gives the example of a rideshare driver grossing $60,000 who writes off $20,000 in mileage and business expenses: the lender qualifies them on $40,000, or about $3,333 a month, not the $5,000 they assumed. Overtime, bonus, and tip income follow the same rule; each needs a two-year track record before a lender will count a dollar of it toward qualifying.
If your income is anything other than a flat salary, this is the single biggest reason to get pre-approved early rather than guessing. Your real qualifying number is often lower than your paycheck suggests, and it's better to learn that before you've fallen for a house.
Is there a minimum or maximum income?
No, on both counts. FHA sets no income floor and no income ceiling. What matters is the ratio between your debts and your income, not the size of your paycheck.[1] [5] A high earner with heavy debt can get denied while a modest earner with almost none sails through.
Compensating factors that raise your DTI limit
When your ratio runs high, compensating factors are what carry the file. These are the strengths that tell an underwriter you're a safer bet than the number suggests: documented cash reserves, a new payment that isn't much higher than your current rent, verified residual income, and a long and stable work history.
Reserves do the heaviest lifting. Hensel points to a 46% DTI approval that went through on the strength of $47,000 in reserves and 11 years of perfect payment history, summing it up as "cash reserves, not the ratio."
What you'll need to document
Lenders want to see that your income is stable enough to keep the payments coming, which usually means proving at least two years of employment and income history. The two years don't have to be with the same employer, but they should generally be in the same field, and gaps longer than six months tend to count against you. New graduates who've just moved from school into full-time work can sometimes qualify for an exception.
Expect to hand over W-2s, recent pay stubs, tax returns, 1099s if you're self-employed, and bank statements. One piece of practical advice from buyers who've been through it: get these organized early, because underwriters tend to request the same documents more than once, and scrambling for a tax return at the wrong moment can stall your closing.
FHA mortgage insurance (MIP)
FHA doesn't charge private mortgage insurance (PMI); it charges its own mortgage insurance premium, or MIP, and it comes in two parts.
The upfront premium is 1.75% of your base loan amount, on every FHA loan regardless of term or down payment. The annual premium is 0.55% for most buyers, meaning those putting less than 5% down on a 30-year loan at or below the conforming limit; it drops to 0.50% at 95% loan-to-value or lower, and the full range across loan types runs from 0.15% to 0.75%.[2] The upfront premium is usually financed into the loan rather than paid in cash, which is why your loan balance ends up higher than the purchase price minus your down payment.
What MIP really costs you
Numbers make this concrete. Let’s take the $300,000 home at 3.5% down as an example.
The upfront premium is $5,066, financed into the loan. The annual premium starts at about $134 a month and declines slowly as your balance amortizes. Here's where the choice you make on day one really shows up: [1] [2]
- Never refinance, less than 10% down: MIP runs for the life of the loan. Over 30 years, that's roughly $32,000 in annual premiums, plus the $5,066 upfront, for about $37,000 in total mortgage insurance.
- Refinance out at year five: you'd pay roughly $7,900 in annual premiums plus the upfront, for about $12,900 total.
- Put 10% down: MIP cancels after 11 years. That's roughly $14,000 in annual premiums plus a $4,725 upfront premium, for about $18,700 total.
That contrast, roughly $37,000 versus $12,900, is the entire argument for treating an FHA loan as a bridge rather than a permanent home for your mortgage.
How to get rid of FHA MIP
Start with the rule, because it's precise and easy to get half-right. If you put less than 10% down, MIP stays for the life of the loan. If you put 10% or more down, it drops off after 11 years.[1]
Unlike PMI, you can't get rid of MIP just by paying your balance down, even to well below 80% of the home's value. Natalie Salins of Movement Mortgage puts it plainly: because FHA runs MIP as an insurance program rather than as equity-based coverage, paying down the loan (even, in her words, if you put 50% down) doesn't cancel it. The exit on a low-down-payment FHA loan is refinancing into a conventional loan once you've built enough equity.
The trade-off is real, so weigh it before you commit. Refinancing means qualifying all over again at whatever interest rates are available at the time, which could be higher than your FHA rate. For a lot of buyers, the MIP is simply the price of getting in the door years earlier than a conventional loan would have allowed.
FHA property standards: appraisal vs. inspection
There's no such thing as an "FHA inspection." What people mean is the FHA appraisal, and the difference matters more than it sounds.
As Jonathan Ayala of Compass in Hudson County, New Jersey, explains it, an FHA appraisal is an assessment of safety standards and livability, not just value. So draw the line clearly: the appraisal is lender-required, and it covers both what the home is worth and whether it meets FHA's minimum condition standards. A home inspection is a separate, buyer-optional step, done for your own information, and it's still worth paying for even though FHA doesn't require it.
