As the investors start to move back into the housing market this means that the rules for buying a home will start to change for buyers. As you are shopping for your next home be sure to work with an agent that understands the rules for financing a home that is considered a "flip" in these new times. Other wise you could be up for a big surprise during your approval of your home purchase.

The defenition of a flipped home is a home that has been purchased and placed back on the market in less than 90 days from the purchase. This used to happen frequently in the housing market and is a large part of the reason behind the housing bubble that burst a few years ago now. There have been some new restrictions placed on flipping homes in the last year that may affect whether you as the buyer want to put an offer on a flip home or not.

The first thing to know is how much has the price of the home increased from the seller to you as the buyer. If it is less than 20% then things stay very simple. While knowing this number is vital to how easily your loan will be approved is as important as knowing the number of times that a home has been flipped. Currently it can only be once. This is vital to know. For example, an investment company purchases a home at auction and then sells it. That is the flip. It cannot be sold to YOU for 90 days. If the investment company buys a home from auction and YOU buy the home from them. You may do so under 90 days.

This applies to all types of loans right now as well. So FHA, Conventional, USDA and VA loan programs apply. There are slightly different rules for the types of loan programs but for these two stipulations on flipping a home are consistent. If you keep these rules in mind while shopping for your next home you can keep everyone informed and the financing will go much quicker and smoother when all parties know if the property is a flip or not.