Mortgage questions, answered plainly.

Every kind of residential mortgage: conventional, FHA, VA, USDA and jumbo loans, purchases and refinances, first-time buyer and down payment assistance programs, home equity lines and reverse mortgages. I also specialize in the loans many lenders turn away, such as hard-to-finance condos, DSCR investor loans, foreign national and ITIN loans, construction, bank-statement and other non-traditional income loans, and business-purpose loans.

Start with a short conversation by phone, email or a consultation request. We talk through your goals, the property and your timeline. From there I review your income, credit and assets, issue a pre-approval when you are buying, and guide you through documents and the rest of the loan step by step.

Yes. After I review your income, credit and assets, I can issue a pre-approval letter you can include with your offer. A pre-approval is not a final loan approval or a commitment to lend; final approval depends on full underwriting and the property.

Nothing you’d leave out: lenders verify income, debts and assets, and a surprise found late can sink the loan when it could have been planned for early. What to avoid is changing things during the process: opening new credit, financing a car or furniture, moving large sums without a paper trail, co-signing for someone or changing jobs before closing. If one of these can’t wait, tell me first.

Lenders mainly look at your debt-to-income ratio: your monthly debts, including the new housing payment, divided by your gross monthly income. Many programs look for a ratio around 43% to 50%, depending on the loan and the rest of your profile. The housing payment includes principal, interest, property taxes, homeowners insurance, any mortgage insurance and association dues. The amount a lender approves isn’t always the amount you’ll be comfortable with, so I also help you work back from your take-home pay and the savings you want to keep after closing. A pre-approval turns all of this into a real number.

Closing costs for the lender, title, escrow and government fees; property taxes, which in California run roughly 1% of the purchase price each year plus local assessments; homeowners insurance, and in some areas fire, flood or earthquake coverage; and upkeep, often estimated at about 1% of the home’s value a year. Keep an emergency cushion after closing, not just the minimum a lender requires.

It depends on your credit, your down payment or equity, the loan type, the property and the day you lock, so I quote it once I know your scenario, with the points and the APR alongside. Wherever this site shows a rate, it is an indicative range for qualified borrowers, not a quote. Be careful with headline rates that look much lower: the disclosure usually shows they assume discount points, a top credit score, a large down payment, a shorter loan term or fees left out. Comparing APRs on Loan Estimates shows the real difference. How to read an advertised rate.

A broker compares loans from many lenders, helps you choose one, prepares the application and manages it through closing. I work with a network of lenders, so if one says no or prices high, I can go to another.

Either by the lender or by you, never both, and the amount is set before you apply under federal rules. It is usually a percentage of the loan amount, and federal rules don’t let it depend on your rate or loan terms, so a broker can’t earn more by steering you to a costlier loan. It is shown on your Loan Estimate, so you can compare offers. Mortgage broker vs bank.

Yes. Lenders can’t refuse you or shorten the term because of your age. They look at income, credit and assets as for any borrower, and retirement income and savings can count.

A realtor helps you find, negotiate and buy the home; a mortgage broker arranges the loan that pays for it. They work on the same purchase but are licensed separately and paid separately, and you choose each one.

Paying cash, seller financing, a documented loan from family, rent-to-own or lease-option agreements, or borrowing against other assets such as a securities-backed line of credit. Each has trade-offs, and seller financing and rent-to-own especially should be reviewed by a real estate attorney before you sign.

No. Traditional loans come first, because they usually carry the best rates. I check conventional, FHA, VA and jumbo options before anything else, and bring in specialty programs only when your situation calls for them.

Borrowers with steady, documented income (such as W-2 wages), a credit score of about 620 or higher, manageable debt and documented assets are usually strong candidates for conventional financing. If one of those doesn’t fit, other programs may.

It depends on the loan and your profile. Many qualified buyers put 3% to 5% down on a conventional loan, or 3.5% on an FHA loan; VA and USDA loans may allow no down payment for eligible borrowers. Down payment assistance programs can help cover upfront costs.^*

FHA loans are often a good fit for first-time buyers and for borrowers with moderate credit, because they allow lower down payments and more flexible qualifying guidelines. FHA loans include mortgage insurance, which I will explain alongside other options.

A conventional loan follows Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines. It rewards stronger credit with better pricing, and its mortgage insurance can be removed once you build enough equity. An FHA loan is insured by the government, so it accepts lower credit scores and smaller down payments, but its mortgage insurance usually stays longer. FHA loans are for primary homes only, the property must meet FHA standards, and a condo building must be FHA-approved; conventional loans also cover second homes and investment property. When you qualify for both, I price them side by side over the years you expect to keep the loan, including the mortgage insurance, so you can see the real difference.

