It would seem that construction activity is still fairly high based upon the number of calls that I get from people about construction loans. There are a lot of calls from people just getting started, as well as from a number of seasoned “construction veterans.” In a large number of those calls, I hear some common questions. So I thought that I’d answer a few of them here.

Q: How do construction loans work?

A: In general, just like every other loan. You sign loan documents and money is funded into escrow. In the case of a construction loan, only a portion of the total loan is released. The balance is released either in preset “stages” or as workers complete portions of the project according to a budget. The former is called a “draw” system and the latter is called a “voucher” system.

Q: How are the payments calculated and who makes them?”

A: Commercial loans have the added security of an income producing property providing the funds to pay the loan payments. For residential loans, it’s the borrower’s income. When a property is being built, there is no secondary source of repayment so the burden of payment would normally fall to the borrower. But lenders didn’t want borrowers to use up all of their funds in case something went wrong with the project, so they created “interest reserves.” This is a chunk of money set aside in the loan to do nothing but make the loan payments during the construction process. The payment is based upon how much money has actually been used or “drawn” at the time the payment is due. This is not the case for private money lenders. They calculate interest on the entire amount of the loan from the initial funding date.

Q: What’s a contingency reserve?

A: This is another chunk of money set aside in the loan to protect you against cost overruns. Since it can take a year or more to complete a project, the prices used to estimate the construction budget become less accurate as time marches on. The contingency reserve is released a little bit at a time during the construction process to cover inevitable price increases.

Q: How do you calculate the maximum construction loan?

A: The maximum construction loan is based upon many factors: Property type, stabilized value at completion, total costs, and equity invested to name a few of the key concerns. For any given property type, there is usually a maximum “loan to costs” and a maximum “loan to value.” The key is this: The largest permanent loan for which the property can qualify, assuming it is built and fully occupied or valued, will limit the construction loan. This is because the construction lender wants to be paid off at the end of construction and the way to do that is with a permanent loan. This does not mean that if the permanent loan exceeds the total costs of the project that you can get 100% construction financing. Just about every lender is going to look for 10% to 20% of the total costs to be funded by equity or cash from the borrower.

I hope that these few examples clarify some of the questions that you might have concerning construction lending. I’ll cover more here in the future. If you should have a question that wasn’t covered, email me at your convenience and I’ll do my best to give you a complete answer.

My husband and I would like our home built and put on land will the FHA give a loan to have it done? And what is the max amount that can be loaned out if so? Thanks.

I heard a short sale in when you can pay or can sell your house for the amount you bought it for… For example I bought my house for $235k and now it cost between $170k to $190k, so it is upside downs for around $60k. I heard that I can hire a realtor he will sell it for a less amount and the rest the bank will “eat it”. But I have to wait certain years to buy another house again. How many years do I have to wait to buy again?

I am trying to repair my credit by sending debt settlement letters to the collections agencies listed on my credit report, but they are not being cooperative. Most are saying they CANNOT settle the debt nor are they willing to delete the listing from my credit report after the debt had been paid. I don’t trust any of these non profit credit counselors, but I need some guidance. I am begining to lose hope that this is even worth the trouble. Any advise?

I have a lender that says I should not call for the range repaired. Is this correct? He says another appraiser told him that all you need is plumbing.

I’m looking to by an Acre adjacent to my property to build a large garage/barn on. I understand buying land only require a very large amount of money down. Can I get a construction loan for the Garage and have it cover the land too?

A variety of FHA loan programs are available to American homebuyers. With those programs, there is inherent flexibility which can be used for a potential home buyer with good credit who, along with a small down payment, can buy, improve or refinance a house.

FHA Loan Programs: How They Work

FHA loan programs do not provide the funding for a home borrower to get a home; instead the FHA loan programs provide insurance for home mortgages. The FHA insures these loans up to a certain amount, depending on the loan and program chosen by the borrower, so that lenders can give the mortgage borrowers the best terms available. This saves the buyers money, so they can buy a home with little money down and a more expensive property because in the eyes of the lender the borrower is giving a larger down payment.

