Resources

Learn the parts of a mortgage nobody explains

I wrote these the way I'd explain them on the phone: how the process works, what makes resort and complex-property lending different, and where files usually get stuck. No invented rates, no fine-print bait.

Mortgage calculators

Payment, affordability and refinance math you control — using assumptions you enter, not a rate I made up.

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Rates & market

Automatically updated national mortgage market data with historical trend charts, sourced from a published survey.

See market data

Loan program library

Twenty-one programs organized by how lending actually works, each with its own detail page.

Browse programs

Guides

Mortgage guides, by topic

Short reads, written for real decisions rather than search engines.

Getting started

5 min read

How pre-approval actually works

What a lender is really doing when they pre-approve you, and how to make yours the one a listing agent trusts.

Read guide

5 min read

Jumbo loan basics

Above the conforming limit, lending gets more individual. What changes and how to prepare for it.

Read guide

Specialty property

6 min read

Buying a mountain or resort second home

Occupancy, project review and rental plans all shape the loan. Here's what to sort out before you write the offer.

Read guide

5 min read

Warrantable vs. non-warrantable condos

Why two identical-looking condos can finance completely differently, and what to do when a building doesn't fit agency rules.

Read guide

4 min read

Condotel financing explained

Hotel-style resort units sit outside conventional lending. Here's how the specialty side of the market handles them.

Read guide

6 min read

Building a mountain home

Construction lending runs on plans, budgets and draws. Knowing the sequence keeps a build on schedule.

Read guide

Complex income

6 min read

Financing a short-term rental

Nightly-rental income can support a loan — when it's documented the way lenders expect and the local rules allow it.

Read guide

6 min read

Self-employed mortgage options

Tax returns are one way to document income — not the only way. Three paths business owners should know about.

Read guide

Equity & refinance

5 min read

Cash-out refinance vs. HELOC

Two ways to use equity, with different trade-offs on your existing loan, timing and flexibility.

Read guide

4 min read

Buying before you sell

Non-contingent offers win. Here are the financing structures that make one possible.

Read guide

Glossary

Mortgage terms in plain English

APR: The annual percentage rate expresses the cost of a loan including certain fees, which is why it usually differs from the interest rate used to calculate your payment.
DSCR: Debt service coverage ratio compares a rental property's income to its debt obligations. Investor programs built around it focus on the property rather than personal income.
Escrow: An account your lender uses to collect and pay property taxes and insurance on your behalf, and also the neutral third party that holds funds during a transaction.
LTV: Loan-to-value compares the loan amount to the property's value. It influences program eligibility, mortgage insurance and pricing.
Mortgage insurance: Coverage that protects the lender when the loan represents a high share of the property's value. Structures differ by program, and some programs have none.
Non-QM: Loans that fall outside the qualified mortgage framework, typically because income is documented differently. They are fully legitimate — just underwritten to a lender's own guidelines.
Non-warrantable condo: A condo in a project that does not meet agency eligibility standards, common in resort and mixed-use buildings. Financed through portfolio and non-QM lenders instead.
Points: Prepaid interest paid at closing to adjust the interest rate. Whether they make sense depends on how long you expect to keep the loan.
Rate lock: An agreement fixing your interest rate for a set period while your loan is processed, protecting you from market movement during that window.
Reserves: Liquid funds remaining after closing, measured in months of housing payments. Requirements vary and matter more on jumbo, second-home and investment files.
Seasoning: How long something has been in place — funds in an account, ownership of a property, or an existing loan — before a program will recognize it.
Underwriting: The formal review of your file against a program's guidelines, covering income, assets, credit, the property and the title work.

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