In January, we were informed that our FHA insurance was going up by a huge amount because our house was too old (according to them). FHA wanted to insure us back in 2008 when there was a housing crisis, but they're no longer so keen.
In our particular case, it was a good thing. We're able to get into a new house under a conventional loan, which we couldn't have done several years ago. So we're actually getting a slightly better house and were pretty lucky about finding a place that suits us really well. I'm curious, though. I would guess this isn't pleasant news for most of the people who've been affected. Are there a lot of people who have to find worse homes or who now can't afford homes at all? And what laws allow FHA to raise insurance so high when their goal is supposed to be helping low income families? And what about the houses that (I'm assuming) people will have to vacate? Will rich opportunists get them? Will they stand untenanted in very many cases? Will they become rental houses, get demolished, be renovated by the bank, or what?
I'd also like to offer a couple of words of advice for those in a similar situation:
First, cast a house-hunting/moving spell before you first begin the whole process of searching for a new place. We feel that the spells I cast were extremely important in finding the best homes available for us. In fact, we seem to have been hit by a series of strangely lucky coincidences regarding both the current move and the last one. (I won't claim that lucky coincidences prove that I know anything about magic, but my family believes the magical aspect of the experiences was significant).
Second, get any extra money from the FHA that you can. For instance, we've paid a total of $12k toward our current house (sans mortgage payments, interest, insurance, etc.). We went to the FHA people with evidence that their own inspector didn't do a proper job of inspecting this house when we first moved in (he didn't check some wiring in my son's room that could have been dangerous, he failed to notice a spot in the house where black mold is likely to grow, he missed a couple of spots of lead-based paint, etc.). Because we had evidence of their inspector's wrongdoing, we're now getting an additional $14k credit toward the new place, as well as a one year home warranty - and we're still free to sue them if we develop related health problems in the future. And my wife had a conference call with several of their employees about the inspector's mistakes the other day; we think that, at the very least, they're going to demote him - we think it's more likely they'll fire him and he won't fail any more families in the future, which is a good feeling for almost everyone involved (I do worry about his family if he has any dependents, but I still feel he shouldn't be an inspector).
In our particular case, it was a good thing. We're able to get into a new house under a conventional loan, which we couldn't have done several years ago. So we're actually getting a slightly better house and were pretty lucky about finding a place that suits us really well. I'm curious, though. I would guess this isn't pleasant news for most of the people who've been affected. Are there a lot of people who have to find worse homes or who now can't afford homes at all? And what laws allow FHA to raise insurance so high when their goal is supposed to be helping low income families? And what about the houses that (I'm assuming) people will have to vacate? Will rich opportunists get them? Will they stand untenanted in very many cases? Will they become rental houses, get demolished, be renovated by the bank, or what?
I'd also like to offer a couple of words of advice for those in a similar situation:
First, cast a house-hunting/moving spell before you first begin the whole process of searching for a new place. We feel that the spells I cast were extremely important in finding the best homes available for us. In fact, we seem to have been hit by a series of strangely lucky coincidences regarding both the current move and the last one. (I won't claim that lucky coincidences prove that I know anything about magic, but my family believes the magical aspect of the experiences was significant).
Second, get any extra money from the FHA that you can. For instance, we've paid a total of $12k toward our current house (sans mortgage payments, interest, insurance, etc.). We went to the FHA people with evidence that their own inspector didn't do a proper job of inspecting this house when we first moved in (he didn't check some wiring in my son's room that could have been dangerous, he failed to notice a spot in the house where black mold is likely to grow, he missed a couple of spots of lead-based paint, etc.). Because we had evidence of their inspector's wrongdoing, we're now getting an additional $14k credit toward the new place, as well as a one year home warranty - and we're still free to sue them if we develop related health problems in the future. And my wife had a conference call with several of their employees about the inspector's mistakes the other day; we think that, at the very least, they're going to demote him - we think it's more likely they'll fire him and he won't fail any more families in the future, which is a good feeling for almost everyone involved (I do worry about his family if he has any dependents, but I still feel he shouldn't be an inspector).