When buying a home, you can put as little as 3.5% down if you have a median FICO^® Score of 580. If you have a score that low, you'll need to keep an equally low DTI.

If your median FICO^® Score is 620 or higher, you can qualify with a higher DTI. In no event will your DTI be above 57%.

Let's say you have a different type of mortgage and interest rates are falling. But when you go refinance to take advantage of the lower rates, you find your credit score has dropped.

An FHA refinance can be a good choice because of its less strict credit requirements. You can use a refinance to lower your rate. Or your loan term with a FICO^® Score median as low as 580, assuming you have a low DTI. You can also have more debt during the refinance if your median FICO^® is 620 or higher.

Depending on the amount of your home's equity, you can end up paying PMI for the life of the loan. This is on top of an upfront premium. If you're already in an FHA loan, you can save some money on your rate-and-term refinance.

An FHA Streamline Refinance allows homeowners with an FHA loan to do a rate-and-term refinance with a few special benefits. To start with, you can refinance to a lower rate.

The logic here is if you have a more affordable payment, then you will want to stay in your home. And pay it off, that is good for the FHA. You'll also usually get a lower mortgage insurance rate because the MIP for FHA Streamlines is 0.55% of your loan amount each year. Additionally, the upfront MIP is only 0.01%.

Another plus of FHA Streamlines is less documentation. Every situation is different, but because you already have an existing FHA loan, you won't need as many for them.

You must make at least six payments on your current loan before you can be approved for a Streamline. And 210 days must pass between the first payment you make on your current loan and the new Streamline.

Finally, you have to be up to date on your loan. For the purposes of an FHA Streamline, that means having no 30-day late payments in the last 6 months. Also, you can only have one payment that's 30 days late within the last year.

It's also possible to get a cash-out refinance with an FHA loan. The exception here is if the money is being used solely to merge existing debt. In that case, you only need a 580 qualifying score. If you convert your property value into cash, you leave at least 20% equity in your home.

If you're doing a cash-out refinance, you'll need full documentation of income and assets, as well as employment verification.

An FHA 203(k) loan allows you to buy a home and make renovations with a single mortgage. While it's possible to only make renovations with a 203(k) loan, this usually isn't the cheapest choice to do that.

The lowest FHA 203(k) loan balance allowed is $5,000, so you can't borrow less than this. Any home repairs or improvements you make must conclude within 6 months to stay within the loan's terms.

Some eligible projects you can do with a 203(k) loan include:

• •Replacing old or dangerous flooring
• •Making improvements to the home's modernization
• •Adding or replacing roofing, sections of gutters or plumbing
• •Making accessibility improvements for disabled people who live in the home
• •Making structural repairs and changes to the home's foundation

There are two types of 203(k) loans: Standard loans and Limited loans. Limited loans need less paperwork for loan approval, while Standard loans give you more freedom to repair your property.