USDA shrinks areas eligible for RD mortgage

 Loan Programs, Residential Mortgage  Comments Off on USDA shrinks areas eligible for RD mortgage
Jul 012018
 

For more information, please contact me at (512) 261-1542 or steve@LoneStarLending.com.

By G. Steven Bray

The USDA Rural Development loan is a great option for homebuyers in rural locations. It requires no down payment and has lower monthly mortgage insurance than an FHA loan.

The loan is only available in areas that USDA considers “rural,” but USDA’s rural includes some areas you might not expect. USDA provides an eligibility map you can use to determine if a particular property is eligible, and a new map went into effect on Jun 4th, which narrowed the eligible area just a bit.

The biggest changes I noticed in the map are around Austin. Most of the fast-growing suburbs of Hutto, Buda, Kyle, and Leander were eligible under the previous map. Now, they’re ineligible. However, more distant suburbs, like Dripping Springs, Liberty Hill, Bastrop, and Taylor remain eligible.

In the Houston area, the expansion of the ineligible areas occurred mainly to the south and southwest and around Conroe. The I-10 corridor to the west and east, and the I-69 corridor to the northeast appear unaffected.

Around the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, more of the fast-growing 380 corridor is now ineligible, but otherwise the metro escaped mostly unaffected.

In the San Antonio area, more of the 281 and I-35 corridors are ineligible as is the suburb of Boerne. However, the boundary to the west appears unchanged.

We’ve got a link to the eligibility map on our Web site or in the text version of our blog.

USDA Rural Development eligibility map

USDA mortgage maps changing Oct 1st

 Loan Programs, Owner-occupied, Residential Mortgage  Comments Off on USDA mortgage maps changing Oct 1st
Sep 102014
 

For more information, please contact me at (512) 261-1542 or steve@LoneStarLending.com.

By G. Steven Bray

The USDA Rural Development loan is a great option for homebuyers in rural locations. It requires no down payment and has lower monthly mortgage insurance than an FHA loan.

The USDA’s definition of rural may surprise you as it includes many of the exurbs of the major TX cities. As of Oct 1st, that definition narrows a little as USDA is releasing new eligibility maps based on recent census data.

The main changes I noticed were the expansion of ineligible areas in Pflugerville, Round Rock, and San Marcos in the Austin area and Denton and McKinney in the DFW area. In addition, the ineligible area on the west side of Ft. Worth expanded significantly. However, you’re still going to find some subdivisions on the outskirts of these cities are eligible. The maps changed little in the San Antonio and Houston metros. I included a link at the end of my blog to the USDA eligibility Web site where you can compare the old and new maps for yourself.

USDA bases property eligibility on the date it receives your loan file. For most lenders, this will be a couple weeks after loan application. So, if you’re buying a home using the old maps, you need to act soon to beat the changes.

USDA mortgage eligibility Web site.