In Orange County, if you want an FHA loan on an attached condo, the condo project needs to be on the FHA Approved Condo List. But not all condo’s are “attached”, and not all attached properties are necessarily “condo’s”. FHA provides a website for determining whether a condo project is approved for financing or not, but there are many condo projects in Orange County that are not on the list. Sometimes they don’t need to be.
A Site Condo is a detached condo built within a condo project. In Orange County, there are quite few condo projects that have a few Site Condo’s in them. FHA does not require that the project be approved, but a condo rider is still required for the loan. Below is a quick excerpt from FHA regarding Site Condo’s.
“Site Condominiums are single family detached dwellings encumbered by a declaration of condominium covenants or condominium form of ownership. Condominium Project approval is not required for Site Condominiums; however, the Condominium Rider (Attachment D) must be included in the FHA case binder submitted for insurance endorsement. Manufactured housing condominium projects (MHCPs) may not be processed as site condominiums; these projects will require approval under HRAP.”
There are also some homes that look like condo’s, but are actually Townhomes or RowHomes, which also do not require Project Approval.
Just because a property is attached doesn’t mean it is a condo. Especially in areas of north Orange County, like Fullerton, Placentia, Orange, and Santa Ana, there are plenty of projects that are not zoned condo, but are Single Family Residences. Actually, in some older areas of south Orange County like Lake Forest and Mission Viejo, these are prevalent. Quite often these attached properties are part of a Planned Unit Development, or PUD. Often, buyers or their agents will search the FHA Condo Approval site and find no mention of a condo project. The reason just may be that the “condo” is not a condo at all. It is important to check the zoning of the property. If zoned SFR, you’re in luck. Sometimes it can help to have a local Orange County FHA Expert help with the research if its not immediately obvious.
Orange County VA loan eligible home buyers hoping to buy a condo must search a separate VA Condo Approval list. But if the property meets the guidelines listed above, the Orange County homebuyers can get the government financing they are hoping for.
Authored by Tim Storm, an Orange County, CA Loan Officer – Please contact my office at Trust One Mortgage for more information about an Orange County, CA home loan. 877-786-4243 x 7.
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