Current FHA cash-out guidelines, updated from one source.
Nothing in the cards is a rate or a payment. They are the program’s settings: the ceiling on the base loan as a share of value, the months of ownership and occupancy required, the premium financed on top and the premium paid monthly, and the credit and ratio parameters. The calculator further down applies them to a Colorado home.
Of the adjusted value on a principal residence; 80% combined with any lien that stays
Two ceilings govern the leverage: 80% on the new first mortgage and 80% on all liens combined, both measured on the adjusted value. The rate-and-term refinance, which returns no cash, reaches 97.75%; the cash-out gives up that reach in exchange for the proceeds.
Owned and occupied as the principal residence before the case number is assigned
Before the case number, the home must have been the borrower’s principal residence for twelve months, documented by the deed and by records at the address. A loan seasoned less than a year must have been paid on time throughout, and a non-occupant co-borrower cannot be added to carry the ratios.
Plus an annual premium, charged monthly, for eleven years at cash-out leverage
1.75% upfront, financed on top of the capped base loan, and 0.50% annually on a standard thirty-year cash-out, charged monthly for eleven years: that is the price of HUD’s insurance of the lender’s risk. The premium schedule below carries every leverage band and loan tier.
Ratios of 31/43 by reference, higher with compensating factors
Three score figures and two ratio pairs: HUD’s 500 floor, the 580 full-financing line, the 580 wholesale overlay; ratios of 31/43 by reference and 40/50 at the top tier. The score decides the cost of the loan as well as its availability.
| Base loan | Leverage | Annual premium | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard base loan amounts | at or below 90% LTV — the cash-out band | 0.50% | 11 years |
| Standard base loan amounts | above 90% to 95% LTV — purchase and rate-and-term leverage, not cash-out | 0.50% | mortgage term |
| Standard base loan amounts | above 95% LTV — purchase and rate-and-term leverage, not cash-out | 0.55% | mortgage term |
| Larger base loan amounts | at or below 90% LTV — the cash-out band | 0.70% | 11 years |
| Larger base loan amounts | above 90% to 95% LTV — purchase and rate-and-term leverage, not cash-out | 0.70% | mortgage term |
| Larger base loan amounts | above 95% LTV — purchase and rate-and-term leverage, not cash-out | 0.75% | mortgage term |
The line-of-credit alternative: on a primary residence Lendmire’s HELOC program reaches 90% combined loan-to-value behind the existing first mortgage, with no FHA premium attached. For a stronger credit profile the conventional cash-out matches this leverage with no premium at it and one wholesale lane goes higher; eligible veterans can reach the full value, funding fee included, through VA cash-out. Every route is priced on the same numbers before anything is recommended.
FHA cash-out snapshot as of October 1, 2026 · base loan sized on the appraised value, upfront premium financed above it · FHA county mortgage limits apply, confirmed by a Lendmire loan officer and never printed here · taking cash out raises the balance and may extend the payoff · Lendmire is a broker, never the lender.
Informational only. Nothing on this page is a commitment to lend, an offer of credit, an approval, or a quote. The parameters shown are HUD Handbook 4000.1 guidelines and wholesale lender overlays as of the date shown; they change without notice and apply only after full underwriting, including an FHA appraisal. The calculator’s rate is a published survey average, not a quote. Lendmire LLC, NMLS #2371349, is a mortgage broker licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages and is never the lender. This is not legal or tax advice.
What an FHA cash-out refinance is — and how the file is qualified.
Below, the FHA cash-out in four parts: the loan itself and where the cash comes from; HUD’s occupancy and payment-history test; the two premiums and the years they run; and the moment a conventional cash-out or a line of credit serves a Colorado homeowner better than the insured route.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s FHA cash-out refinance program; the rules are HUD’s, in Handbook 4000.1.
One new FHA loan, cash at closing
HUD treats any refinance that returns more than a token amount of cash, or that pays off a lien taken after the purchase, as a cash-out; the rate-and-term refinance is the other path and reaches higher leverage because it returns nothing. One FHA Roster appraisal, one case number, one closing, one rescission period, and then the money.
The occupancy rule and the payment history
The case number date, not the closing date, is where HUD measures the year, and the year counts occupancy as well as ownership. A Colorado home you lived in throughout qualifies; a home you rented out for part of the year does not until a full year of occupancy has passed. A loan seasoned less than a year must show every payment on time, and no non-occupant co-borrower may be added.
