Your Dream. Our Privilege.

Congratulations! You’ve made the exciting decision to purchase a new home. Your next step is to contact us to schedule a 30-minute “Defining Goals” virtual (video) call or in-person meeting to discuss your home loan needs and current financial situation. Once you decide to move forward, we’ll send you a link to being your application.

As you might imagine, this is based on your unique situation. Affordability depends on your monthly income, liabilities (monthly debt), credit score, down payment, and interest rates. As your personal mortgage brokers, we have access to multiple lenders and can compare options so that you have a clear picture of your qualification and what you can afford.

These terms are often used interchangeably, however, there are important differences. A pre-qualification is an estimate of credit based on information provided by the borrower. This information is used to assess the loan amount for which a borrower may qualify. To improve buying power, it is a good idea to get a pre-approval. A pre-approval requires an official mortgage application including a credit check and a verification of employment and income in order to provide a conditional commitment for an exact loan amount. It is essentially applying for a loan without a specific property attached to the loan. This gives the borrower the ability to secure funding while searching for a home and is attractive to the seller who will be looking for a qualified buyer.

​We call this the 3 C's of lending: Credit is the borrower’s integrity to repay a loan. Character is assessed by credit history including on-time bill payment, a good credit report, length of credit history, length of current residency, etc.   Capacity is the borrower’s ability to repay the loan. Lenders will look at current income, how long a borrower has been employed, other outstanding debts owed, current living expenses, number of dependents, etc. Collateral is something of value used to secure the loan, in this case a home. Lenders assess the value of the property to ensure that it will cover the cost of the loan.

There is a common misconception that borrowers need to come to the table with a 20% down payment. While 20% is required to remove PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) from a loan, there are a number of down payment options available, with some as low as 3%.

Private Mortgage Insurance, also referred to as PMI, is a mortgage insurance that is required on conventional loans with a low down payment (under 20%).

Locking your interest rate will guarantee your rate for the lock period, typically 30 to 45 days. As the market fluctuates daily, rates will go up and/or down during the lock period, but rest assured that once your rate is locked, it will not change. This allows time for your loan to progress through the underwriting process through to closing at the “locked” rate.

​The standard loan options include Conventional, FHA, VA loans. We also offer more specialized loans for investors, business owners, doctors, first-responders, and teachers. Please visit our "Loan Options" page to see a full list of options to meet your unique needs.

PITI stands for Principal, Interest, Taxes, and Insurance. The "A" is for any applicable homeowner association dues. These combined make up your total monthly housing expense.

Think of it like a bank account and document storage that are held by a neutral third party (think Title company) during the purchase. It also refers to the account that is set up to collect funds on a monthly basis for your taxes and insurance and pays those bills when they are due.