FHA must be hearing the outcry because this week FHA Condominium Expiration Dates Were Extended. This is a much needed and positive move on the part of FHA in my opinion.
The reality of what was going to happen once Condominium Complexes started to come off the FHA Approved Condo List did not begin to hit home until the dead line was upon us, and Condo's that had been FHA Approved no longer were. Condominium Owners that were trying to sell their Condo's were not happy with their Condo Management Firms that they had not Re-Certified the Complex, and now the number of possible Buyers for their Condo had be slashed.
Even though FHA has extended the expiration dates, they have only done so for a short time, and there is no indication that they will consider doing this again. Below are the extension dates based on five-year time periods. Notice that Condominium Complexes with original approval dates from 1972 -1985 are only being extend to the end of the year.
Initial Project Approval Dates Current Expiration Date New Expiration Date
1972 - 1980 December 7, 2010 December 31, 2010
1981 - 1985 December 7, 2010 December 31, 2010
1986 - 1990 December 7, 2010 May 31, 2011
1991 - 1995 December 7, 2010 July 31, 2011
1996 - 2000 December 7, 2010 August 31, 2011
2001 - 2005 December 7, 2010 September 30, 2011
2006 - 2008 (Sept) December 7, 2010 March 31, 2011
A large part of the reason why FHA was so willing to extend the dates was because of their own work load. FHA was beginning to see a substantial increase of requests for Certification and Re-Certification and they needed the extension to ease their work load. Lenders and/or other interested parties are encouraged to begin the approval or re-certification process as early as possible so as to not run up against this deadline crunch again. As I stated earlier, another extension is unlikely.
The new updated dates were posted on the FHA Connection databases on December 7, 2010. The links are:
Condominium look-up page: https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condlook.cfm
FHA Connection: https://entp.hud.gov/clas/index.cfm
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George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308, gsouto@mccuemortgage.com, or visit my McCue Mortgage Homepage.
George, the latest stumbling Block I have come up against is the underwriters are searching the condo projects (on the Internet) to see if anyone is renting short term (on their own through Craig's list, V.R.BO. or the like) and then calling the whole project a "condo-Hotel" due to private owners doing short term rentals. This practice has killed many a deal lately. Even with the Condo docs specifically saying no short term rental, and the project questionnaire saying there is no program (desk) on the site/project...Over zealous -or over cautious? It is getting tougher out there to sell condos.
George, thanks for this update....very important info for condo owners, sellers, buyers, real estate agents AND property managers. Hopefully these extensions will help a little!
Hi George - I was glad to hear the news too. The condo market was getting tough--let's hope it gets a bit of a reprieve.
A reasonable concession on an absurd imposition! Ya, right!
It's always comforting to know, the government or their agents is here to help.
Bill
Very interesting George how the extensions are working. Some age groups extend only to the end of this year....
Ed, this would have been the wrong time to have taken some of these Condo Complexes off of the list. Hopefully the Condo Management Firms will use this time wisely and go through the re-certification.
Steve I have not seen that done around here. We for example will just require the Condo Questionnaire, Budget, and Insurance. If all of that checks out they are good to go.
Lisa the extensions should help but these Condo Management Firms need to get off their donkey and the the Condo's re-certified.
Peggy it will help but these extensions are short, so they don't have time to waste in getting them back on the list.
Bill as always you ascess the situtation correctly :)
Al and Peggy and that grouping will affect a large number of Condo's.
George - I couldn't be happier to see that these expiration dates have been extended. You would think that the management companies that serve condos would want to do everything in their power to get these certifications done sooner rather than later.
George - so glad to see these extensions. I sure hope it will help. We can count on you to provide the best up-to-date information on the mortgage industry.
Jeff
That's good news for condo associations George! I'm sure they're inundated right now with with a mouintain of applications. I found the re-certification process to be ridiculously cumbersome. They asked for all this paperwork - they got it!!
This is good news George. I know of a few people that were breathing a Si of relief!
Very sorry to hear that this will affect a larger number of condominiums George, that is usually where first time buyers start. Guess the longer extensions for some is good.
George, Great info to pass on to consumers. We do not have any condos in my area so it's not something that I even have to think about. Living in an area that does not have condos makes it seem odd to even think about marketing them, selling them, and getting them financed. If I ever move, I'll have to learn a thing or two that I've not had to deal with here in Southeast Oklahoma..
