Question 1

Should I rent or buy?

Accepted Answer

It depends on three things: what you pay in rent now, what you would pay to own, and how long you plan to stay. Rent is not wasted money — it buys you a roof and flexibility. But none of it comes back. A mortgage payment is different: part of every payment pays down what you owe, and that part quietly becomes your share of the house.

Time is the tiebreaker. Buying has real costs up front, so owning usually needs a few years in the home to pull ahead. Staying put for a good while? Buying usually wins. Moving in a year or two? Renting usually wins, and there is no shame in that answer.

Question 2

How much money do I need saved before I start?

Accepted Answer

More than the down payment — that is the short, honest answer. You need three buckets: the down payment itself, the closing costs, and a cushion left over after closing for the surprises every house eventually serves up. A lender will want to see that cushion too; it is called reserves, and it tells the underwriter you can weather a bad month.

You do not need to have every bucket full before you talk to a lender. A good first conversation tells you how far your savings actually go and what target to aim at. Plenty of buyers start that conversation a year early, and they buy better for it.

Question 3

What counts as a "first-time buyer"?

Accepted Answer

It does not mean you have never owned anything, anywhere, ever. For most programs, a first-time buyer is someone who has not owned a home in the past three years. That three-year definition is a program rule, and it is why so many people who owned long ago qualify as first-time buyers all over again.

Why it matters: many assistance programs and favorable loan options are reserved for first-time buyers. If you are not sure whether you count, ask before you count yourself out — this is one of the most common wrong assumptions I hear.

Question 4

I owned a home years ago — can I be a first-time buyer again?

Accepted Answer

Very likely, yes. Under the three-year definition most programs use, if you have not owned a home in the past three years, you generally count as a first-time buyer again — with the program options that come with that status.

The details vary by program, and a few have their own wrinkles, so this is worth a direct question to your lender before you shop. But do not walk in assuming your old house disqualifies you. In most cases, it does not.

Question 5

Do I need perfect credit to buy a home?

Accepted Answer

No. Perfect credit is not the price of admission, and waiting until your credit is flawless is one of the most expensive delays a buyer can choose. Different loan types are built for different credit pictures, and lenders look at the whole file — income, debts, savings, and payment history — not one number in isolation.

What lenders do need to see is a pattern: bills paid on time, balances under control, and no recent habit of missed payments. A rough patch years ago, followed by steady on-time payments since, reads very differently to an underwriter than the same rough patch last spring. If your credit needs work, the fix is usually time plus on-time payments — and a lender can tell you exactly what to work on first.

Question 6

How much house can I afford?

Accepted Answer

There are two answers, and only one of them matters. The first is the most a lender would approve — a ceiling worked out from your income and debts. The second is the payment you can carry comfortably while still eating out occasionally, fixing a car, and sleeping at night. Buy to the second number.

Remember that the payment is not just the loan. Taxes, homeowners insurance, and sometimes association dues ride along with it, and maintenance shows up whether you budget for it or not. Mixing up "approved for" and "comfortable with" is how good people end up house-poor. Run both numbers before you shop, and shop to the comfortable one.

Question 7

What is debt-to-income ratio and why do lenders care?

Accepted Answer

Debt-to-income ratio — DTI — is a simple comparison: your monthly debts divided by your monthly income, before taxes. Lenders look at the debts that show up as monthly obligations: car payments, student loans, credit card minimums, and the new housing payment itself. Groceries, utilities, and gas do not count, however real they feel.

Lenders care because DTI answers the only question that really matters to them: after your debts are paid, is there enough left to carry this house without strain? It is not a judgment on how you live. It is arithmetic. And it is useful arithmetic for you too — if the ratio is tight, paying down one revolving balance before you apply can change the picture more than almost anything else.

Question 8

What's the difference between pre-qualification and pre-approval?

Accepted Answer

A pre-qualification is a conversation. You tell a lender your income, debts, and savings, and the lender gives you a rough estimate based on what you said. Nothing is verified. It is a useful first step and worth about as much as the paper it is not printed on.

A pre-approval is verification. Your credit is pulled, your documents are reviewed, and the numbers are checked against the guidelines. Sellers know the difference. In a competitive market, an offer with a real pre-approval behind it carries weight that a pre-qualification letter simply does not.

A word on that credit pull: the early look can be a soft pull — no impact on your credit reports — and a soft pull is usable for an automated approval, so your file can be run through the underwriting system without a hard inquiry. A hard pull is required at the time of application. Stay on soft pulls until you're actually ready to apply, with one honest trade-off: if something pops up on your credit in between, the picture can change. Once a hard report is pulled, it is good for 100 days on a conventional loan and 120 days on government loans (FHA, VA, USDA).

Question 9

What paperwork does a pre-approval take?