A jumbo loan is any mortgage larger than the conforming loan limit, the most Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will buy. The limit is set each year for every county, and it is higher in high-cost counties than in the rest of the country. Jumbo lenders each set their own rules for credit, reserves and income, so comparing several makes a real difference to your rate. More about jumbo loans.

Eligible buyers can often purchase with no down payment, and the program’s mortgage insurance usually costs less than FHA’s. Two limits apply: the home must be in a USDA-eligible area, which includes many small towns and outer suburbs, and household income must be under the program’s limit for that county. I can check a specific address and your household income against both.

An ARM keeps one rate for a set first period, commonly 5, 7 or 10 years. After that, the rate adjusts at regular intervals based on a market index plus a fixed margin, and caps limit how much it can change at each adjustment and over the life of the loan. An ARM can make sense if you expect to sell or refinance before the first adjustment. I’ll show you the highest the payment could go under the caps, not just the starting rate.

Both keep the same rate for the life of the loan. A 30-year loan spreads payments out, so the monthly payment is lower; a 15-year loan has a higher monthly payment but builds equity faster and usually costs less interest over time.

Traditional loans usually average the last two years of net income from your tax returns. Steady earnings, organized financials and a stable business history help.

Yes. Self-employed and 1099 borrowers can qualify with the right documentation. If your tax returns don’t reflect what you actually earn, bank-statement programs (usually 12 or 24 months of statements), profit-and-loss and asset-based programs can qualify you another way, including income from industries many banks won’t count, such as cannabis, music, media and entertainment. More about self-employed loans.

Yes. Traditional programs set waiting periods that depend on the event and the loan: about two years after a Chapter 7 discharge for FHA and VA loans, longer for conventional loans, and up to seven years after a foreclosure on a conventional loan. Some specialty lenders have much shorter waits and focus on how you have managed credit since. Their rates are usually higher, so we plan the refinance into a traditional loan for when you become eligible. More about credit recovery loans.

Often, yes. If you already have an FHA or VA loan, a streamline refinance can lower your rate with a limited credit review and often no appraisal. Otherwise, FHA’s more flexible credit guidelines or a specialty lender may work. Sometimes the better move is to wait a few months while your score recovers, and I will tell you plainly when that is the case.

Solid credit, enough reserves, rental income that supports the payment, and an appropriate down payment, often 15% to 25% depending on the loan.^* DSCR loans can qualify you on the property’s rent instead of your personal income.

Often, yes. Buildings like yours can be hard to finance through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA, but specialist portfolio lenders look at the specific issue, such as a large single owner, reserves, open repairs, litigation or rental use.

Many lenders make you wait 6 to 12 months. Some specialty lenders allow a cash-out refinance much sooner, and DSCR lenders can qualify you on the property’s rent.

Yes. Foreign national programs work with your passport, foreign income and assets, and ITIN programs serve U.S. residents who file taxes without a Social Security number.

Yes: lot purchases, ground-up construction for small builders and owner-builders, bridge loans, and the long-term loan when the build is finished.

When the new loan leaves you better off after its costs: a lower rate or payment, a shorter term, a fixed rate in place of an adjustable one before it adjusts, removing mortgage insurance once you have enough equity, cash for a goal, or moving out of a short-term or specialty loan. To judge it, divide the closing costs by what you save each month; that’s how many months it takes to come out ahead. If you’ll keep the loan well past that point, it deserves a close look. I’ll show you the break-even month and the total interest over the time you expect to keep the loan.

When your credit score is about to improve, since a few months of on-time payments or lower balances can change your pricing; when you’re close to paying the loan off and a new term would add years of interest; when a prepayment penalty still applies; or when you expect to sell before you reach the break-even point. If it doesn’t help you yet, I’ll say so, and I can keep watching so you know when it does.

Yes. A home equity line of credit or a closed-end second mortgage lets you keep your current first mortgage and rate while borrowing against your equity.

A HELOC is a line of credit on top of your current mortgage: you draw what you need, when you need it, usually at a variable rate. A cash-out refinance replaces your mortgage with a larger one and pays you the difference as a lump sum. If your current rate is low, a HELOC or second mortgage keeps it in place; if your rate is high, or you need a large amount, a cash-out refinance can cost less overall. I’ll compare both on your numbers.