Current FHA guidelines, updated from one source.
The figures below are the FHA program’s own parameters, read from Lendmire’s centralized guideline source and refreshed on this page as HUD’s rules and the wholesale overlays change: the minimum investment, the decision score for maximum financing, the mortgage insurance premiums, and the qualifying ratios.
Up to 96.5% loan-to-value on a purchase
3.5% of the purchase price or appraised value, whichever is lower, is the minimum investment on an FHA purchase; the loan covers the rest, up to 96.5% loan-to-value, and a gift may cover the whole investment.
Decision score for maximum financing
A decision score of 580 or higher is eligible for maximum financing; HUD’s rules allow lower scores at reduced leverage, but the wholesale programs Lendmire places FHA loans with start at 580, so that is the working floor.
Plus 0.50%–0.55% a year on most thirty-year loans
FHA mortgage insurance has two parts: 1.75% upfront, which is added to the loan, and an annual premium of 0.50%–0.55% on most thirty-year loans, charged monthly; the ladder below shows the schedule by loan size, leverage, and duration.
Housing and total debt, manual reference
Housing and total debt ratios of 31/43 need no compensating factors; higher ratios are approvable with the factors in the ladder below, and files scored by HUD’s automated system follow the system’s finding rather than the manual table.
| Decision score | Housing / total | Compensating factors |
|---|---|---|
| 500–579 or no credit score | 31% / 43% | not applicable — ratios may not exceed 31/43 (energy efficient homes 33/45) |
| 580 and above | 31% / 43% | no compensating factors required (energy efficient homes 33/45) |
| 580 and above | 37% / 47% | one of: verified and documented cash reserves; minimal increase in housing payment; residual income |
| 580 and above | 40% / 40% | no discretionary debt |
| 580 and above | 40% / 50% | two of: verified cash reserves; minimal increase in housing payment; significant additional income not reflected in effective income; residual income |
| Base loan | Leverage | Annual premium | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard base loan amounts | at or below 90% LTV | 0.50% | 11 years |
| Standard base loan amounts | above 90% to 95% LTV | 0.50% | mortgage term |
| Standard base loan amounts | above 95% LTV | 0.55% | mortgage term |
| Larger base loan amounts | at or below 90% LTV | 0.70% | 11 years |
| Larger base loan amounts | above 90% to 95% LTV | 0.70% | mortgage term |
| Larger base loan amounts | above 95% LTV | 0.75% | mortgage term |
Refinances: rate-and-term to 97.75% loan-to-value on a home occupied for the past year; cash-out to 80% after twelve months of ownership and occupancy; streamline refinances of an existing FHA loan without an appraisal. Sellers and other interested parties may contribute up to 6% of the price toward closing costs; the entire minimum investment may be a gift.
Current FHA snapshot · updated October 1, 2026 · owner-occupied principal residences, one to four units · county loan limits apply — ask a Lendmire loan officer for the limit where you are buying · FHA loans are assumable · Lendmire is not affiliated with FHA or HUD.
Informational only; not a commitment to lend, an approval, or a quote. Every figure on this page is a program parameter read from Lendmire’s guideline source, built on HUD’s handbook, and may change without notice; eligibility, the loan amount, the premiums, and the ratios depend on the credit profile, the appraisal, the property, the county limit, and full underwriting. A licensed loan officer provides the terms for a specific loan in writing. Licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages. Lendmire is not affiliated with or acting on behalf of FHA, HUD, or the federal government. Lendmire, LLC, NMLS #2371349. Equal Housing Opportunity.
What an FHA loan is — and how the file is qualified.
An FHA file in Bellevue is built from four pieces: the minimum required investment, the decision score, the mortgage insurance, and the qualifying ratios. Each has a rule, and each rule has a reason, which the cards below explain.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s FHA loan program, or the statewide guide at FHA Loans in Washington.
The minimum required investment
Unlike a conventional down payment, the FHA minimum investment can come entirely from an acceptable gift, which is why a Bellevue first purchase can close with help from family. The investment is fixed by HUD; what varies is where it comes from.
The decision score sets the leverage
FHA reads credit through the decision score, and the threshold for maximum financing is far below conventional norms. A thin file or a non-traditional credit history is not a bar: it is underwritten manually on rent, utilities, and other payment records, with the ratios held to the base table.
Two premiums: upfront and annual
Mortgage insurance is the price of the leverage. HUD sets both premiums by schedule rather than by credit score, which is why a Bellevue buyer with a modest score pays the same premium as one with a strong score; a conventional loan with private insurance prices the score, which is the comparison worth running.
