California Mortgage Blog

Can I Get a Jumbo Mortgage with an H-1B Visa? Right now, immigration is a hot topic in the United States.  Also right now, real estate is a hot market in the United States.  And also right now, at the intersection of these two, I field a lot of questions from those with H-1B visas who are looking...

Buying a Home All Cash, Then Getting a Mortgage  Back in a real estate market a long time ago and in a mortgage galaxy far, far away --- otherwise known as 2009/2010 --- some buyers needed to purchase a home with cash, then hope to refinance after they had the keys in hand.  The reason for this? ...

Asian American Support Goes Viral Often, getting the first words down are the hardest. "Writer's block."  But not this time.  So let me start by condemning the recent incident of gun violence against Asian Americans in Atlanta.  Let me take the opportunity to communicate to all Americans of all r...

It's Cool to Conform in 2021 If you know me, you know that I don't like to stick to convention.  I was the teenager who skipped college, moved to Hollywood and played rock guitar.  In my 20's, I saved up vacation time not for sandy white beaches but instead for expeditions to the harsh mountain e...

Marin County Vote by Mail Ballot Drop-Off Locations  This election cycle, there has been much disinformation propagated about voting by mail, and in an effort to help fellow community members arrive at the truth, I am providing below the drop-off locations as an additional way to submit your ball...

The Seven Real Estate Stages of the Pandemic  By now, some of us have lost a loved one, friend or community member to COVID-19.  Though if the cavalier denialism exhibited by some Americans is an indicator, there are still many who have yet to share the magnitude of such a loss.  But even putting...

What Are Credit Tradelines?  I think I've made it clear before that I find no shame in talking about how hard we work for our clients. My assistant, Jamie, and I see a good number of mortgage applications come across our desks every week and in 2019 and 2020, a high percentage of them have been f...

Can I Refinance a Mortgage on a COVID Forbearance Plan?  Back at the end of the first quarter of 2020, the president might still have wanted to downplay COVID, but many real American homeowners suddenly found themselves in dire financial straits and quickly took advantage of the forbearance plans...

Should I Keep Making My Mortgage Payment?  With so many people refinancing these days, and with the loan process sometimes crossing one or two months' time, a question we frequently get from those in process is, "Should I keep making my mortgage payment?"  The answer is a simple and clear, "Yes!"...

How To Win a Real Estate Bidding War  What's the one thing you can do to make your offer to buy a home stand out?  What's the secret sauce, the magic bullet, the key to success?   If you answered, "There isn't one," you're pretty close.  Truth is, I haven't found any singular aspect of any offer ...