Mortgage guides, in plain English.
These are the questions we answer for borrowers every week: how much you need down, whether a refinance pays for itself, and what a lender will look for in your file. Pick a topic below, or talk it through with a loan officer.
Buying a home
Start here if you're getting pre-approved or trying to figure out how much down payment you really need.
First-time buyer? Start here
The whole path from credit prep to closing day, step by step, without the jargon.
Buying a home
How pre-approval, program choice, and closing fit together when you buy.
First-time buyer programs
Low-down-payment options, gift funds, and assistance programs compared on total cost.
FHA vs. conventional
Two common programs built for different borrowers. How to tell which one fits you.
FHA loans
Lower down payment and more flexible credit guidelines, plus when FHA isn't the better choice.
VA loans
How the VA benefit works for eligible veterans and service members: no down payment and no monthly mortgage insurance.
Refinancing & home equity
A refinance only makes sense if the savings outrun the costs. These guides walk through that math.
How does refinancing a mortgage work?
Every step from application to closing, rate-and-term vs. cash-out vs. streamline, documents, and timeline.
The cost to refinance a mortgage
What each closing cost is for, rolling costs in, a worked break-even example, and how to pay less.
Should you refinance?
The breakeven test, rate-and-term vs. cash-out, and the term-reset trap people miss.
Refinance options
Rate and term, cash-out, and streamline refinances, and who each one is for.
Cash-out refinance
How much equity you can actually access, and when cash-out beats a HELOC.
FHA cash-out refinance
The 80% limit, the 12-month occupancy and payment rules, mortgage insurance, and when another option costs less.
Cash-out for higher-rate debt
Using equity to pay off credit cards and personal loans, by refinance or home equity loan, and when it isn't worth it.
FHA & VA streamline refinance
Reduced paperwork and often no appraisal if you already have an FHA or VA loan.
VA refinance: IRRRL and cash-out
The two ways to refinance with a VA loan, and which one fits your goal.
HELOCs
Borrow against equity without giving up the rate on your first mortgage, including with lower credit.
Home equity loans
A fixed-rate lump sum behind your first mortgage, and when no appraisal is possible.
Rates & loan structure
What actually moves mortgage rates, and how to pick the loan structure that fits how long you'll keep it.
Why mortgage rates move
Bonds, inflation reports, the Fed, and how to think about locking vs. floating.
Fixed-rate mortgages
30-, 20-, and 15-year fixed loans and how to choose a term.
Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs)
How 5/6, 7/6, and 10/6 ARMs adjust, how caps work, and when an ARM fits.
Jumbo loans
What changes when your loan amount is above conforming limits.
What underwriters actually look at
Credit, capacity, capital, and collateral: what gets checked in each.
Investor & DSCR
How lenders size a rental on its rent: what they check, and how to work out the ratio yourself before you apply.
Self-employed borrowers & investors
For borrowers whose tax returns don't tell the whole story, and for investors qualifying on the property's rent.
DSCR loans
Qualify a rental on its cash flow instead of your personal income.
No-ratio DSCR loans
Options for a rental whose rent doesn't fully cover the payment.
Short-term rental loans
What evidence of nightly revenue lenders accept and how they adjust it.
Bank statement loans
Qualify on 12 or 24 months of deposits instead of tax returns.
No income verification mortgages
The routes available after a decline, depending on how you're paid.
Asset depletion loans
Qualifying on savings and investments instead of a paycheck, and which assets may count.
Foreign national mortgages
Buying US property without a US credit file, and the documents you'll need.
Non-QM home loans
Every program that qualifies you without tax returns, and how to choose between them.
Investment property refinance
Conventional, DSCR or bank statement refinance on a rental, rate-and-term or cash-out.
DSCR cash-out refinance
Pulling equity from a rental on the strength of its rent, including in an LLC.
HELOC on an investment property
Lines of credit on rentals and second homes, and when a refinance is better.
Florida & Texas guides
State-specific pages, for the costs that change the math from one state to the next.
Calculators
Run your own numbers first. Results are estimates, not quotes.
Mortgage payment calculator
Estimate principal, interest, taxes, and insurance on a purchase.
Refinance calculator
Compare your current loan to a new one and see the breakeven.
Cash-out refinance calculator
See what pulling cash out does to your monthly payment.
DSCR calculator
Check whether a rental's rent covers its payment.
Want numbers for your own situation?
A guide can only get you so far. Tell us about the property and your goals, and a loan officer will walk you through the options you qualify for. Rates change daily, and the APR you're offered depends on your credit, loan amount, property, and other factors.
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