FHA financing is a popular type of financing in Fairfax County these days. From being unable to compete with the 0% down loans back in 2005 and 2006, they are now a part of over 20% of the purchases in the area.
The 3.5% down payment required is very competitive with the 10% minimum required from most other lenders. Also an FHA loan will allow you to receive the down payment as a gift in many cases (from your children or parents etc) – a useful feature for cash strapped purchasers.
Unfortunately, some purchasers run into problems with their FHA financing. Finding out that the condominium you fell in love with is ineligible for FHA financing results in disappointment, lost time and money. How can a purchaser avoid this situation ahead of time?
FHA financing is not available for all communities. To be eligible a condominium community will have to meet minimum criteria for things like insurance, owner occupancy, ownership and commercial usage. An occurring issue in Tysons Corner is that some communities have too high of a ratio of non-owner occupants(renters) to owner-occupants. A community that has more than half the units occupied by renters will in most cases be ineligible for FHA financing. That has been the case at the Gates of McLean and the Fountains at McLean.
See more at: http://soldsense.com/2012/03/12/what-condominiums-in-fairfax-county-are-fha-approved/#sthash.uDMCHokN.dpuf