Rural Development loans are offered in rural areas as determined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA’s mission is to help lower income households obtain home loans at reasonable mortgage rates. USDA home loans offer many advantages to qualified borrowers.
USDA mortgage loans allow for purchase and no cash out refinances of primary residences. Some benefits of USDA are: 100% financing, no asset or automatic reserve requirements, Gifts allowed for closing costs, eligible USDA property types include single-family homes and condominiums.
USDA does have some income and property eligibility requirements. Also, even though a mortgage insurance premium is not required, USDA charges a 1% Guarantee fee and 0.35% annually to guarantee the mortgage. This fee may be financed into the loan amount.