Get into Your Dream House With an FHA Home Mortgage

The Federal Housing Association (FHA) is a government program designed to help US citizens buy a home. It accomplishes this by offering insurance to lenders to protect the lender should the homebuyer default on the mortgage. If you qualify for an FHA home mortgage loan, you may get into your home sooner than with another type of home mortgage. You can purchase the home with a smaller down payment if you use a FHA loan. In 2010, an FHA home loan required 3.75 percent of the principal as a down payment where a conventional loan required 10 percent.

In order to qualify for an FHA loan, you have to meet the requirements. For 2010, you needed at least two years of employment history, preferably with the same employer. The income needed to be the same or higher in the second year as it was in the first. Another requirement involved your debt to income ratio. The house payment needed to be around 30 percent or less of your gross monthly debt, leaving you 70 percent of your income for other bills and living expenses.

If you have a few bumps on your credit report, that won't necessarily prevent you from being able to get an FHA home mortgage. The FHA will work with people who have gone through bankruptcy, as long as the bankruptcy is at least two years old. If you had a home go through foreclosure, the FHA will work with you three years after it. In both cases, you'll need good credit from the point of the issue forward. Also, look at your credit score to see whether you can qualify for a FHA-insured loan. The FHA has a minimum credit score of 620.