Mortgage Blog

A construction-to-permanent loan with a one-time close covers the cost of building your home and rolls it into a permanent mortgage in a single closing, with a minimum credit score usually starting around 680 and a down payment typically running 10% to 25% of total project cost. You lock your permanent rate before the first […]

A pre-qualification is a quick, unverified estimate of how much you might be able to borrow. A pre-approval goes a step further and gives sellers a much higher credit score by verifying your financial situation and reviewing your application. If you’re ready to start looking seriously at buying a home, a pre-approval is usually what

Qualifying for a home equity loan, or HELOC, typically depends on three main factors: the amount of equity in your home, your credit history, and your debt-to-income ratio. In addition, lender requirements can vary widely, so the figures below should be considered general ranges, not standards that guarantee approval. What are the requirements for a

A non-warrantable condo is a condo that does not meet Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac’s requirements to qualify for a standard conforming mortgage. This is fairly common in vacation home markets, including parts of Florida and the Smoky Mountains region. This does not mean you cannot finance the property. It simply means you will need

BRRRR stands for buy, rehab, rent, refinance, and repeat. The basic idea is to use short-term financing to buy and rehabilitate a property, then replace that loan with long-term financing that allows you to recover a large portion of the cash you put into the deal. For this strategy to work, each stage must be

A portfolio lender is a lender that holds the loans it originates, rather than selling them to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Because it holds the loans on its own books, it has more freedom to create its own lending guidelines. For rental property investors, this flexibility can be especially helpful when conventional financing begins

A Fix and Flip loan is a short-term financing designed to cover the purchase price of a property in need of renovation and the cost of renovating it. You typically repay the loan after the property is sold. It’s important to understand how the lender calculates the loan amount and how the funds are released,

A HELOC on an investment property allows you to use the equity you’ve built up in a rental property and access those funds through a revolving line of credit, rather than having to apply for a completely new loan. What is a HELOC on an investment property? A HELOC on an investment property works much

Non-QM loans use alternative documentation to determine borrower eligibility, rather than the W-2s, pay stubs and tax returns that a standard mortgage requires. The loans are popular with real estate investors and self-employed borrowers, through programs like DSCR loans, bank statement-based loans and asset-based reduction loans. What is a Non-QM loan? A Non-QM loan (non-qualifying

If you’re shopping above roughly $830,000, someone has probably told you that you need a “jumbo loan instead of a conventional one.” That framing is backwards, and it costs buyers real money at the quoting stage. Jumbo loans are conventional loans Conventional simply means a mortgage that isn’t insured or guaranteed by a government agency,