Qualifying ratios and compensating factors
Effective income is the income the lender can document as stable and likely to continue, and the ratios are measured against it. A Bellevue buyer with a modest score is held to the base ratios; above the maximum-financing score the compensating factors open the higher tiers.
This is the same arithmetic the lender runs on a Bellevue file. The moving parts are the price, which the appraisal may lower, the down payment, which can be a gift, and the rate, which the lender sets at lock; the premium schedule does not move.
Where Bellevue’s first-time and moderate-income buyers shop — and how FHA fits.
Bellevue home values, the share of households that own, and household incomes set the stage for an FHA file: they decide the typical minimum investment and the typical payment. The figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Read the figures as backdrop. Values and incomes explain why two buyers at the same decision score can see very different files: one buys at the median and qualifies on the base ratios, the other stretches to a higher price and needs a compensating factor.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Distinct Bellevue neighborhoods, distinct FHA files.
Within Bellevue, an FHA purchase of a condominium, a decades-old family home, and a newer subdivision house are three different files: different property approvals, different appraisal questions, different investment amounts.
Higher-value homes
The higher-value Bellevue file is a limit question, not an eligibility question. The county limit caps the loan amount, and the buyer either adds investment to fit under it or chooses the conventional route for the whole purchase. About 48% of Bellevue’s households rent — roughly 29,743 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Two-to-four-unit homes
Small multi-unit homes are a Bellevue specialty, and the program takes them with a higher county limit and HUD’s rules for counting the rent. The buyer’s occupancy of one unit is the condition that makes it an FHA file. Roughly 32,234 Bellevue households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 52% of all households, the pool an FHA purchase joins.
Historic districts
Bellevue’s historic neighborhoods are where FHA appraisals most often return required repairs: older systems, lead-era paint, and deferred maintenance all touch HUD’s property standards. Repairs are completed before closing or escrowed where the program permits. Bellevue counts a population near 152K within the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area.
Condominiums and townhomes
A Bellevue townhome or condominium is a routine FHA file once the project question is answered. Approved projects and single-unit approvals both work; a project with neither sends the buyer to a conventional loan. On a home at Bellevue’s median value, the FHA minimum investment comes to about $46,900 — the cash the program asks a buyer to bring before closing costs.
Established close-in neighborhoods
The Bellevue neighborhoods closest to the core hold the oldest housing stock, and the FHA appraisal reads condition as well as value there: peeling paint, aging roofs, and missing handrails bring required repairs, usually settled by the seller before closing. Median household income in Bellevue sits near $165,576 on the latest Census estimate.
Newer infill and recent construction
Infill rows and newer Bellevue construction appraise cleanly under HUD’s standards, and the question there is price: a contract near the county limit needs the limit confirmed before the offer, and a larger investment where the price runs past it. The median owner-occupied home value in Bellevue runs near $1,340,300 on the latest Census estimate.
Neighborhood changes the price and the property type, not the rules: the minimum investment, the premiums, the decision score, and the ratios apply the same way on every Bellevue street, and the county limit caps the loan everywhere in the county.
Four ways Bellevue buyers put an FHA loan to work.
A good use of FHA is one the program’s shape fits: a modest investment, a forgiving score, ratios with room to stretch, and insurance that makes the leverage possible. Four common Bellevue uses follow.
Buy on a recovering credit profile
A Bellevue buyer whose credit has recovered from a bankruptcy, a foreclosure, or a stretch of late payments can qualify once the event is seasoned under HUD’s rules and the recent history is clean; the decision score sets the leverage and the ratios follow the manual ladder.
Buy a first home with the minimum investment
For a first purchase in Bellevue, FHA pairs a small investment with a forgiving score and a ratio ladder that stretches with compensating factors; the file closes on the appraisal, the income, and the decision score.
Buy a small multi-unit home and live in one unit
A duplex, triplex, or fourplex in Bellevue is an FHA purchase when the buyer occupies one unit. The investment is the same small share of the price, and the rental income from the other units is documented toward the ratios under HUD’s multi-unit rules.
Buy a condominium in an approved project
An FHA condominium file in Bellevue adds one step to the house file: the project review. Approved projects and single-unit approvals both work, dues count in the ratios, and the minimum investment and premiums are unchanged.
Estimate the FHA payment on a Bellevue price before requesting a quote.
Estimate the payment before you ask for a quote: the Bellevue price, the down payment, the term, the rate, and the escrows are the inputs, and the minimum investment and the premium schedule come from the same guideline source as the snapshot. The result is an estimate, and the rate shown is a published market benchmark, not an FHA offer.
Bellevue FHA payment estimate
Starting assumptions reflect a typical Bellevue price and the FHA minimum investment. Replace them with your own figures.