Hi George -- Anything that can affect demand for condos, which are struggling already, isn't good, so I hope this process gets straightened out for the better.
Congratulations on your feature George. We know you work very hard to keep all of us up to date and informed.
Donna they were really dragging their feet. Let's hope they take advantage of these extentions.
Jeff thank you, I do what I can :)
Karen as much paperwork as they ask for now, they use to even ask for more. Good luck with your re-certifications.
Bill I bet they were, but they better act quick because the time will be up again before they know it.
Al and Peggy, even a short time is better than nothing. Hopefully they will all take advantage of the extra time.
Judi, who knows maybe Condo's will be in your future :)
Chris you are right, the Condo market is tough right now. FHA is the way to go with Condo's because Fannie and Freddie have made things tough.
Al and Peggy, thank you.
Hmmm, this is something which I had never thought about. I had always just assumed that approvals were for an indefinite period of time. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. It is something I will know to look out for now.
Thanks for the great information. Just happened to be showing condos this afternoon. I never knew that the certification expired.
George this is great news for many, the extension will certainly help. Thanks for always keep us up-to-date.
George, good information for these sellers. Thanks for the update.
George,
I would think they would keep it open for a long time to come..there are many condos here that are up side down or in foreclosure and communities with tons of them sitting empty so you would think they wouldn't want to alienate the possible chance of putting people in them instead of helping them turn into a ghost town.
Mark up until February of this year that was the case, but as of February everything changed and Condo Complexes will be required to re-certify every two years.
Jamie, the site is down this weekend, but it should be back up tomorrow. If the Condo Complex was on the list then it will need to go through re-certification, if it wasn't on the list then it will have to go through the certificaion process which is not much different than the re-certification one.
Jennifer you are very welcome.
Michael glad that you found it helpful.
Neal follow the link. You can pull up the Condo's by state, city or just individual complex. They have to go through re-certification if they want to stay on the list, if they don't they will no longer be on it once their certification is up. Condo Complexes have had almost a year to do this, and now have been given additional time. If they do not do it, they don't have anyone to blame but themselves.
George, as you know I deal with condo sales in my area although it's not a large part of my business. Like a couple of other comment's I didn't know the certification expired. Thanks for keeping us informed...probably saved my butt from looking silly in front of a buyer or seller.
Thanks for the great post, George. Let's just hope that the condo managers do what they need to do in a timely manner.
George, somebody is using some common sense in Washington - this is a no cost way to help housing keep moving and put buyers in empty and sagging communities to buiild them back to where they need to be. It's a no brainer and they should definitely extend it again...and again...until we see stabilization. It costs nothing but makes $$ for everyone involved.
George we appreciate you always keeping us informed on crucial issues affecting buyers and sellers. It's sad that individual owners of condos have to be dependent upon their association's implementation for certification especially when so many are trying to get them moved! It makes more business for property managers though, for those that cannot sell their condos to buyers seeking FHA loans can rent them.
Nick looking silly is my specialty so I am glad that I could keep you from sharing in that with me :)
Barbara I hope so to. They have been dragging there feet around here, and hopefully they will take advantage of this second chance that they have been given.
Frank & Sharon, what you said makes a lot of sense, and it is about time that the government does something that actually helps.
Diane, I agree. In my opinion FHA made a big mistake when they did away with the Spot Approvals, and made it an all or nothing approval process.
Glad to see this featured. The information that you put in your blogs should always be featured! :)
George, Most of the condo associations, have no clue that this is happening. I have gone on listings and told the owners that they need to be more proactive with their association and board. I sold a condo in Southington, last summer, that no one would even believe the red tape that we went through to get it approved and closed. My Seller, had purchased it CHFA, four years ago and it was fine then. With all the new regulations, since February of 2010, it is quite a task. Convincing the boards to change over to the new regulations, was difficult, but, eventually, they cooperated. They had to raise their monthly fee to meet the guidelines, among other things.
George, I just forward this post to a few of my potential condo listings. Hoping that they understand the new process. Thanks for explaining this problem, so very well:)
George,
Vegas condo market is in such a terrible shape that these extensions probably won't have much effect at all. Hopefully it helps elsewhere.
Hi George,
Many condos are behind the curve on this one it seems. I bet they appreciate the extension.