How to Find an FHA-approved Condo | 2026

If you’re buying a condo with an FHA loan, it may surprise you that not every project has FHA approval. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find a great condo to purchase with an FHA loan. You just have to know how to look, and HUD’s FHA-approved condo list is the place to start.

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, keeps a list of condominium complexes. It shows which ones HUD will and will not accept for FHA financing. To earn a spot on the list, a condominium complex must meet certain standards that HUD sets. But if a project is on the list, you shouldn’t have much trouble buying there with an FHA loan.

Check your FHA eligibility. Start here (Nov 2nd, 2026)

Basic requirements for the FHA-approved condo list

Here are some basic requirements HUD looks for when approving a condominium complex:

• At least 50% of the units must have owner-occupants. In other words, if a complex has 100 units, owners must live in at least 50 of them. Landlords can own and rent out no more than 50.
• No more than 15 percent of the owners can be more than 60 days delinquent on homeowner dues
• Generally, the project cannot face litigation about safety, structural soundness, habitability or functional use. It also cannot face other litigation risk that insurance does not cover. HUD does not count suits to collect assessments or foreclose.
• The condo complex must meet minimum insurance requirements to protect the building against fire or other calamities.
• FHA must approve the condo complex. This requires an extensive package of documents that FHA must review and approve.

Searching the FHA-approved condo list

Before you make an offer on a condo, visit FHA’s website, which lists currently approved condominium projects. Try searching by the condo’s name first. If you can’t find it on the list, try a broader search. For instance, try searching by just part of the condo’s name, or simply by city or ZIP code. Often, FHA lists the condo’s name a little differently than you know it.

If the condo you want appears on the FHA-approved condo list, make sure its “Status” reads “Approved.” The website will show condo complexes in “Rejected” status as well. Also, make sure the approval has not expired. Many listed complexes had approval at one time but have gone past the three-year approval period without a renewal.

Check your FHA mortgage rates. Start here (Nov 2nd, 2026)

Rejected, expired or missing from the FHA-approved condo list

Say you can’t find your condo at all, or its status reads Rejected or Expired. In that case, you may want to pass on any unit in that complex. The FHA approval process is not something your lender can do in most cases. Some services specialize in approving condos with FHA, but the process can take longer than you are willing to wait.

In addition, approving a condo with FHA can be expensive and labor-intensive.

It’s hard to convince a condo association to attempt approval just so you can buy a unit in the complex. The association would have to go through the condo approval steps in HUD Handbook 4000.1 (Section II.C). However, owners may be pressing the HOA representatives to seek approval for the condominium. After all, selling a condo in a complex without FHA approval can be very difficult.

FHA alternative for condo financing

If the condo development you want lacks FHA approval, you might consider a conventional loan. Some conventional programs allow as little as 3% down. Conventional loans, also called conforming loans, don’t have a public list of approved and rejected condos. Instead, your lender will send the HOA a questionnaire to complete, to make sure it complies with these requirements:

• All common areas must be complete, and the unit owners or HOA must own them.
• The budget must be adequate to pay for operating costs and reserves.
• Unit buyers must own at least 90% of the units for the project to count as established. New projects must meet extra requirements.
• In a project with 21 or more units, no single person or company may own more than 20% of the units.
• The project must carry adequate insurance coverage.

Keep in mind that the credit score needed for a conventional loan depends on the lender’s own requirements, not a single flat minimum.

To get a conventional loan rate quote or to find out more about this loan option, connect with a conventional lender here.

Buying in a condo that is not FHA-approved: Single-Unit Approval

Buying a condo with an FHA loan is a lot tougher than it once was. Before February 2010, you could buy a unit with FHA financing even if the complex lacked FHA approval. The lender would request what lenders then called a “spot approval,” which was a short questionnaire. The condo management would answer a few simple questions. For example: How many units were rentals? Did anyone own more than 10 percent of the project?

The management would return the completed questionnaire to the lender. Then the FHA underwriter would approve the financing of that one unit. FHA’s Single-Unit Approval (the former spot approval) can let a lender approve one unit in a complex without FHA approval. It has been part of HUD Handbook 4000.1 since October 15, 2019.

A Single-Unit Approval needs a TOTAL Scorecard Accept or a maximum 90% loan-to-value ratio. The project must have at least five units and no manufactured housing. Its certificate of occupancy must be at least a year old, or residents must already occupy the project. It also needs at least 50% owner occupancy, and it must stay within FHA limits on FHA-insured units. It takes more lender paperwork than a loan in an approved project.

HRAP and DELRAP condo approvals

Ok, now for some boring stuff, if it interests you! Today, a condo project can earn approval in two ways. HRAP stands for HUD Review and Approval Process. Under HRAP, FHA itself approves a complex based on a package from the condo’s governing body. That body is usually the homeowner’s association or management company.

The other type of approval is DELRAP, or Direct Endorsement Lender Review and Approval Process. Under DELRAP, an FHA-approved lender reviews the condo documents and certifies that the project meets FHA standards. Although this is the quicker option, most lenders don’t want to run this risk. Under HUD Handbook 4000.1 (Section V.C), HUD may review the condo approvals a DELRAP lender makes. A lender that does not comply with FHA requirements can face administrative action and civil money penalties (Section V.E.4).

Would you certify a condo project under risk of a HUD penalty if it did not actually meet FHA standards? Neither would most lenders.

HUD sees condos & single family homes differently

It might appear that a home is a home, whether it be a condo or a single-family home. But condos are fundamentally different than free-standing homes. When you own a condo, you own the space from the walls in. You also share the outside areas, called the “common areas,” equally with all the other owners. You partially own the sidewalk, the swimming pool and the fitness center.

Condos have their own rules and regulations that owners must follow. For instance, they may cover whether you can hang a plant from your patio or paint your door hot pink. Aspects of the entire condo complex that have little to do with your specific condo unit can affect your property. Are your neighbors paying their HOA dues? Are there faulty windows somewhere in the complex?

These factors and many more can put the marketability of your condo unit at risk. The same goes for the one you want to buy. If you default on your loan, the last thing HUD wants is a condo unit it can’t resell.

How the property affects loan approval

When lenders evaluate a mortgage application, they examine the property almost as much as they examine the borrower. A borrower may have an 800 credit score, a 25 percent down payment, and stellar debt-to-income ratios. But if the property doesn’t qualify, there will be no loan. Lenders like real estate that is similar to property around it. Say a property with the same type, square footage, bedroom count and so on sold down the street. That sale indicates a market demand for property with those features.

Lenders call these similar properties in the area “comparables” or simply “comps.” Condos generally have a lot of comps. That’s because the same building or nearby condo complexes often hold many similar properties.

In this way, a condo can be very easy to appraise and approve. But when you’re trying to get an FHA loan, the property has an additional hurdle, which is HUD’s condo approval.

The FHA & condo combination is perfect for first-time buyers

FHA loans appeal to first-time home buyers because of reduced down payments and lenient credit standards. Condos often cost less than surrounding single-family homes. That makes the FHA-condo combination an ideal strategy for a first-time home buyer to break into home ownership. That is, if the condo project has FHA approval.

Borrowers can try for conventional financing instead. However, the buyer’s financial or credit situation might make conventional financing impossible.

If you plan to buy a condo with an FHA loan, research the complex first. Check the FHA-approved condo list before you set your heart on a unit. When a complex lacks HUD approval, ask the condo association whether it already has an approval application in the works. If so, ask when the association expects approval. You may be able to buy your dream condo with an FHA loan after all.

Check your FHA eligibility. Start here (Nov 2nd, 2026)