As this year ends and 2014 begins, you should probably postpone your real estate investment plans until after reading the changes in progress for FHA guidelines and exceptions. Before discussing the guidelines, we should be clear that there will always be exceptions to those guidelines. For example, HUD handbook states that a borrower’s total debt should not exceed 41% of his or her income, but there are exceptions such as larger down payments and other compensating factors. Even though exceptions are available, keep in mind that the bigger picture is more important to HUD than the individual criteria.