Editable benchmark: 7.03% as of September 24, 2026 · Freddie Mac 30-year average via FRED®. A conventional market reference, not an FHA loan quote.
Illustrative starting assumptions: a $600,000 price near Bellevue’s median owner-occupied home value (kept where an FHA loan is realistic in most counties), the FHA minimum investment as the down payment, a thirty-year term at the current Freddie Mac benchmark, property taxes and insurance estimated for Washington (U.S. Census Bureau). Every field is editable.
Illustrative estimate only — not a Loan Estimate, approval, quote, or commitment to lend. The rate field carries the weekly Freddie Mac thirty-year conventional benchmark, a market reference and not an FHA loan quote; your rate is set by the lender at lock. FHA mortgage insurance follows HUD’s published schedule for the term, leverage and loan size entered; taxes, insurance and dues are editable estimates; closing costs are not included; county loan limits are not checked here. Licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages. Lendmire is not affiliated with or acting on behalf of FHA, HUD, or the federal government.
Same buyer, three very different closings.
The same buyer can often close three ways, and the structures differ more than the headlines suggest: FHA with its insurance schedule, a conventional loan with private mortgage insurance that cancels, or a VA loan for an eligible borrower with no mortgage insurance at all.
FHA, conventional with mortgage insurance, or VA.
FHA fits the Bellevue buyer whose profile a conventional file would turn away or price heavily: the leverage is high, the score threshold is low, and the premiums do not rise with a weaker score. The cost is insurance that stays for the term at full leverage.
Where FHA charges by schedule, conventional charges by score. A Bellevue buyer with strong credit and a small down payment may find the private premium smaller and the payment lower; a buyer with a modest score will not. See Lendmire’s conventional loan program.
A Bellevue buyer with VA eligibility rarely needs FHA: the VA loan carries no down payment and no monthly insurance, and the funding fee is the only program cost. FHA is the fallback where entitlement is used up or the property does not fit. See Lendmire’s VA loan program.
Where each one fits: FHA for the small investment and the forgiving score; conventional for the strong score that wants cancellable insurance; VA for the eligible borrower who can skip both the down payment and the insurance.
What to prepare for a Bellevue scenario review.
An FHA file is documented more fully than a streamline refinance; the items below are what a Bellevue scenario review typically draws on.
This is a general preparation guide, not a universal checklist. The selected lender may request additional information based on the transaction, the property, the credit profile, and the income picture. Nothing here is legal or tax advice.
Local details that can change the loan.
A few local and structural details change the size of a Bellevue FHA loan, or whether the file is eligible at all. The ones that come up most often are below.
Use these checks to keep the Bellevue file clean and fundable.
A clean Bellevue file answers three questions in advance: what decision score, what premium schedule, and whether the property is inside HUD’s rules and the county limit.
- Confirm the score: the lender’s report sets the decision score, the lowest middle score among the borrowers.
- Know the premium: at full leverage the annual premium runs for the term of a thirty-year loan.
- Match the occupancy: a family-member co-borrower who will not occupy keeps full leverage on a one-unit home.
The decision score decides the leverage
Two borrowers, two sets of scores, one decision score: the lowest of the middle scores. A Bellevue couple with one weak file is read on that file, which is why the score is confirmed from the lender’s report before anything is sized or any offer is written.
How long the annual premium runs
On a thirty-year loan at full leverage the annual premium runs for the term; it ends after eleven years only when the loan started at or below ninety percent loan-to-value. A Bellevue buyer at the minimum investment carries it until a refinance or payoff, which is why many plan a refinance later.
Occupancy and the non-occupying co-borrower
FHA loans are for owner-occupied principal residences: at least one borrower moves in within two months of closing and stays at least a year. A Bellevue parent helping an adult child can sign as a non-occupying co-borrower under HUD’s family rules, at full leverage on a single-unit home.
Ratios, compensating factors, and effective income
Compensating factors are specific and documented: verified cash reserves, a minimal increase in the housing payment, residual income, or significant income not counted as effective. The ladder in the snapshot shows which factors open which tier for a Bellevue file.
Seasoning after a credit event
Seasoning is counted from a specific date on each event, and the lender confirms it from the discharge or transfer documents. A Bellevue buyer should gather those dates before the review, because they decide whether the file can be written now or later.
From a Bellevue pre-approval to keys in hand.
From the first conversation to keys in hand, a Bellevue FHA purchase follows four steps. Here is what happens at each one.
Pre-approval
A Bellevue pre-approval is a sizing exercise: the score, the income, the investment, and the county limit. The loan officer confirms eligibility against the program rules and puts the pre-approval in writing for the offer.