Using FHA Loan Programs

FHA loan programs emphasize residential home ownership. FHA loan program guidelines are made to help buyers in obtaining loans so that more and more people can qualify for the purchase of a nice home. FHA loan programs can help get people into:

* New and existing homes

* Single family homes

* Manufactured homes

* Townhouse/condominium units (in approved projects where at least 51% of units are owner-occupied)

* 2-3 unit investment properties, as long as the owner will occupy one unit

* Farms—if residence occupied by owner exists on property

* Homes in need of rehabilitation (loans can cover the cost of both purchase and improvement)

Because of the FHA’s ‘reverse’ loan programs, home owners over age 62 can tap into the equity they have accumulated over the years and use it to take care of the money for their retirement living.

FHA loan program guidelines also allow for home loan refinancing on existing loans. Existing loans can be converted into FHA loan programs. Existing FHA insured loans can be refinanced for better terms.

FHA Loan Program Guidelines: Things to Know

There are some restrictions and FHA loan program guidelines that determine eligibility for FHA loan programs. Some of the FHA loan program guidelines to know about:

* FHA loan program guidelines limit the loan size. These vary depending on the state and county in which you live. For more information, find an approved FHA lender.

* FHA loan program guidelines for size are dependent on the cost of housing in your area. These can go up to $290,000 for single-family homes in some cases.

* FHA loan program guideline sets loan limits that can also vary by market. Again, check with a FHA lender in your area for more information.

* FHA loan programs do allow for home improvement and refinancing. This include the energy efficient mortgage.

FHA loan program guidelines have been recently expanded by Congressional amendments, which may mean that borrowers who didn’t find a FHA loan program to suit them in the past may now have something better available to them. When looking at benefits, it is best to work with an FHA lender to obtain the FHA loan program that best suits you and you home mortgage choice.

ough economy, when every dollar counts, it is crucial to learn how to do credit repair yourself. Each and every day, thousands of desperate people are needlessly running to credit repair agencies spending hundreds, even thousands of dollars trying to get their credit up to par.

But it really isn’t that difficult at all to repair credit yourself if you know the basic things that most credit repair services would otherwise do for you for a fee.

If you aren’t aware of those simple actions, here are 5 quick and easy steps to do credit repair yourself.

1. Access a copy of your credit report - you are entitled to a copy of your credit report for free once a year. You can access it in the mail, by phone, or even online. Although you get this free credit report, be sure to also get your credit scores along with your report, as this is the foundation for doing credit repair for yourself.

2. Check your credit report for errors - this is one of the biggest factors that credit repair agencies bank on - the mistakes that can you easy remove yourself while you’re in the process of credit repair. Look for wrong addresses, wrong social security numbers, accounts with balances that you’ve already paid off, and even accounts with late payments that were actually made on time.

3. Negotiate account payoffs - here’s another area that you are typically charged for by credit repair agencies which you can avoid by doing the credit repair yourself. All you have to do is call your creditors on collection or past due accounts and ask them to settle with you. Just let them know that you will pay off the balance, but that you are only able to pay a certain amount. If the creditor agrees, you have just saved a few hundred dollars and you now have a zero balance on that account.

4. Raise your credit limits - you may be asking yourself, “How can raising your credit limits help when you are doing credit repair yourself?” The magic about this is that 30 percent of your credit score is directly impacted by the balance on your account compared to the limit on that account. So there is only two ways to change this aspect of your credit score. Either you pay down the balance or you raise up the credit limit. Either can give you an equal result when doing credit repair yourself.

5. Continue monitoring your credit score - here’s where most people miss it big time. They take the initial actions to repair their credit themselves, but then they never follow up to be certain that those actions really helped their credit scores. That’s the pitfall of doing credit repair yourself; you may not have a good system for following through until you get the results in your credit that you are looking for. The best tool to use here is a calendar and simply putting reminders every one to two months to check your credit report and credit scores again.

As you can see, these are all simple steps that will guide you along the way to do the credit repair yourself. If you can do these 5 simple steps, then you have just saved yourself hundreds of dollars by not having others do it for you.

I work for my self and need a hard money loan with minimal hassle. I have found two very good deals and am ready to make an offer on one house or the other. I keep hearing about hard money lenders who will 100% finance, but, I cannot find one. Is this a fantasy or do hard money lenders of this type actually exist?

I need to repair my credit and need someone who is experienced and knows what he is doing. Im in southern California, can anyone recommend someone?