My husband and I want to buy a house in the next couple of months but when my husband got laid off from his job we had to use the money we saved up for the down payment to pay for our rent. We want to get an FHA loan now because you only have to put 3% down but do you have to buy a HUD home or can you purchase any home of your choice?

Answer:
It’s 3.5%. The biggest limiting factor is the price of the home as each county has loan limits and you can look yours up on HUDs site. Property condition is rarely an issue and the appraiser is responsible to flag issues that must be fixed. You may NOT escrow for repairs unless you are buying a HUD REO (foreclosure from a previous FHA mortgage) home. You may use a FHA 203K rehab loan though.