Feds Looking at Easing Up Financing Rules for Condo Developers - CoStar Group

Feds Looking at Easing Up Financing Rules for Condo Developers - CoStar Group: "FHA currently requires that approved condominium developments have a minimum of 50% of the units occupied by owners. While having too few owner-occupants can detract from the viability of a project, requiring too many can harm its marketability, the agency said.

Through this proposed rule change, FHA is proposing to establish an allowable range between 25% and 75%. The range allows FHA to choose a specific percentage that is responsive to future market changes.

FHA is also looking at expanding the range for allowable nonresidential use.

FHA currently requires that the commercial/nonresidential space within an approved condominium development not exceed 50% of the project’s total floor area, and anticipates maintaining this as a requirement in the near term.

However, as the agency gains experience with this program, it may wish to modify this limitation and is therefore proposing to establish a range between 25% and 60%, it said.

FHA also has proposed reinstating spot approvals in unapproved condominium developments and to require condo projects to recertify their approval status every three years rather than the current two-year requirement.
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New FHA Condo Rules Expand Access to Reverse Mortgages

New FHA Condo Rules Expand Access to Reverse Mortgages: "In response to changing conditions in the condominium market, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) today proposed new rules that would allow individual condo units to become eligible for FHA financing, including Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs), an agency spokesman confirmed to RMD.

FHA is currently seeking public comments on the 43-page proposed rule that seeks to reinstate a process similar to “spot approvals” in unapproved condo developments, as well as create a range of thresholds required for FHA approval, including the minimum owner-occupants in approved condo projects and limits on commercial/non-residential space, the agency stated in a release.


The proposal, which “certainly includes HECMs,” according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) spokesman, will differ from the agency’s former “spot approvals” process, though no further details were able to be provided."



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Will you become a citizen of Asgardia, the first nation state in space? | Science | The Guardian

Will you become a citizen of Asgardia, the first nation state in space? | Science | The Guardian: "Proposals for the “first nation state in space” have been unveiled by a team of scientists and legal experts, who say the move will foster peace, open up access to space technologies and offer protection for citizens of planet Earth.

Dubbed “Asgardia” after one of the mythical worlds inhabited by the Norse gods, the team say the “new nation” will eventually become a member of the United Nations, with its own flag and anthem devised by members of the public through a series of competitions."



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