Fannie Mae and FHA Approved Condo Projects

The current real estate market is providing plenty of amazing opportunities for buyers to get great deals on condominiums around the country. However, the recent turmoil in the financial markets has caused financial institutions to tighten their lending guidelines and make it more difficult to obtain financing on condos. It is even more difficult in cities that experienced the biggest booms and busts and which now have lots of troubled projects and are seeing the highest foreclosure rates.

There is a bright spot in this real estate market and there are ways to still take advantage of the deals being offered now. Fannie Mae and FHA have recently released lists of condo projects around the country that are approved for financing. These approved projects are then eligible for government backed loans and smaller down payments for interested buyers. These loans usually only require the buyer to put down 3.5 percent and allow for a speedier qualification and purchase process.

The condominium projects that are approved by Fannie Mae must have less than 15 percent of condo owners in the building delinquent on their condo or Home Ownership Association fees. In addition, the association must have enough funds on hand to meet the deductible of their insurance policy. Other conditions include the following: At least 70 percent of new condo units must be pre-sold, at least 10 percent of the operating budget must be set aside for reserves, projects can not contain more than 20 percent non-residential space, and no more than 10 percent of units may be owned by a single entity.

These requirements help to insure that the condo projects are healthy and that the individual units are generally pretty solid investments. Condo units in approved buildings are also usually much easier to obtain financing for because the mortgage can be guaranteed by Fannie Mae. Buying or renting in a approved project helps to insure that you living or investing in a project with long term viability, even though the market may be down now.

For a full list of Fannie Mae and FHA approved buildings or to obtain financing for a condo unit please visit the Finance Center on Condo.com by Clicking Here.