Developers often secure FHA approval for their condominium projects, enabling buyers to obtain FHA loans.  Whether or not those approvals remain in place is left to the owners’ association for the project.  As investors continue to snap-up condominium units one at a time or in bulk, it is important to review the status of the FHA approval for the project.  As highlighted in a recent Denver Post article, the FHA backs nearly one-third of all mortgages in the United States, up from 5% in 2005.  The article also reports that nearly two-thirds of Denver metro-area condominium projects have rejected or expired FHA approvals.  As the article suggests, this could be the result of many factors, including FHA’s limit on the number of renters in a project.  Even for those projects with intact FHA approvals, investors should talk to the association to understand the association’s plans for renewing the registration and assuring that all the FHA requirements (such as the limit on renters) are satisfied.  The association’s plans (or lack thereof) with respect to FHA registration could have serious implications for the investor’s ability to rent the condominium units or sell them to consumers. 

Photo by Butterbean Man (Flickr)