Buying a home, financed properly.
Conventional, FHA and VA purchase financing with wholesale pricing — for first-time buyers, move-up buyers and luxury purchases.
A weak pre-approval costs people houses. Sellers and their agents can tell the difference between a letter generated off a soft credit pull and one issued after income and assets have actually been reviewed. The second one wins ties.
Conventional usually wins on long-run cost if your credit and down payment support it. FHA is more forgiving on credit and ratios but carries mortgage insurance that generally stays for the life of the loan. VA beats both if you're eligible. Which is 'best' depends entirely on your file, and the difference over a few years can be substantial.
A bank shows you its own products. I place your file with the lender whose guidelines and pricing actually fit it — which matters most when something about your situation isn't textbook.
Fifteen minutes and you'll know — including if the answer is a different program entirely.
Less than most people assume. Conventional loans start around 3% down for eligible buyers, FHA at 3.5%, and VA at zero for those who qualify. More down improves your pricing, but waiting years to reach 20% often costs more in rent and appreciation than the PMI would have.
Often the same business day once documents are in. The bottleneck is almost always collecting paystubs, W-2s and bank statements, not the underwriting itself.
A mortgage credit pull is a hard inquiry, but multiple mortgage inquiries inside a short shopping window are treated as one event by the scoring models, so shopping doesn't stack damage.
Fifteen minutes on the phone will tell you more than an hour of reading. No pressure, no obligation.