Mortgage insurance, upfront and monthly
The premium rate does not depend on the score; it depends on where the leverage starts and how large the base loan is. A cash-out begins at or below the ninety percent band, so the monthly premium has an eleven-year span, and a larger base loan pays the higher tier in the table. A later refinance into a conventional loan is how many Colorado owners end the premium early.
FHA cash-out or the alternatives
A borrower with a strong decision score usually does better on the conventional cash-out: identical leverage on a one-unit principal residence, no premium at that leverage, and a wholesale lane that lends higher. A home equity line keeps the first mortgage and prices only the new money. The FHA route earns its premium when the score, the ratio, or a recent credit event closes those doors.
The order matters. HUD caps the base loan before the premium is added, so the financed premium can push the total above the cap while the base loan stays under it; the cash is measured on the base loan, never on the total. Ask for less and the loan shrinks; ask for more and the calculator reports the ceiling.
Where Colorado’s equity sits — and how FHA cash-out fits.
Colorado is a set of markets rather than one: ownership, values, and incomes change from city to city, and every FHA cash-out in the state is sized against its own local appraisal. The Census figures below describe the state as a whole.
Statewide figures provide general market context, not an appraisal or an income calculation. Where homes were bought years ago, the distance between today’s value and the old balance is the FHA cash-out’s raw material, and that distance is a local fact.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Where Colorado’s equity is borrowed with FHA — market by market.
Six Colorado markets, six local guides. HUD’s program is the constant; the equity a typical home holds, the condition questions the local stock raises, and the county mortgage limit are the variables.
Denver
Among Colorado’s larger owner markets, Denver counts close to 163,555 owner households, about 49% of households, and in a metropolitan market this big HUD-insured cash-outs are written every month on homes bought with FHA years ago and on conventional loans whose owners no longer fit the agency box. Census context: median value near $616,000, median household income near $94,718, population near 719K.
Colorado Springs
Among Colorado’s larger owner markets, Colorado Springs counts close to 123,264 owner households, about 61% of households, and in a metropolitan market this big HUD-insured cash-outs are written every month on homes bought with FHA years ago and on conventional loans whose owners no longer fit the agency box. Census context: median value near $452,600, median household income near $84,818, population near 488K.
Aurora
Roughly 90,683 Aurora households own (62% of the total), a good many with the modest scores and small down payments FHA was built for, which is why the insured cash-out carries a steady share of this metropolitan market’s equity lending. Census context: median value near $469,100, median household income near $88,368, population near 394K.
Lakewood
Among Colorado’s larger owner markets, Lakewood counts close to 40,552 owner households, about 58% of households, and in a metropolitan market this big HUD-insured cash-outs are written every month on homes bought with FHA years ago and on conventional loans whose owners no longer fit the agency box. Census context: median value near $574,400, median household income near $89,792, population near 157K.
Arvada
Roughly 37,573 Arvada households own (75% of the total), a good many with the modest scores and small down payments FHA was built for, which is why the insured cash-out carries a steady share of this metropolitan market’s equity lending. Census context: median value near $632,600, median household income near $117,348, population near 123K.
Fort Collins
Among Colorado’s larger owner markets, Fort Collins counts close to 37,041 owner households, about 52% of households, and in a metropolitan market this big HUD-insured cash-outs are written every month on homes bought with FHA years ago and on conventional loans whose owners no longer fit the agency box. Census context: median value near $577,900, median household income near $85,070, population near 170K.
There are no Colorado markets with their own FHA cash-out rules. The cap, the occupancy rule, the payment-history requirement, the premiums, the credit floor, and the ratio tiers are identical everywhere in the state; the one county-level variable is the FHA mortgage limit, which a Lendmire loan officer confirms for each file and this page never quotes.
Four ways Colorado homeowners put equity to work with FHA.
Colorado homeowners bring four reasons to an FHA cash-out more than any others, and each one changes a different part of the review: the ratio, the appraisal, the sequence, or the comparison with a line of credit.
