Popular 1st Mortgage Products

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 FHA loans in California are a competitive loan for today’s mortgage borrowers, the option for a loan down payment (3.5%) and more relaxed lending standards allow borrowers to get a loan that they might not have received previously. FHA loans are insured by the government under the Federal Housing Administration, which is the agency within the U.S. Department of HUD. 

A Conventional fixed rate loan, as you would expect, is a loan that charges a fixed interest rate for the entirety of its duration. Fixed rate loans provide the advantage of complete stability and predictability. With a fixed rate loan, you can calculate exactly how much you will be paying over any given time interval within the duration of your loan.

Jumbo loans are conventional mortgage loans that exceed the conforming size limits of other mortgages. The limits vary by county, but they are there to enable you to buy in the Golden State. A California jumbo loan empowers you to access real estate in high-cost regions, such as Los Angeles, Napa, and San Francisco.

You remain the owner of the home.

You can sell the home or pay off the loan with no prepayment penalty

You can make payments if you like; however, no monthly mortgage payments are required.

You can receive the money in a lump sum, monthly payments, a line of credit, or any combination of the three when you choose the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM).

You have protection against declining home values because it is a non-recourse loan. That means you will not owe more than the value of your home. If your home sells for less than what is owed, FHA insurance pays the difference when you choose a HECM.

A reverse mortgage works the same way as a traditional mortgage, except:

If you decide not to make a monthly mortgage payment, interest for that month will be added to the loan balance and reduce the equity in your property.

If you decide not to make a monthly mortgage payment, the amount you would have paid in interest is added to the amount that will come due when you leave the home or pass away.

If you vacate your home or if the home is no longer your principal residence, the loan will become due and payable.

In the aftermath of the 2008 crisis, Congress enacted sweeping changes to a wide variety of industries that played a role in that financial crisis, including mortgage lending. In particular, the Frank-Dodd Act led to the creation of the CFPB. The CFPB, in turn, established rules to prevent consumers from taking out mortgages they can’t afford.

Chief among those guidelines: the Ability-to-Repay/Qualified Mortgage Rule (ATR/QM Rule), which states that lenders must make a “good faith determination” about a borrower’s ability to repay a loan before extending a residential mortgage. That includes checking bank statements, employment status, revolving debt and much more.

This rule essentially divides home loans into two broad categories: qualified mortgages and non-qualified mortgages.

For people who, for various reasons, may not fit the profile of a typical borrower, a non-qualified mortgage could present a viable path to homeownership. In either case, carefully consider the pros and cons before making a decision