http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/business/20limits.html?_r=1&ref=business In January, Mike Rowland was so broke that he had to raid his retirement savings to move here from Boston. A week ago, he and a couple of buddies bought a two-unit apartment building for nearly a million dollars. They had only a little cash to bring to the table but, with the federal government insuring the transaction,... [more]
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/business/20limits.html?_r=1&ref=business
In January, Mike Rowland was so broke that he had to raid his retirement savings to move here from Boston.
A week ago, he and a couple of buddies bought a two-unit apartment building for nearly a million dollars. They had only a little cash to bring to the table but, with the federal government insuring the transaction, a large down payment was not necessary.
%u201CIt was kind of crazy we could get this big a loan,%u201D said Mr. Rowland, 27. %u201CIf a government official came out here, I would slap him a high-five.%u201D
%u201CWe were resigned to waiting another year,%u201D said a second partner, Michael Bedar, 31. %u201CThen we read about the F.H.A. I had never heard of it before, and couldn%u2019t quite believe it. But it was the answer to our problems.%u201D They put down about $33,000, split among the three of them.
%u201CWe%u2019re banking on real estate,%u201D said Mr. Kurland, 24. %u201CEveryone expects prices to keep going up.%u201D
Mr. Kurland and Mr. Bedar, who are employed full time, are the buyers of record. Mr. Rowland, a freelancer, will have his interests protected by a legal agreement.
Their building, for which they paid $963,000, is on a quiet street in the up-and-coming Hayes Valley neighborhood, close to fashionable restaurants they have already been trying out. The friends plan to live in the bottom unit and rent out the top. Thanks to rock-bottom interest rates, none of them will pay much more than a thousand dollars a month. %u201CEveryone should have the chance to do this,%u201D Mr. Kurland said.
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Kenneth Donohue, inspector general for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the parent agency of the F.H.A., said the higher loan limits were increasing the potential risk to the F.H.A. Last week, the agency said its cash reserves had fallen below their Congressionally mandated minimum because of the large volume of foreclosures.
%u201CIf one of these higher-limit loans fail, that%u2019s equivalent to two or three cheaper loans,%u201D Mr. Donohue said. %u201CYou have to ask yourself, was the F.H.A. ever intended to address these markets?%u201D
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