Fund a large expense or a reserve
Borrowing to hold a reserve means paying the premium and the interest on money that may sit unused, which is where a line drawn only when needed often wins. For a Colorado owner whose credit fits HUD but not the line program, the FHA cash-out is the instrument that is open, and the review says so plainly.
Capitalize a business or an investment
Self-employed Colorado owners with uneven years sometimes find HUD’s standard easier to clear than a business lender’s, and the FHA cash-out turns home equity into working capital on a consumer mortgage qualified on personal income and credit. The home, not the business, is the collateral, and the file is judged on the owner’s income as it stands.
Leave a loan whose structure no longer fits
Owners carrying a loan with a balloon, an adjusting rate, or an insurance product they never chose can replace it with one fixed FHA loan and a published premium schedule, taking equity in the same transaction. The Colorado review prices that against a conventional refinance, which the decision score decides.
Replace a second lien or a line in repayment
The settlement agent pays the line or the second mortgage from the proceeds and closes it, leaving one insured first mortgage with a fixed payment. HUD counts the payoff of a post-purchase lien as cash-out, so the combined balance plus costs is measured against the base-loan cap on a Colorado home.
Estimate the cash, the premium, and the new payment on a Colorado home before requesting a quote.
The calculator follows HUD’s arithmetic for a Colorado home: cap times value for the base ceiling, payoff subtracted, cash request tested against the remainder, upfront premium stacked on the base, the total amortized over the term at the rate shown, the monthly premium and the escrows added, and the payment measured against income and other debts.
Colorado FHA cash-out estimate
Starting figures are placeholders drawn from Colorado’s median value; every field is editable.
Editable benchmark: 7.03% as of September 24, 2026 · Freddie Mac 30-year average via FRED®. A conventional market reference, not an FHA cash-out refinance quote.
Illustrative starting assumptions: a $540,000 home value near Colorado’s median owner-occupied value, a $297,000 current balance, the FHA cap on a principal residence with the upfront premium financed, a thirty-year term at the current Freddie Mac benchmark, property taxes and insurance estimated for Colorado (U.S. Census Bureau). Every field is editable.
An illustration, not a Loan Estimate, an approval, a quote, or a commitment to lend. The rate shown is the weekly Freddie Mac thirty-year conventional benchmark, used as a market reference; an FHA cash-out is priced by the lender at lock, and this is not an FHA cash-out refinance quote. HUD’s cap limits the base loan; the upfront premium is financed above it; the monthly premium for the first year follows the snapshot’s schedule. Cash available means the base loan the cap permits less the balances retired, before closing costs, which this calculator leaves out. The line figure applies the line program’s combined loan-to-value ceiling to the same value and balance. Taxes and insurance are estimates you can edit. Licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages.
Same equity, three ways to borrow it.
Three routes to equity in a Colorado home, compared on what actually decides the choice: how far each reaches, what credit standard it applies, what happens to the existing first mortgage, and what each adds in insurance or fees.
FHA cash-out, conventional cash-out, or a HELOC.
A new FHA-insured first mortgage replaces the old one, with the upfront premium financed on top and a monthly premium inside the payment for eleven years at this leverage. Leverage runs to HUD’s cap on a principal residence, the credit standard is the most forgiving of the three, and the file is judged on compensating factors as well as the score.
The conventional cash-out reaches the same share of value on a one-unit principal residence with no premium at that leverage, and one wholesale lane lends higher for a strong score; the credit floor sits above HUD’s, the ratios are tighter, and the seasoning rule is six months on title. For a Colorado owner who qualifies, it is usually the cheaper loan over its life. See Lendmire’s conventional cash-out refinance program.
A line of credit sits behind the first mortgage as a second lien, drawn as needed through the draw period, repaid over the period after, usually at a rate that adjusts. Lendmire’s line program reaches a higher combined leverage than HUD’s cap, carries no FHA premium, and leaves the first mortgage untouched: the first comparison whenever the current loan is worth keeping. See Lendmire’s home equity line of credit.
Choose FHA when the score, a credit event, or the ratio keeps the file out of the conventional programs and the home has been the principal residence for a year; choose conventional when the file clears its floor, because the premium is avoided; choose the line when the first mortgage should stay and the need is modest or staged. Veterans: see the VA cash-out program.
What to prepare for a Colorado scenario review.
