Mortgage Blogs

The Loan Estimate you receive within three business days of submitting a mortgage application and the Closing Disclosure you receive at least three business days before signing come from the same... Continue Reading

If your down payment was below 20% on a conventional loan, private mortgage insurance is likely part of your monthly payment. It does not last forever. Federal law sets out specific points where... Continue Reading

Your debt-to-income ratio is the number an underwriter uses to judge whether you can carry a mortgage payment on top of everything else you already owe. The arithmetic is simple. What complicates... Continue Reading

Fannie Mae revised its personal gift policy on February 4, 2026, and the acceptable donor definition now reaches past the immediate family wording most gift letter pages still repeat. Federal... Continue Reading

Conditional approval tends to arrive as good news and homework in the same email. An underwriter has reviewed your file and is willing to move toward closing, but only once specific items are... Continue Reading

FHA loans carry two separate mortgage insurance charges, and one of them can follow you for the entire length of the loan. There is an upfront premium you paid at closing, and an annual... Continue Reading

For most standard home purchase loans, the lender calculates loan-to-value using the lower of the contract price or the appraised value. When an appraisal comes in below the agreed purchase price,... Continue Reading

A 15-year mortgage carries a lower interest rate than a 30-year loan because the lender is repaid sooner. Compressing the same balance into half the schedule then does two things at once: it... Continue Reading

Every deduction that lowered your tax bill also lowered the income a lender will count. Say you brought in $340,000 last year and wrote off enough in equipment, mileage, and depreciation that your... Continue Reading