Loan Programs
Ten programs, and the honest case for each — including the situations where one of them is the wrong answer for you. We are a broker and a correspondent lender, so the question is never whether we have a program. It is which one costs you least.
Conventional
The most flexible program, and the only one that covers second homes and investment property. Mortgage insurance cancels — which is usually the whole argument against FHA.
From 3.5% downFHA
Built for credit and down payments that do not fit conventional standards. Below 10% down, the mortgage insurance generally lasts the life of the loan. Worth knowing before you choose it.
No down paymentVA
No down payment, no monthly mortgage insurance, and an assumable loan. The residual income test approves borrowers whose ratios alone would not.
No down paymentUSDA
No down payment in eligible areas — and "rural" covers far more suburbs than the name suggests. Two tests decide it: the address and the household income.
Above your county limitJumbo
Above your county's conforming limit, where lender guidelines diverge most. Check the county first — you may not need one.
Qualified on rent, not incomeDSCR
Investment property financing that qualifies on the rent rather than your tax returns. It buys you a simpler file, and you pay for that in pricing — if your returns support the purchase, a conventional investor loan is usually cheaper.
Three ways, not oneRefinance
Rate-and-term, cash-out, and the streamline options most FHA and VA borrowers never hear about. A VA IRRRL carries a 0.5% funding fee against 3.3% on a cash-out.
Keep your first mortgageSecond Mortgage
A fixed second lien or a revolving line of credit, leaving a low first-mortgage rate untouched. Texas writes its home equity rules into the state constitution, and they change the answer there.
Qualified on depositsBank Statement
For self-employed borrowers whose tax returns understate what they earn. Qualifies on bank deposits instead of returns — different documentation, not less of it, and it costs more than conventional.
Age 62 and olderReverse
Draws on home equity with no monthly mortgage payment — though you still pay taxes, insurance and upkeep, and must live there, or the loan comes due. FHA-insured HECM and proprietary options above the FHA ceiling.
Not sure which one applies to you?
Most borrowers who ask us this have already decided they need a jumbo, or that FHA is their only option, and are wrong about half the time. It is a ten-minute conversation and it does not need documents.