The documents are the ordinary refinance set plus two that HUD’s rules add, the occupancy evidence and the year of mortgage history; here is what a Colorado FHA cash-out review draws on.
A general guide to preparing, not a complete checklist: the selected lender may ask for more, depending on the transaction, the property, the automated finding, and the income picture. Nothing here is legal or tax advice.
Local details that can change the loan.
Five things to know before counting the cash on a Colorado home: what the premiums add, what the occupancy and payment-history rules demand, what the appraisal can require, and what the property type and the credit record contribute.
Use these checks to keep the Colorado file clean and fundable.
Occupancy first, premium second, value third; after those, a Colorado FHA cash-out is documentation.
- Price the premium: Compare the FHA payment with the premium against the conventional payment without it.
- Confirm the occupancy clock: Twelve months as the principal residence before the case number; inheritance is the exception.
- Account for the costs: On a modest sum, a line of credit may cost less to open and carries no premium.
The premium rides on the loan and inside the payment
Price the insurance as two numbers, not one: the share of the base loan added to the balance at closing, and the share of the balance collected every month for eleven years at cash-out leverage. On a Colorado home the calculator shows both, and the comparison with a conventional loan is only honest when both are in the figure.
Twelve months owned and occupied, with a clean payment history
Inheritance waives the twelve-month wait for a home occupied since the inheritance; nothing waives the payment-history rule. A loan seasoned under a year must have been paid on time throughout, and HUD does not allow a non-occupant co-borrower on a cash-out to carry the ratios.
Closing costs and the premium come out of the loan
Weigh the costs against the purpose. A Colorado owner after a modest sum may pay more to close an insured refinance than a line of credit would cost to open, and the line carries no premium; a larger sum spreads the same costs over more cash. The loan estimate itemizes everything after application and the closing disclosure finalizes it before signing.
The rescission period before the money moves
Count the days before planning the money: the closing, then the federal rescission window, then the disbursement that pays the old loans and wires the cash to the Colorado owner. A deadline that falls inside the window is missed, so the closing is scheduled backward from the date the cash is needed.
Two- to four-unit homes qualify when the owner lives in one
An owner-occupied duplex, triplex, or fourplex in Colorado refinances at the standard cap with the other units’ rent counted and a rent schedule in the appraisal; a building the owner has left, or a second home, cannot take an FHA cash-out at all and goes to the conventional program at its lower cap.
From a Colorado scenario review to cash at closing.
An FHA cash-out moves in a fixed sequence: a review that sizes the loan on the value, the balance, and the cash; the application, the case number, and the automated finding; the FHA appraisal and underwriting; closing, the rescission window, and disbursement. Each step is described below for a Colorado owner.
Scenario review
The review settles the shape of a Colorado file: whether the occupancy year and the payment record clear HUD’s test, what the premiums add, whether the conventional route would cost less, and whether a line would reach the same cash more cheaply. The answer is written terms, and the case number waits until the plan holds.
Application and case number
The application records income, assets, debts, the property, and the occupancy; the lender requests the FHA case number, which fixes the date the twelve-month rule and the payment history are measured against, and runs the automated system. The finding lists the documentation and confirms the ratios with the closing payoffs removed.
FHA appraisal and underwriting
Here the figures become final. The appraiser sets the Colorado home’s value and lists any required repairs; the underwriter tests the file against the handbook and the lender’s overlays; each condition is issued, documented, and cleared ahead of the final approval; and the closing disclosure is drawn on the final loan with the premiums inside it.
Closing, rescission, and funding
At the closing table the Colorado owner signs the note and the security instrument and the costs are settled; the rescission window then runs, and when it closes the settlement agent pays the old loans, records the new one, and wires the cash. The first payment, premium included, is due at the start of the second month after funding.
A brokerage built around equity lending.
Three reasons, in order: every instrument is on the table, so the comparison is honest; the file is shopped across programs, so the cost is not one desk’s; and the terms are written before any fee is paid.
Every route, one review
Three instruments on one desk means the recommendation follows the arithmetic: the FHA cash-out with its premium, the conventional cash-out without one, and the line of credit behind the current loan, each priced for the Colorado home on the same value, balance, and cash, and the cheapest fit written up.
Placed across wholesale programs
HUD writes the rules; each wholesale lender adds its own overlays and its own cost. The Colorado file goes where the score, the leverage, and the property fit best, and the terms the owner receives come from that placement rather than from the only desk in the building.
