The Denver market continues to remain hot which is driving prices ever higher.  I don’t know about you but I have seen some buyers get priced out of the market.  What is the solution?

Some are expanding into surrounding areas in an attempt to buy a home within their price range.  El Paso, Larimer and Weld counties seem to be the areas closest to the metro area that have some lower home prices.  If you are looking in these counties be careful…be very careful.

 

You need to be careful because the loan terms could be impacted by going into these surrounding areas.  The reason is due to FHA loan limits.  Conventional financing has loan limits set nationwide, except for “high cost areas” (like Denver Metro).  FHA, on the other hand, sets their loan limits based on each county.

Let’s say you are looking in the Northern Denver metro area, say Thornton or Brighton.  In an attempt to find a home within a lower price range you pass over into Weld county.  Immediately the limit for your loan drops from $458,850 down to $290,950!!  Here is a quick comparison of the FHA loan limits in the counties mentioned above:

Denver Metro (Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Jefferson, Park) = $458,850
El Paso = $271,050
Larimer = $340,400
Weld = $290,950

Interested in a county not listed?  You can visit the HUD website where they list all of the counties by visiting their website here:
https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/hicostlook.cfm

You’ve been warned. 🙂

Let us know if you have a situation in need of a top notch professional mortgage lender. (That’s us in case it wasn’t clear.)

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