California Mortgage Blog

Is a Bank Statement Mortgage Right for You?   Let's face it, it can be VERY difficult for the self-employed to get some shelter when seeking the best mortgage.  Why?  Because they face a tough choice every year around tax time: File the maximum allowable deductions and reduce taxable income as mu...

How to Rock Getting a Mortgage If You're Self-Employed!!!  Seriously!  Is there anybody who still thinks the self-employed have it easy? You know, like the song says, "they see you havin' fun just a-lyin' in the sun?"  Those of us who are self-employed or work with the self-employed know otherwis...

How to Rock a Personal Loan!!!  Since I've been a mortgage lender my entire professional career, the idea of borrowing a few dollars without having to undergo the home loan process intuitively strikes me as strange.  But, there are some situations for which a personal loan --- that is, one that i...

How to Buy a House With an Affordable Mortgage  Mama mia!  If I've said it once, I'll say it a thousand times:  You don't need to be a poor boy from a poor family in order to get an affordable mortgage!  Yes, you do need to be a first-time homebuyer.  Yes, your income needs to fall below the AMI ...

How to Buy a House When You Have Bad Credit  It can be a real jungle out there if you're trying to buy a home and get a mortgage, especially when you have bad credit.  But if you've got an appetite for instruction, I'm going to show you the ways you can overcome the stress, intimidation and fear ...

How to Get Rid of PMI on Your Mortgage  Want to drop your private mortgage insurance (PMI) payments like a pair of cheap sunglasses?  Don't know where to start?  Look, when interest rates were moving lower and property values were moving higher, the headache of canceling PMI took a back seat. And...

Does Shopping for a Mortgage Hurt Your Credit?  Everybody who makes the leap into buying a home, especially first-time homebuyers, and even those who already own a home and are looking to improve their mortgage must eventually confront the pre-approval process.  That means a mortgage application ...

How to Rock the 2023 FHA Loan Limits!!!  I ain't foolin'! Even though it seems like there's been nothin' but a whole lotta interest rate hikes in 2022, thankfully FHA borrowers, including first-time homebuyers, will see an increase to the FHA loan limit in 2023. This means that where the one-unit...

How (NOT) to Destroy Your Mortgage Approval!!!  Ever wondered about the most common (as well as lesser known) ways mortgage borrowers sabotage their own loan process?  Do they dispute credit items and try to fix their FICO scores? Do they change jobs without telling their lender or broker? Do the...

How to Rock the 2023 Conforming Loan Limits!!!  I ain't foolin'! Even though there's been a whole lotta interest rate hikes in 2022.  And even though there's been a whole lotta rumbling about home values declining in some areas, the FHFA will again be increasing the conforming loan limits into 20...