Those minimum property standards come down to three words: safe, sound, and secure. The home has to be structurally sound, free of health and safety hazards, and secure enough to live in.[1] [6] The property also has to be your primary residence, you generally have to move in within 60 days of closing, and two- to four-unit buildings can qualify as long as you live in one of the units.[1]
What FHA appraisers flag
The condition issues that trip up FHA appraisals are usually visible if you know to look. Before you write an offer, walk the home the way an appraiser would and watch for:
- Peeling or chipping paint, especially on homes built before 1978 (a lead-paint concern)
- Missing or loose handrails on stairs
- Broken windows or windows that won't open and close
- Roof problems or a roof near the end of its life
- Exposed or frayed electrical wiring
- Signs of foundation, plumbing, or structural trouble
None of these means a house is unbuyable. They mean repairs may be required before an FHA loan can close, which is a negotiation point, not a dead end.
What to do if the appraisal comes back with problems
This is where an experienced agent earns their keep, because it plays out on the deal side, not the loan side.
A real example makes it concrete. Meir S. Tenenbaum, a Florida listing agent, describes a Delray Beach closing where the FHA appraiser required fascia board and window-frame repairs, a $2,000 charge. The seller and buyer split it $1,000 each, the work got done, and a required reinspection cleared the file before closing. Nobody's deal blew up; they solved it.
That's the strategy when an appraisal comes back with problems. You can negotiate for the seller to make the repairs, ask for seller concessions to cover them, order the required reinspection once the work is done, or, if the issue is a low appraised value rather than a condition flag, request a Reconsideration of Value with supporting comparable sales. An agent who's closed FHA deals knows how to target homes likely to pass in the first place and how to handle the repair negotiation when they don't. If you want that kind of help in your corner, you can find a buyer's agent who's done it before.
FHA loan limits in 2026
FHA won't insure a loan above a set ceiling, and that ceiling depends on where you're buying. One correction worth making up front: those limits are based on local home prices, calculated as a percentage of the conforming loan limit, not on average income or "cost of living."
For 2026, the one-unit floor is $541,287 and the ceiling in the highest-cost counties is $1,249,125, effective for case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2026. Multi-unit limits run higher: two-unit properties range from $693,050 to $1,599,375, three-unit from $837,700 to $1,933,200, and four-unit from $1,041,125 to $2,402,625.[3]
Your county almost certainly falls somewhere between the floor and the ceiling. To find your exact limit, use HUD's county lookup tool before you set a price ceiling in your head.[7]
What disqualifies you from an FHA loan?
Plenty of people who look fine on paper get denied, and it helps to know the reasons ahead of time so you can head those reasons off. Some are obvious; one catches almost everyone off guard.
That one is CAIVRS. As Shubin describes it, the Credit Alert Verification Reporting System is a federal database of people with unpaid government debt (tax liens, defaulted federal student loans, prior FHA claims that were paid out), and a CAIVRS hit is a leading cause of denial for otherwise-qualified FHA borrowers. The number-two reason, she notes, is a DTI higher than compensating factors can carry. If you've ever defaulted on a federal debt, it can surface here even when your credit report looks clean, which is exactly why it blindsides people.
Here's the consolidated list of what can disqualify an FHA file:
- A credit score below 500
- Delinquent federal debt, which shows up as a CAIVRS hit
- Buying anything other than a primary residence
- A DTI beyond what your compensating factors will support
- A property that fails FHA's condition standards
- A recent bankruptcy or foreclosure still inside its waiting period
A few other baseline rules: You have to be at least 18 and legally able to take on a mortgage, and the FHA does allow non-occupant co-borrowers (a parent co-signing, for instance) in some situations.[1]
If you see yourself on that list, don't read it as a permanent no. Most of these are fixable with time and a plan. A HUD-approved housing counselor will review your situation for free and help you build a realistic timeline; you can find one through HUD's housing counselor lookup.
FHA vs. conventional loan
The instinct that FHA is your only option if your finances aren't pristine is worth questioning, because the real comparison is more balanced than it looks. Here's how the two stack up.
| FHA loan | Conventional loan | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum credit score | 580 (3.5% down); 500–579 (10% down) | ~620 |
| Down payment | 3.5%–10% | As low as 3% |
| Max DTI | Up to ~46.9/56.9 via AUS with strong factors | Routinely up to ~50% via automated underwriting |
| Mortgage insurance | Upfront + annual; non-cancelable under 10% down | Required under 20% down; cancels at 78–80% LTV |
| Property standards | FHA minimum property standards | More lenient than FHA |
| Loan limits | Set by county (2026 floor $541,287) | Based on FHFA conforming limits |
| Sources: HUD, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Homeowners Protection Act of 1998[1] [8] [9] [10] | ||
Conventional loans go as low as 3% down, not "up to 20%," so they aren't the high-bar option they're sometimes made out to be. And conventional automated underwriting routinely approves DTIs up to around 50%, which means FHA isn't automatically the more forgiving choice on debt. The real FHA advantages are the lower credit-score threshold and the tolerance for weaker files; the real conventional advantage is mortgage insurance you can eventually cancel.