Contract and appraisal
The appraisal is the FHA step that surprises buyers most: it reports on condition as well as value. Required repairs are negotiated with the seller, and a low value raises the investment; the Bellevue contract is adjusted or the file moves on.
Underwriting
The file is scored by HUD’s automated system or underwritten manually, with income, assets, credit, and any compensating factors documented. Seasoning after a credit event is confirmed from the discharge or transfer papers, and the ratios are measured on effective income.
Closing
Closing is where the premiums become real: the upfront premium is financed into the total loan and the annual premium is part of the payment from month one. The Bellevue buyer takes the keys and HUD insures the lender.
A brokerage that matches the program to the buyer.
Lendmire is never the lender. It is the broker that reads the Bellevue file against FHA, conventional, and VA, matches the program to the profile, and keeps the premium structure in plain view before the buyer commits.
Three programs, one set of numbers
A single-program lender recommends its program; a brokerage recommends the one that fits. For a Bellevue buyer with a modest score that is usually FHA, with a strong score often conventional, with eligibility almost always VA.
The premium explained before the offer
No Bellevue buyer should learn at the closing table that the premium lasts for the term. The loan officer walks through the upfront premium, the annual premium, and the duration for the leverage chosen, and shows the conventional alternative on the same numbers.
Licensed, consumer-purpose, in writing
The parameters on this page are HUD’s and the wholesale overlays’; the terms for a specific Bellevue loan come from a licensed loan officer, in writing, after the review. Lendmire is a broker, never the lender, and not affiliated with the federal government.
Trusted by first-time buyers & families alike.
Bellevue FHA loan FAQs
The questions below come up on nearly every Bellevue FHA conversation. The answers are general; the figures in the snapshot above are the program’s current parameters.
What is an FHA loan, and who is it for?
Think of it as a conventional mortgage with a federal insurance policy attached. The policy costs a premium, and it buys a smaller investment, a lower score threshold, and more room in the ratios than the agencies allow. Owner-occupied homes only, up to four units.
How much do I need to put down on an FHA loan in Bellevue?
A small share of the price, fixed by HUD and shown in the snapshot. On a Bellevue home at the median value the calculator shows what it comes to in dollars; the buyer can bring it from savings or from an acceptable gift, and the seller can help with closing costs.
What credit score do I need for an FHA loan?
The score for maximum financing is in the snapshot. More useful than the number is what sits around it: no usable score can still qualify on non-traditional credit, and a score below the compensating-factor threshold holds the ratios to the base table.
How does FHA mortgage insurance work, and how long do I pay it?
Two parts, both in the snapshot: the upfront premium on the base loan and the annual premium on most thirty-year loans. The duration is the detail to know before the contract: eleven years at or below ninety percent leverage, the loan term above it.
What is the FHA loan limit in Bellevue?
There is a county limit, and it is the first thing confirmed on a Bellevue file near the top of the market. The loan officer provides the current figure; above it the options are a larger investment or a conventional loan.
Can I take cash out with an FHA refinance?
Cash-out is a full refinance at the snapshot’s cash-out leverage, available after twelve months of owning and occupying the Bellevue home. Payment history on the existing mortgage is part of the review.
What debt-to-income ratio does FHA allow?
Two ratios, housing and total, measured on effective income. The base pair needs no compensating factors; cash reserves, a minimal payment increase, residual income, or significant uncounted income open the higher tiers shown in the snapshot ladder. Below the maximum-financing score the base pair is the ceiling.
Do I have to live in the home to use an FHA loan?
At least one borrower must move in within two months and stay at least a year. A Bellevue parent can co-sign as a non-occupying co-borrower under HUD’s family rules without living there, at full leverage on a single-unit home.
Can I combine an FHA loan with down payment help?
The FHA loan accepts approved assistance toward the minimum investment. For what is available and how it is structured, see the Down Payment Assistance program; this page is the FHA loan itself.
What does an FHA appraisal check?
The appraisal is a valuation and a condition report. The home must meet HUD’s standards to close as an FHA loan, and the value sets the loan amount when it comes in below the price.
A Bellevue FHA loan sized to the price, the score, and the ratios.
Request a Bellevue scenario review to confirm the decision score, the premium schedule, and the loan the program supports. Lendmire is a broker, licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages, and never the lender.
This guide covers Bellevue — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see FHA Loans in Washington, part of Lendmire’s FHA loan program.
Nearby markets in Washington: Seattle · Kent · Tacoma · Vancouver · Spokane
Related programs: Down Payment Assistance · FHA 203(k) Rehab Loans · Conventional Loans