Guides › Assuming an FHA loan: rules, fees, and timeline

Assuming an FHA loan: rules, fees, and timeline

An FHA loan can be taken over by a buyer who qualifies with the servicer and will live in the home. You keep the seller's rate and remaining term. Right now 649 Georgia homes for sale have an FHA loan from 2020 to early 2022, 254 of them under 3% (the rate from loan records on most, estimated on the rest).

See the 649 FHA homes on the map No account needed. Create a free account to save homes and searches.

Who can assume an FHA loan

A creditworthy buyer. The servicer reviews your credit and income much like a new loan, and an underwriter reviews the file by hand.
Who will live there. For loans made after December 1989, the home has to be your primary residence (or, rarely, a HUD-approved second home). Investors can't assume them.
With an SSN or EIN. Required since December 30, 2025.

What it costs

Servicer fee: up to $1,800, the cap since August 19, 2024 (it was $900), plus the actual cost of credit reports and verifications. If your credit is approved but the deal falls through for reasons outside your control, the servicer refunds half.
Cash to assume: the price minus the loan balance. A second loan can cover some of it if it meets FHA's rules: it counts in your debt-to-income ratio, gives you no cash back, and has level monthly payments with no balloon in the first 10 years. Servicers differ, so ask.
Mortgage insurance carries over with the loan.

How long it takes

HUD doesn't set a deadline for servicers to process an assumption. Closings often take 45 to 90 days, and some servicers take longer, so find out which servicer holds the loan and start early.

The seller's side

When a creditworthy buyer takes over the loan, the servicer can release the seller from liability on form HUD-92210.1. Ask that it's part of the deal; sellers often care.

A real Georgia example

4201 Cornwall Dr, Forsyth is listed at $358,000 with an FHA loan recorded in Jan 2021, at 2.625% (from the loan's public records).

$143,256cash to assume (estimate)
$998/mopayment if assumed
$483/moless than a new loan at 7.36%

Estimates from public records: principal and interest only. Confirm the balance and rate with the seller's servicer.

Before you make an offer

Ask the listing agent to confirm the loan is an FHA loan and that the seller is open to an assumption.
Get the exact balance, rate, payment, and the servicer's fee from the servicer.
Work out the cash to assume, and whether the servicer will allow a second loan.
Make the offer contingent on the servicer approving the assumption.

Questions about an FHA assumption?

Ask about assuming a loan before you make an offer: how much cash you'd really need, whether a 2nd loan is likely, and what the servicer will want from you. Free, by email, no account needed.

Talk to an assumption expert Answered by Joey Thompson, who runs Find Assumables. Not a real estate agent.

Homes with assumable loans by city: Atlanta (43) · Savannah (29) · Dallas (28) · Grovetown (25) · Lawrenceville (25) · McDonough (24) · Douglasville (22) · Marietta (22) · Evans (21) · Canton (20) · Valdosta (20) · Augusta (18). See also assuming a VA loan and finding assumable homes in Georgia.

Sources

Rules as of October 2026. Not legal or financial advice; your servicer has the final word.

Rates come from each loan's public records (HUD's FHA records or the lender's federal HMDA report) where we can match the loan; the rest are estimates from the average 30-year rate in the month the loan was recorded (VA loans usually came in lower; FHA loans landed on both sides). Balances are estimates: the original loan amount from public records, paid down to today. Prices are from the listing when we first found it; check the listing for the current price. Savings compare the same loan amount at today's average rate. Not a brokerage, lender, or advisor; confirm everything with the listing agent and the loan servicer.