FHA 100% Financing for Florida Home Buyers

Every FHA purchase needs a 3.5% minimum investment from the buyer, and that 3.5% doesn't have to come out of your savings. FHA lets that 3.5% come from approved sources, and a down payment assistance second is one of them.

So the deal closes as two loans at the same table. The first is a regular FHA mortgage for 96.5% of the price. The second is a smaller loan for the remaining 3.5%, provided through an approved assistance program. Together they cover 100% of the purchase price.

You still qualify the normal FHA way: income, credit and debts. The upfront mortgage insurance premium gets added to the first loan, the same as any FHA loan, so it isn't cash you bring. What's left is closing costs and prepaid items like insurance and taxes, and the next sections show how buyers get those covered too.

Here's a $350,000 home bought with FHA 100% financing and a seller who agreed to pay closing costs.

The seller credit is negotiated in your offer. Six percent of $350,000 is $21,000, which typically covers all of your closing costs and prepaids. When the seller won't go that high, a gift from family can fill the gap.

Want this math on the home you're looking at? Call 888-601-8344 or text the price to 954-816-8820.

The FHA side of the approval looks like any FHA loan. The assistance side adds a few rules of its own, and those differ from one program to the next. We start with five things:

• Credit score: 580 is where it starts. Some programs set their floor higher, and that's why we compare more than one.
• Income: enough to carry the payment, with FHA allowing debt-to-income up to 57% on a strong approval. Some assistance programs also cap household income.
• The home: your primary residence. Single-family homes and townhomes are the core of it.
• Work history: steady income, usually two years, with any gaps explained.
• Homebuyer education: many programs ask for a short online course before closing. It takes an evening.

Past credit trouble isn't an automatic stop. FHA uses set waiting periods after a bankruptcy or foreclosure, and we keep them written out on our FHA waiting periods page.

That depends on the assistance program, and it's the first thing we'll tell you about any option we put in front of you. They come in three kinds:

A lower payment isn't always the better pick. A repayable second at a fair rate can beat a deferred one that grows. We put the options side by side so you can see the trade.

Plenty of our buyers do. The down payment is handled by the second, so the only cash left is closing costs and prepaids. Three things cover those:

1. Seller concessions. FHA lets a seller pay up to 6% of the price toward your costs. A seller with a home that's been sitting will often agree to terms before cutting the price.
2. Gift funds. A parent, grandparent or other eligible family member can give you the rest with a simple signed gift letter.
3. Our Homebuyers Outreach Program. When you use our mortgage and South Florida Homes Realty on the same purchase, you get a credit at closing toward your costs.

You'll usually put down an earnest money deposit when your offer is accepted. It goes toward your costs at closing, and when the seller and gifts cover everything else, it can come back to you.

Sellers care about one thing: closing on time. Your offer goes in with a pre-approval that already accounts for the assistance and the seller credit you're asking for, so the listing agent sees a buyer whose financing is lined up before the contract is signed.

The seller doesn't lose anything when you put zero down. They're paid the full price at closing, the same as with any other FHA buyer. The seller credit is a negotiation over terms, and a well-priced offer with a clean pre-approval wins those every day.

Saving 3.5% on a $350,000 home means finding $12,250 while you keep paying rent. Every month you spend saving is another rent check toward your landlord's mortgage instead of yours. Zero down gets you in now and starts building your equity sooner. Here's how the three low-down options compare:

If your score is 620 or higher and your income is under your area's limit, look at Conventional with 1% down too. We'll run both and show you the payment on each.

The assistance program has its own approval step on top of the FHA approval, and funds are reserved for your loan once you're under contract. So we line up the assistance before you make offers, so your pre-approval letter already reflects zero down and the seller credit you're asking for.

What holds these up is paperwork: a missing bank statement, an unsigned gift letter. Send what's asked for the same day and these close on a normal timeline. If the program wants a homebuyer course, take it early.

State, county and city assistance programs pair with an FHA first too, including Florida Hometown Heroes for eligible workers. We check every option you're eligible for, not just one.

Assistance programs each have their own score floors, income caps and fine print. A single lender can only offer what it has on its shelf. As a mortgage broker, we shop multiple wholesale lenders and assistance programs and match you to the one that takes your score, your income and your county.

You'll deal with one point of contact from your first call to the closing table, with no handoffs between departments, and we pick up at night and on weekends, because sellers don't wait for business hours.

Is FHA 100% financing a real loan or a teaser?

It's real. It's a standard FHA first mortgage for 96.5% of the price, plus an approved down payment assistance second for the 3.5%. Buyers close on it every month.

Will a 580 score get me approved?

580 is where FHA 100% financing starts. Your income, debts and the program's own rules decide the rest. Many programs take 580; some want more. We find the one that takes your score.

Does the second loan raise my monthly payment?

Only when it's a repayable second, and then by a small fixed amount that we build into your numbers from the start. Deferred and forgivable seconds have no monthly payment.

Can my parents help with the closing costs?

Yes. FHA allows gift funds from family for closing costs and prepaids, documented with a signed gift letter and a record of the transfer.

Can I use it in any county?

Yes. We close FHA 100% financing in all 67 Florida counties. Which assistance programs you can use depends on where you're buying, and we check that for your address.

What happens to the second if I sell or refinance?

A repayable or deferred second is paid off from the sale or the new loan. A forgivable second may be partly or fully forgiven depending on how long you've lived in the home.