3.5% down. Credit that's forgiving of the past. A down payment that can be a gift. FHA is how most Michigan first-time buyers actually get keys — and as a wholesale broker, I shop your FHA loan across dozens of lenders instead of locking you into one bank's price.
Get My FHA Quote → Run My NumbersFHA isn't a consolation prize. It's a government-insured loan designed to put buyers with real lives — student loans, thin savings, a credit ding or two — into real houses.
3.5% down with a 580+ credit score. On a $250,000 Michigan house, that's $8,750 — not the 20% your parents told you about.
Every dollar of your down payment can come as a gift from family. FHA doesn't make you prove you saved it yourself.
580+ gets you the 3.5% down tier. Scores from 500–579 can still work with 10% down. Rebuilt credit after a rough patch? FHA was built for that.
FHA lets the seller contribute up to 6% of the price toward your closing costs — double what conventional allows at low down payments. We negotiate it into the offer. See what Michigan closing costs actually cover.
Buy a duplex, triplex, or fourplex, live in one unit, and let the rent from the others help you qualify. One caveat on three- and four-unit buildings: FHA requires the property to carry itself, meaning 75% of the appraised market rents has to cover the full payment. Duplexes have no such test.
The FHA 203(k) loan wraps purchase price and renovation budget into one mortgage. With Michigan's older housing stock, it turns rough listings into right houses.
There is one number to know, and the good news is that it is the same number everywhere in this state.
For 2026, the FHA limit on a single-family home in Michigan is $541,287 — and it is identical in all 83 counties. HUD sets each county's limit as a percentage of the national conforming loan limit and raises it in areas it designates as high-cost. Michigan has no high-cost counties, so whether you are buying in Oakland County, Kent County, Grand Traverse, or Ingham, you are working from the national floor, which is 65% of the $832,750 conforming limit that applies to conventional loans this year.
| Property type | FHA limit | Conventional (conforming) limit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 unit | $541,287 | $832,750 |
| 2 units | $693,050 | $1,066,250 |
| 3 units | $837,700 | $1,288,800 |
| 4 units | $1,041,125 | $1,601,750 |
Sources: HUD Mortgagee Letter 2025-23 (2026 FHA forward mortgage limits) and the FHFA 2026 conforming loan limit announcement. Limits are reset each year and can change; I verify the current figure on every file.
For most Michigan buyers, the FHA limit is not the thing that decides the deal. Median prices across the state sit well below $541,287, so on a typical single-family purchase the limit never comes into play — your credit, your debt-to-income, and your down payment are what actually shape the loan.
Where the number starts to matter is at the edges. A higher-priced single-family home in places like Birmingham, Northville, or Ann Arbor can run past the $541,287 FHA limit while still sitting comfortably under the conventional limit, which usually makes conventional financing the better route. The multi-unit limits matter too, because FHA lets you buy a two- to four-unit property with the same 3.5% down as long as you live in one of the units — so a duplex or fourplex in Oakland or Washtenaw County can be well within reach even at prices that would look impossible for a single-family purchase.
If the house you want sits above the FHA limit, you are not out of options. Conventional financing covers you up to $832,750, and beyond that a jumbo loan takes over. Send me the address and the price and I will tell you within a few minutes which side of the line you are on and what it costs you either way.
Your credit took a hit and you've rebuilt. FHA pricing doesn't punish a 620 score the way conventional pricing does.
You have less than 5% saved. 3.5% down — and it can be gifted — beats waiting three more years to save 20% while prices climb.
Your debt-to-income is on the high side. FHA is more forgiving on DTI than conventional, especially with strong compensating factors.
You're past a bankruptcy or foreclosure. FHA's waiting periods are shorter — generally two years after a Chapter 7 discharge and three after a foreclosure, with documented recovery.
You want the seller to carry closing costs. Up to 6% in seller concessions gives us real room to structure your cash-to-close down.
You're eyeing a duplex. Owner-occupied 2–4 units with 3.5% down and rental income helping you qualify — conventional needs at least 5% down for the same play.
Eligible for VA? Stop reading — your VA benefit beats FHA in almost every scenario. Zero down, no monthly mortgage insurance.
Every FHA loan carries mortgage insurance (MIP). Anyone who glosses over it is selling you something. Here's the actual math.
You pay 1.75% upfront — rolled into the loan, not out of your pocket at closing — plus an annual premium of roughly half a percent, built into the monthly payment. With the minimum down payment, MIP stays for the life of the loan.
But "life of the loan" doesn't mean life. It means until we refinance you out. Once your equity grows — through payments, through improvements, or through the market — refinancing into conventional drops the MIP entirely.
You don't have to track any of that. Every FHA client is invited onto my Refi Watchlist — opt in and, when the numbers say dropping MIP saves you real money, you'll hear from me. That's the whole system.
Conventional usually wins when your credit is roughly 680+ and you can put 5% or more down — and its PMI comes off — you can request cancellation once you reach 20% equity, and by law the servicer has to drop it automatically at 22%.
FHA usually wins when your score is in the 580–670 range, your down payment is 3.5%, or your DTI runs high — FHA rates don't climb with lower scores the way conventional rates do.
You shouldn't have to guess. I run every buyer both ways and show you the side-by-side. You pick with real numbers in front of you.
A quote is free, there's no obligation, and we don't need to pull your credit to give you a realistic starting picture. Tell me your situation — we'll figure it out.
Get My FHA Quote → Call / Text (248) 491-8998