Don't let anyone talk you out of FHA on autopilot, though. Salins recalls a condo file where the numbers ran opposite to the stereotype: conventional priced at 6.7% while FHA came in at 6.1% on the same borrower. That's a dated 2026 example, not a promise about today's pricing, but it's a useful reminder to compare real quotes rather than assumptions. There are plenty of buyers who got steered into conventional at a full point higher plus a couple hundred dollars more a month in mortgage insurance when FHA fit them better. Run both.
How to qualify for an FHA loan: Step by step
Understanding the rules is one thing; putting them in motion is another. Here's the sequence, with the tools you'll use.
- Pull your credit reports. Start at AnnualCreditReport.com, the free, federally authorized source, and check for errors that could be dragging your score down. Remember it gives you reports, not scores, and that the mortgage FICO your lender pulls will differ from what free apps show.
- Run your own DTI. Divide your total monthly debts by your gross monthly income, using the corrected formula and the ladder above. Our home affordability calculator can also help you pressure-test a price.
- Build your cash-to-close number. Not just the 3.5% to 10% down payment, but closing costs of roughly 2% to 5% and any reserves your lender wants. On a $300,000 home, budget somewhere in the $16,500 to $25,500 range.
- Gather your documents early. Two years of W-2s, recent pay stubs, tax returns, 1099s if you're self-employed, and bank statements. Expect to send some of them more than once.
- Shop at least three lenders. This is where overlays either help you or hurt you, so it pays to compare. And don't let the credit-inquiry worry stop you: as Jay Hurst, co-founder of Ribbon Home, explains, FICO folds all your mortgage credit pulls within a 45-day window into a single inquiry, so five lenders count as one pull. Hurst marks the calendar and tells borrowers they've got 44 days to shop. One more reassurance while you're at it: Your lender and your real estate agent are separate relationships, so shopping around for a loan doesn't mean losing your agent.
- Line up an agent who's closed FHA deals. Someone who knows how to spot FHA-passable homes, handle repair negotiations, and structure seller concessions can be the difference between a smooth close and a stalled one.
How to sanity-check what your lender told you
When something a lender tells you doesn't add up, these questions cut through it:
- Is that your overlay or an FHA rule? (This one word untangles most of the credit-score confusion.)
- What DTI are you qualifying me at, and is this going through TOTAL Scorecard or manual underwriting?
- Which specific down payment assistance program is this, and what's its DTI cap?
- Can you show me the math on my qualifying income?
Overlays are why two FHA lenders can look at the same file and give two answers, so a "no" from one isn't a "no" from FHA. And a "refer" from the automated underwriting system isn't a denial, either; as Ashley Harris, director of homebuyer education at Neighbors Bank, points out, a refer just means the file needs a human underwriter to look closer, not that it's dead. None of this means your loan officer is out to get you. Most are fine, and the system itself is just inconsistent enough that you're allowed to ask questions until the answers make sense.
The bottom line
FHA loans open a door that conventional financing keeps shut for a lot of credit-challenged and low-savings buyers. The trade-off is mortgage insurance you'll likely carry until you refinance into a conventional loan, plus condition standards the home itself has to meet. For many buyers, that's a reasonable price for getting in years earlier than they otherwise could.
If you're weighing an FHA purchase, a Clever partner agent can help you target homes likely to pass an FHA appraisal, negotiate repairs and seller concessions when they don't, and coordinate with lenders who write FHA loans regularly. Matching with an agent is free, and eligible buyers may qualify for cash back at closing.
FAQ
Can I get an FHA loan after a bankruptcy or foreclosure?
Usually yes, once you're past the waiting period. FHA generally looks for two years from a Chapter 7 discharge, one year of on-time payments in a Chapter 13 plan with court approval, and three years from a foreclosure, short sale, or deed in lieu. Exceptions exist for documented one-time events like a job loss or medical crisis. Your lender may require longer.[1]
Can I have two FHA loans at the same time?
Usually no, since FHA financing is limited to your primary residence. But there are exceptions: relocating for work beyond a reasonable commute, a documented increase in family size, or leaving a jointly owned home after a divorce. In each case the new property has to become your primary residence, and you'll need to document the reason. Ask your lender before you assume you qualify.
Will sellers reject my offer because I'm using an FHA loan?
Some will, and it's worth knowing why. Sellers worry the appraisal's condition standards will flag repairs they'd have to make. You can offset that: get fully underwritten rather than just pre-qualified, keep your timeline tight, and work with an agent who can present your offer credibly. In a balanced or slow market, the concern largely disappears.
Can I use an FHA loan on a condo or a manufactured home?
Both, with conditions. The condo project generally needs FHA approval, though single-unit approval can work for individual units in unapproved projects. Manufactured homes qualify if they're permanently affixed to a foundation you own, built after June 15, 1976, and meet HUD's construction code.[1] Check the property type early; finding out after you're under contract is expensive.
What if my credit score is below 500?
FHA won't work at that level, but you're not out of options. A HUD-approved housing counselor will review your file for free and build a realistic timeline, often 6 to 12 months of on-time payments and paying down revolving balances. If you're buying in a rural area or you're an eligible service member, USDA and VA loans have different credit standards and no down payment requirement.