The 2026 limits, the down payment and the ratios
HUD sets FHA limits by metro area. Delaware County sits in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro, which takes one limit set from its highest-median county. These are the published 2026 figures for that metro, for case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2026, and the lender confirms the current one on your case number:
| Units | Delaware County | National floor |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $630,200 | $541,287 |
| 2 | $806,750 | $693,050 |
| 3 | $975,200 | $837,700 |
| 4 | $1,211,950 | $1,041,125 |
Most of Pennsylvania sits at that floor. Delco does not, which is why $630,200 covers the twins and rows east of the Blue Route with room left over, and runs out around Newtown Square, where the July 2026 sold median was $877,000.
A 580 decision credit score gets you in at 3.5% down. From 500 to 579 it’s 10% down. Below 500 there is no FHA loan. Many lenders add a floor of their own between 600 and 640, and that floor is a lender policy, not an FHA rule.
Debt-to-income runs 31% housing and 43% total on a manually underwritten file, 40/50 with two documented compensating factors, and the automated system approves higher. On a $259,999 house in Clifton Heights, 3.5% down is $9,100. Your customary half of the 2% transfer tax is another $2,600.
What the mortgage insurance costs
FHA charges an upfront premium of 1.75% of the loan, financed into the balance, plus an annual premium collected monthly. On a 30-year loan the annual rate is 0.55% when the loan-to-value is above 95% and 0.50% otherwise. With 10% or more down it stops after 11 years; below that it runs for the life of the loan. Larger loans pay 0.20% more in each tier above a threshold HUD ties to the conforming limit, and the lender will say where that line falls on your file.
On a $300,000 purchase with 3.5% down, the base loan is $289,500, the upfront premium is $5,066 financed, and the annual premium starts around $1,592, or roughly $133 a month, falling slowly as the balance drops. Those are estimates off a round number and not a quote; the lender’s figures come off your file. The premium rates themselves have not changed since March 2023.
What the appraiser writes up on a 1915 twin
FHA appraisals in Delco have a personality, and it comes straight out of HUD Handbook 4000.1. The house has to be safe, sound and secure, with potable water under pressure, sanitary facilities, a safe method of sewage disposal, heat, hot water, and electricity adequate for lighting, cooking and mechanical equipment. No minimum square footage. Attached houses are eligible, and access to your unit cannot run through somebody else’s.
The recurring items on a house from the 1900s to the 1920s start with the three that hold up the most closings:
- Paint. On anything built on or before December 31, 1978, the appraiser notes the condition and location of all defective paint and requires repair. Defective means cracking, scaling, chipping, peeling or loose. That covers interior and exterior surfaces, common areas, stairs, deck, porch, railings, windows and doors, plus fences, detached garages and sheds.
- Electrical. A deficiency is called when the system cannot support the normal functions of the house without disruption. The appraiser checks for visible frayed or exposed wiring including the basement and garage, reports if the amperage and panel size appear inadequate, and operates a sample of switches, fixtures and receptacles. Opening the panel is not required.
- Roof. The covering has to keep moisture out and have at least two years of remaining physical life. Under that, the appraisal goes subject to inspection by a professional roofer. If the roof can’t be viewed, which happens on a flat roof over a row, the appraiser reports on the underside, the attic and the ceilings.
Plumbing, structure and the safety items
- Plumbing. Pressure, flow and waste removal, toilets flushed, hot and cold run, no leaks, and a temperature-and-pressure relief valve on the water heater with discharge piping.
- Structure. Foundation and framing get a visual. Crawl spaces must be vented, free of debris, and not damp or pooling. The attic gets observed, and head-and-shoulders entry counts.
- Health and safety. A missing or loose handrail is not named in the handbook, but it gets reported as a safety hazard under the environmental and safety section, and half the towns in this county require handrails at resale anyway.
Everything mechanical gets operated. If the house is vacant with the utilities off, the appraisal comes back subject to re-observation, so turn them on before the appraiser drives out.
The party wall, the shared roof, and the lateral
There is no party-wall rule in 4000.1 and no shared-roof rule either. The two-year test applies to the roof over your unit regardless of what the neighbor has going on. On a continuous flat roof across three rows, ask the lender how they want it handled before the appraisal is ordered.
The sewer lateral is the same story. FHA requires the lender to confirm connection to public sewer wherever that’s feasible and available at reasonable cost, and requires an onsite system to be working. It does not require a camera scope. Your township might: Upper Darby, Nether Providence, Collingdale, Glenolden, Sharon Hill, Folcroft, Prospect Park, Colwyn, Upland, Eddystone and a dozen more want a lateral certification at resale.
Who fixes it, who pays, and the two-to-four-unit case
Required repairs are listed in the appraisal, and cosmetic items are not required. The work gets done before closing, by the seller, by you with the seller’s written permission, or through a repair escrow. Who pays is negotiated in the agreement of sale, so the loan type belongs in the offer. Two weeks before settlement is a bad time to start that conversation.
It’s fine, it’s fixable. Scrape and prime a porch rail, put a relief valve on the water heater, replace forty feet of clay pipe. If the list is longer than that, the 203(k) rolls up to $75,000 of work into the mortgage itself.
FHA insures one to four units as long as you occupy one within 60 days of closing and stay a year. Three and four unit buildings have to pass a self-sufficiency test: 75% of the appraiser’s market rent for all the units, yours included, has to cover the full monthly payment. Two-unit buildings skip that test.