Reading Home Purchase Loans Low Rates in Pennsylvania with FHA Financing
Reading home buyers have been taking advantage of new options for qualifying with low rate FHA home purchase loans to help them lock in buying a new home. Reading is in Berks County, Pennsylvania and the center of the Greater Reading Area. It is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, and Erie, and the sixth largest municipality after Upper Darby Township. A popular tourist attraction is a Japanese-style pagoda that is visible from everywhere in the town. It was built in 1908 as a hotel and restaurant, but was never used for that purpose. Reading is also home to the historic Reading Railroad, another popular tourist attraction.
The median home cost in Reading is $155,600. Home appreciation the last year has been 2.30 percent, but it’s still a buyer’s market. Compared to the rest of the country, Reading's cost of living is 15.24% lower than the U.S. average, and Reading jobs have increased lately by .48%. With this positive new contrasting what’s happening elsewhere in the nation, Reading home buying is worthwhile because home values are also holding steady.
Reading Home Buying with FHA Loans
To add to the good news, FHA has temporarily raised the loan limits to $300,000. If you’ve never considered FHA for Reading home financing, now is the time to start. Besides the loan limit increases, FHA is now becoming the loan of choice for Reading home purchase loans because conventional lenders have tightened their lending standards to where only those with high scores qualify.
To qualify for a conventional loan, you need a FICO credit score of at least 660 if you’re putting 20% down and 700 FICO if you have less than 20% start-up equity. With FHA, you only need a 580 credit score. And you only need a 3% down payment on a home in Reading. And, even with credit dings, you get low, fixed interest rates with FHA. Plus, you can also do a FHA streamline refinance if the interest rates drop on 97 percent loan to value.
To take advantage of FHA’s increased loan limits, you’ll have to act quickly. These limits will expire on December 31, 2008 before settling on the limits set under the newly passed Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.
