Looking to buy a Sacramento Condo with FHA or VA Financing?

I wrote about it earlier this year, and I think it is worth mentioning again...not all Sacramento area condo communities are eligible for purchase with FHA and VA loans. I get maybe 2 or 3 inquiries per week from excited buyers who see the prices of Sacramento area condo listings in the +/- $100k range (in fact, the average condo selling price in Sacramento County for November 2010 was $102,000), however most of them are looking to make purchases with FHA or VA loans...which isn't possible with every condo community. Many condos must be purchased with conventional financing (20% downpayment) or all cash.

In order to qualify for FHA and VA loan programs, condos must meet certain criteria, and communities / entire associations must be approved by The US Department of Housing & Urban Development for FHA, or The US Department of Veterans Affairs for VA, in advance. At one point in time, there were "spot approval" processes where an individual unit could be approved on a case-by-case basis...but unfortunately those options just do not exist anymore.

So how do you find out if a condo is VA or FHA approved? There are two online tools that buyers (or sellers, for that matter) can use to look up approved condo communities. The tool to look-up approved condo communities for FHA loans is here, and the tool to look-up approved condo communities for VA loans is here. I use these tools all the time, and find them to be invaluable!