Accepted Answer

Expect to document four things: who you are, what you earn, what you own, and what you owe — plus authorization to pull your credit. In my office, that breaks down like this:

Who you are: identification. What you earn: recent pay stubs and W-2s. If you do not have your W-2s, you can provide IRS wage and income transcripts instead — pulled free from the IRS "Get Transcript" page at irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript. If any of your income is variable — overtime, bonus, or other variable pay — year-end pay stubs from the last 2 years are invaluable, because they show what that pay actually looks like over full years. What you own: 1 month of bank statements. I normally run Freddie Mac, and Freddie and all government loans need just 1 month; only a Fannie Mae conventional file needs 2 months. For assets, you can also skip the paper chase — ask me to send you an AccountChek link and verify your assets directly through it. Tax returns: normally, you do not need one. A tax return is needed only if you have business income, you own investment properties, or you have Social Security income. Self-employed buyers are the exception: 2 years of tax returns — unless you have been self-employed for 5 years and the loan is conventional, in which case only the most recent 1 year is needed.

A shortcut that skips a step: pull your own IRS transcripts, free, before you apply. Go to https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript, sign in with ID.me, and two of them download immediately as PDFs. The wage and income transcript is usable instead of W-2s — usually just the most recent year's is necessary — and the tax return transcript is usable instead of tax returns. Why it matters: underwriting normally has to order transcripts during the loan process and wait for them to come back. Hand yours over ready, and that step is already done.

None of this is the lender being nosy. Every document answers a question the underwriter is required to ask. Getting it together before you shop is the single easiest way to make the whole process faster and calmer.

Question 10

How long does a pre-approval last?

Accepted Answer

Typically a few months — the exact window varies by lender, because the credit pull and the documents behind it go stale. Income documents age, bank statements age, and a credit report pulled in spring is not evidence about your debts in the fall.

If yours expires while you are still shopping, refreshing it is usually simple: updated documents, a fresh look at credit, and you are back in business. The mistake is assuming an old letter still speaks for you. If your shopping runs long, ask your lender to keep it current rather than discovering the problem with an offer on the table.

One hard limit inside that window: the credit report itself. Once a hard report is pulled, it is good for 100 days on a conventional loan and 120 days on government loans (FHA, VA, USDA) — run past that and the credit gets pulled again. The early look, before application, can be a soft pull instead: no impact on your reports, and still usable for an automated approval run.

Question 11

Which loan is right for me — conventional, FHA, VA, or USDA?

Accepted Answer

Each type was built for a different buyer. Conventional loans are the broad standard and reward stronger credit and larger down payments. Government-backed options exist for buyers they were designed to serve: FHA loans are a common path for buyers rebuilding credit or starting with less saved; VA loans serve eligible veterans, service members, and certain surviving spouses; USDA loans serve eligible buyers in qualifying rural areas.

There is no universally "best" one — there is the one your file fits best, at a total cost that makes sense. A good lender lays the options you actually qualify for side by side and shows you the trade-offs in plain terms, including mortgage insurance and how long it lasts. If a lender pushes one product without explaining the others, that tells you something.

One fact buyers get wrong: multi-unit homes. If you will live in one unit, an owner-occupied 2–4 unit home can be bought with as little as 5% down on a conventional loan — the Fannie Mae rule since November 2023, run through the automated approval. And if a home needs work, renovation loans exist — Fannie Mae's HomeStyle, for example — that roll the purchase and the rehab into one loan, with low-down-payment options for eligible first-time buyers.

A VA practicality, while we're here: a VA loan runs on a Certificate of Eligibility — the VA's proof that you've earned the benefit. Request it on your own and it can take weeks to arrive. Bring me your DD Form 214 and I can usually pull the certificate in about 48 hours. Same document, much shorter wait.

Question 12

What credit score do lenders actually look at?

Accepted Answer

Not the one in your banking app. Mortgage lenders pull their own versions of your credit scores from the credit bureaus, using scoring models built for mortgage lending. Those scores often differ — sometimes noticeably — from the consumer score you see for free.

When more than one borrower or bureau is involved, lenders work from the reports as a set, typically relying on a middle or representative score rather than your highest one. The practical takeaway: treat your app score as a weather report, not the forecast your loan will be priced on. The lender's pull is the one that counts, and a pre-approval is how you find out where you really stand.

Question 13

What actually moves my credit score?

Accepted Answer

Five things, in plain order of weight. Paying on time, every time — this is the big one, and there is no trick that substitutes for it. How much of your available credit you are using — lower balances relative to your limits read better. How long your accounts have been open. Whether you have opened a lot of new credit recently. And the mix of credit you carry.

What does not help: carrying a balance and paying interest on it. That builds interest, not credit. Pay on time, keep balances modest, do not open new accounts in the run-up to buying, and give it time. Scores reward boring, and boring is exactly what an underwriter wants to see.