Terms in writing, before any fee
Every review closes with written terms: base loan, premiums, cash after costs, payment, ratios, each computed on a conservative value. The Colorado owner reads them first; only after agreeing the plan is worth an appraisal does anything get ordered or any fee get paid, which is the only honest order to do it in.
Trusted by homeowners & families alike.
Colorado FHA cash-out refinance FAQs
What a Colorado loan officer hears about FHA cash-outs, answered plainly and without the figures that belong in the snapshot and the calculator above.
What is an FHA cash-out refinance, and who is it for?
It is a new first mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration that replaces the loan on your principal residence with a larger one and pays you the difference after the old loan, any second lien, and the closing costs are settled. HUD caps the leverage, requires a year of ownership and occupancy with a clean payment record, and insures the loan with an upfront premium and a monthly one. It serves the Colorado owner whose score, ratio, or credit history keeps the conventional programs closed.
How much cash can I take out with an FHA refinance?
Three numbers decide it: the value, the balance, and the cap. The cap is in the snapshot, the balance is on your statement, the value is the appraiser’s. The calculator combines them for a Colorado home and prints the line-of-credit figure beside the FHA figure, since the line reaches a higher combined leverage.
How long do I need to have lived in my home before an FHA cash-out?
Twelve months is the rule and the case number is the clock. Confirm the deed date, the occupancy evidence, and the mortgage history before the case number is requested on a Colorado home; those three records settle the question.
What does FHA mortgage insurance cost on a cash-out, and how long does it last?
The figures are in the snapshot: an upfront share of the base loan and an annual rate collected monthly for eleven years. Price it against the conventional cash-out, which carries no premium at this leverage, before deciding; the review does exactly that on the same balance.
What credit score do I need for an FHA cash-out refinance?
HUD’s floor and the full-financing line are both in the snapshot, and the wholesale programs begin above the floor; the decision score is the lowest of the borrowers’ middle scores. A purchase below the full-financing line is limited to lower leverage, but a cash-out already sits at a lower cap, so the practical questions are the wholesale floor and the cost tier the score lands in. A Colorado borrower near the floor should expect the score to show in the price of the loan.
What is different about the FHA appraisal?
Expect two findings from the FHA Roster appraiser: the Colorado home’s value, which sets the base loan, and its condition against HUD’s minimum property requirements, which can add required repairs or a repair escrow before closing. Plan the cash on a conservative value and fix the obvious items first.
Would a HELOC be better than an FHA cash-out?
Compare the total monthly cost: the FHA payment on the whole refinanced balance, premium included, against the current payment plus a line payment for the same cash. With a low-cost first mortgage the line usually wins on a Colorado home; with a costly or nearly paid-off mortgage, the refinance often does.
What debt-to-income ratios does an FHA cash-out allow?
Front and back reference ratios are in the snapshot; one documented compensating factor opens a higher pair, two open the top pair, and an automated approval follows its own finding. Debts the proceeds retire at closing leave the ratio, which often turns a Colorado consolidation file from marginal to comfortable.
When do I actually get the money?
Never at the closing table. The window runs after signing and the disbursement follows it; payoffs and cash go out together, and the old lenders release their liens afterward.
What does an FHA cash-out refinance cost to close?
The costs of a full mortgage, appraisal, title and settlement, recording, prepaid interest, escrow set-up, plus the upfront premium, which is financed in nearly every file. The other costs appear on the loan estimate after application and are finalized on the closing disclosure; most owners roll them into the loan, which lowers the cash in hand by the same amount. On a modest sum they may exceed what a line of credit costs to open, one reason the line is priced first on a Colorado review.
FHA, conventional, or a line in Colorado: compared on your numbers.
Enter your Colorado figures above, then ask for a review; the cap, the occupancy rule, the premiums, and the cost tier are checked against HUD’s handbook and the wholesale overlays, and what comes back is a written set of terms, not an estimate.
This guide covers Colorado — for the program overview, see Lendmire’s FHA cash-out refinance program.
All Colorado city guides (6): Arvada · Aurora · Colorado Springs · Denver · Fort Collins · Lakewood
Related programs: Cash-Out Refinance · FHA Loans · HELOC