There is going to be an estimated 2,200 condominium projects nationwide they will more than likely lose their eligibility for Federal Housing Administration-guaranteed sales and refinancing,when getting a new mortgage home loan. and some of these condo projects are right here in the Santa Maria real estate market.  The process on how to buy a home is just a bit different than buying a condo being that the complex the condo is located in also has to qualify.  The last time I looked at HUDs site of approved condo projects all of the condos that were approved in the Santa Maria real estate market area were set to expired at the end of the year and that pretty much goes for a ton of condo projects nationwide due to many new changes that HUD is implementing to get a better and more secured collateral when guaranteeing a loan. So Unless condo officials take action, another 23,000 estimated residential condos with housing units numbering in the tens of thousands will lose their eligibility by spring of next year. That means that buyers of units in these buildings won’t be eligible for FHA financing, so instead of having to only put down 3.5% to get a loan to purchase condo they will have to put down much more. This was the result of an effort by the FHA to guarantee that condos and their underlying home owners associations have adequate budgets, legal documents, and other things that lead to financial stability. In 2009, the FHA spelled out tough standards that required that condo projects approved for FHA financial before 2007 have their approvals renewed by Dec. 7, 2010.  Because there were so many, the FHA extended the deadline, setting new deadlines throughout 2011. The only losers were the 2,200 projects that had the oldest approvals. The FHA urges all condominium owners to get in touch with their associations and push them to meet the revised deadlines, the reason being that if you want your condo to be marketable and retain value it needs to be a condo complex where someone can get FHA financing to buy any one of the condos in the complex, the reality is if you have to put down 10 or 20% down to purchase a condo then the prices, and values of that condo complex will have to come down to where it is more possible for the average condo buyer to put down the needed amount of funds to qualify to purchase it. For more information, or to check out the status of a condo project that you may be interested in or maybe your condo project, visit (select by state): https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condlook.cfm

Here is also a  partial list of requirements for FHA certification.

At least 50 percent of units must be owner-occupied

No more than 15 percent of units can be delinquent (more than 30 days past due) in assessments.

No more than 10 percent of units can be owned by one investor. This includes a developer that may rent out vacant or unsold units.

No more than 25 percent of floor area can be commercial space.

The right of first refusal may be in the bylaws but cannot violate the Fair Housing Act.

A full budget review will take place. One important requirement is that it must show at least 10 percent of budget income applied toward reserves. Many association budgets do not meet this criteria.

After an association is FHA-certified, there are still limits on the number of units that can be mortgaged by an FHA-insured loan. Currently the cap is 50 percent of units. For complexes certified or recertified after Jan. 1, it will be 30 percent of units.