Frequently Asked Questions
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FAQs
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Frequently Asked Questions 〰️ FAQs 〰️
What services do you offer?
We offer a range of solutions designed to meet your needs—whether you're just getting started or scaling something bigger. Everything is tailored to help you move forward with clarity and confidence.
How do I get started?
Getting started is simple. Reach out through our contact form or click Apply Now—we’ll walk you through the next steps and answer any questions along the way. We will not do a credit pull until we have a conversation!
What makes you different?
We combine a thoughtful, human-centered approach with clear communication and reliable results. It’s not just what we do—it’s how we do it that sets us apart.
How much do I have to put down?
There’s a myth that you have to put 20% down. This is not true. Many options offer much lower minimum down payments.
USDA and VA - These require no money down. In fact, with USDA, if the home appraises higher than the purchase price, you can actually add a little bit of your closing costs to your loan
Conventional - for borrowers whose income is at or below 80% of the area median income, they can put as little as 3% down. If the income is higher than 80% AMI, the minimum is 5%. There will be mortgage insurance applied to any loan that is more than 80% loan-to-value (LTV)/less than 20% down. Mortgage insurance for convention loans can be paid in a lump sum to avoid the additional monthly expense.
FHA - The minimum for FHA is 3.5%. That said, we offer down payment assistance to help offset this.
Keep in mind there are other closing costs that need to be paid over and above the down payment minimums AND that these minimums can increase for credit-challenged borrowers.
What are the differences between a prequalification, a pre-approval, and a loan commitment?
This is something that’s important for any buyer and realtor to understand because they’re often confused as being equal:
A Prequalification, or prequal, is the lowest on the totem pole. The loan officer relies on your word about your credit, income, and monthly liabilities. Then they put something together and say, based on the information available to me and taking a guess at the rates, you can buy a house priced at $xxx,xxx. A prequal does not guarantee you’ll get an approval as no information has been reviewed and verified. A GOOD loan officer will review your application to avoid putting you in a position where your loan could be denied.
A Pre-approval is what is most commonly provided by reputable loan officers. It indicates the loan officer did his or her due diligence in verifying the information you provided on your application. They reviewed your credit, verified your income, and, after careful consideration, provided a general pre-approval so you can place an offer on a home. This is not an approval; it has not yet gone to underwriting. This is based on the loan officer’s careful assessment. It is the “gold standard”.
A loan commitment indicates that the application has not only been reviewed by the loan officer, but it’s been input into a loan processing system, and at the very least, has been run through the automated underwriting system (AUS). It may or may not indicate conditional approval from an underwriter. This will also provide you with a loan estimate showing the rate you qualify for, based on your credit and debt-to-income, and what current rates are looking like.
What are "closing costs"? How much are they?
Every loan product comes with a cost. Costs vary by lender, the product you’ve chosen, and your creditworthiness. Sometimes you can negotiate with a seller to cover those fees, or if you're refinancing, you may be able to bundle them into your loan. Your closing disclosure/loan estimate breaks down closing costs into different categories. Here is an explanation of some:
Loan costs (sections A and B on the CD). These are origination fees - the fee assessed by the lender for closing a loan; discount points - an optional charge that you pay to “buy” a lower rate than what is quoted to you; underwriting, processing, and closing fees - the fees charged to review your application and get your loan to the closing table; and loan-related fees that you CANNOT shop for, which include registration fees, a flood certification, appraisal(s), verification(s) of employment, and additional nominal fees.
Loan costs you CAN shop for - these are usually only your title fees. Your lender doesn’t assess these, which is why they’re labeled as products you can shop for. Not all title companies are alike, and all of their fees vary. Shop around!!
Government fees - these are non-negotiable, firm charges assessed by your town/county/state. You will have recording fees for your mortgage (and deed, if you’re buying) and potential tax stamps or transfer taxes.
Prepaids - your first payment won’t be due for several weeks. So, you’ll have to pay some interest at closing to cover that period; you’ll also pay for your first year of insurance coverage; Depending on if your property taxes are paid in arrears or in advance, you may also have to pay some taxes at closing
Escrows - every month, assuming you pay taxes and insurance through escrow, a portion of your payment will go into an account to pay those fees when they come due. So, we will collect a couple of “buffer months” at closing to build your escrow account, ensuring your taxes and insurance are paid on time and that you have enough funds in your escrow account to cover them.
What does it mean to lock my loan?
The market fluctuates every day. Sometimes rates go up. Sometimes they go down. Sometimes we can predict what they’ll do, and sometimes they surprise us. Locking your loan means you’re content with the current rate quoted and the cost or credit that comes with it. Your loan officer completes a rate lock, letting the lender know this is the pricing we’re proceeding with. You can raise or lower your rate if you need to reduce cost or add credits, but any rate changes will be based on the pricing of your rate lock. If rates drop, for a small fee, you can do what’s called a “re-lock” to lock in the better pricing.
Do I HAVE TO have an escrow account?
Yes and no, depending on a couple of things:
Only Conventional and VA loans will allow an escrow waiver
You will typically need to have a good chunk of equity in the home. Sometimes, certain lenders will allow an early escrow waiver if a borrower has excellent creditworthiness and a favorable debt-to-income ratio
Keep in mind, you'll need to budget for your tax and insurance payments, and they will be a large lump-sum payment. Missing tax and insurance payments will trigger a forced escrow placement onto your mortgage.
Waiving escrows is a fantastic way to reduce your closing costs but it isn’t advisable or allowed for all borrowers
What score do I need in order to qualify?
and which scoring model do you use?
Different lenders and loan investors have different score requirements. You open yourself up to most options with a score above 640.FHA can go down to 580 while maintaining the 3.5% down payment; below that, you’ll need a larger down payment. VA has some looser guidelines.
Mortgages almost always use the FICO models 2, 4, and 5. If you use Credit Karma, they use a VantageScore model. So, don’t be surprised if your FICO models are a little different. I say “almost always” because only recently have some lenders started allowing the VantageScore for specific loan options, not all. For the most accurate review of your FICO scores, I recommend going straight to each bureau. Seeing scores besides the FICO 8, does require a subscription with each bureau. For that reason, I recommend only subscribing to MyFICO.
If I sign an application, does that mean I can only use you as my lender?
Absolutely not. Using a loan officer, broker, lender or brokerage does not bind you to them. You are absolutely allowed to go to another lender if you’d like. It’s very different than the real estate process.
A lot of behind-the-scenes work goes into a mortgage. So, before you move to someone else, I’d love to see how I can keep your business. We see all our clients as lifetime clients. We have done loans for multiple generations. We take care of our people. If pricing is the reason, show us your loan estimate, and we will see if we can match or beat it (or find where they have fine print). If it’s something we said or did, let us know so we can address any blind spots.
Sometimes, things don’t work out. We get it. Changing lenders can be very costly to you if you’ve already paid for a credit report and had an appraisal completed, not to mention potentially dealing with worse pricing as the market has changed from one loan to the next.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO EXCEEDING YOUR EXPECTATIONS!