Question 14

Does checking my own credit hurt it?

Accepted Answer

No. Checking your own credit — pulling your reports and scores yourself — is a soft inquiry, and it has no effect on your score at all. You can review your full reports free at AnnualCreditReport.com, and you should: errors are common, and an error you find today is one that is not ambushing your loan application later.

What can affect a score is a hard inquiry, which happens when a lender pulls your credit for an application. Even then, mortgage shopping is treated sensibly: multiple mortgage inquiries in a short window are generally grouped as one shopping event by the scoring models. Check your own reports freely. When it is time for lenders to pull, do your shopping in a focused window.

One more distinction: a lender's early look can be a soft pull — no impact on your reports — and a soft pull is still usable for an automated approval. The hard pull is required at the time of application, and once pulled, a hard credit report is good for 100 days on a conventional loan and 120 days on government loans (FHA, VA, USDA).

Question 15

How much do I need for a down payment?

Accepted Answer

Less than the old rule of thumb most people grew up hearing — and the right answer depends on the loan type, the program, and your file. Some paths are built for buyers starting with a modest down payment, and eligible buyers using certain programs may need little or none of their own for the down payment itself. Others reward a larger down payment with better terms and lower ongoing costs.

What I tell every buyer: a bigger down payment is a tool, not a virtue test. Sometimes it is smarter to put less down and keep a real cushion in the bank, because a house with no emergency fund behind it is a fragile thing. Run it both ways with your lender and look at the whole picture — cash to close, monthly carrying cost, and what is left in reserve.

Question 16

What are closing costs?

Accepted Answer

Closing costs are the fees and prepaid items it takes to actually create the loan and transfer the home — separate from the down payment, and the surprise that catches first-time buyers who budgeted only for the down payment. They cover things like the lender's processing and underwriting work, the appraisal, title search and title insurance, recording with the county, and prepaid items such as homeowners insurance and property tax escrows.

You will see them itemized twice: estimated on the Loan Estimate early in the process, and finalized on the Closing Disclosure before you sign. Compare them line by line — that comparison is one of the best protections the law gives you, and it is covered in the Process section of this list.

Question 17

What's earnest money?

Accepted Answer

Earnest money is a good-faith deposit you put down when your offer is accepted. It tells the seller you are serious — serious enough to put money at risk while the sale moves forward. It is held by a third party, not handed to the seller to spend.

It is not an extra cost. At closing, your earnest money is credited toward what you owe — it becomes part of your down payment and closing funds. Whether you could get it back if the deal falls apart depends on your contract and its contingencies, which is exactly why those contingencies matter (see the Shopping and Offers section).

Question 18

How much cash do I need beyond the down payment?

Accepted Answer

Plan for three more piles beyond the down payment. Closing costs, covered in this section. Prepaid items and escrow deposits — insurance and taxes collected up front so your escrow account starts funded. And reserves: money still in your accounts after closing, which lenders like to see and life insists on.

Then there is the pile nobody mentions at the signing table: moving, utility deposits, a lock change, and whatever the house asks for in its first month. Buyers who arrive at closing with every last dollar committed are one water heater away from a bad week. Leave yourself a cushion — your future self, standing in a flooded utility room, thanks you.

Question 19

Can my family give me money for the down payment?

Accepted Answer

Often, yes — gift funds from family are a normal, accepted part of many home purchases. What matters is that the money is genuinely a gift, not a loan in disguise, and that its move into your account can be documented. Tell your lender early if a gift is part of your plan, before the money moves, so it is handled in the open from the start.

Why the care? A "gift" that secretly has to be repaid is really another debt, and it changes what you can afford. Done in the open and documented as you go, gifts are routine. Done backwards — money first, explanations later — they become one of the most avoidable headaches in a file.

Question 20

Why do lenders care where my deposits came from?

Accepted Answer

Because the lender has to know the money is really yours — and not a loan in disguise, and not money that appeared from nowhere. Underwriting rules require large or unusual deposits in your statements to be sourced: paper-trailed back to where they came from, whether that is savings, a bonus, the sale of something, or a gift from family.

This is where "mattress money" stops files cold. Cash that sat in a drawer for years may be honestly yours, but if it cannot be documented, the underwriter cannot count it. The fix is timing: deposit and document money well before you apply, keep statements clean and boring in the run-up, and never move large sums between accounts without telling your lender first. And if gathering statements is the hassle, ask me to send you an AccountChek link — your assets can be verified directly through it instead.

Question 21

What is PMI, in plain English?

Accepted Answer

PMI — private mortgage insurance — is insurance that protects the lender, not you, if a loan with a smaller down payment goes bad. You pay for it, typically as part of your monthly payment, and in exchange the lender is willing to make the loan in the first place. Think of it as the toll that lets buyers cross the bridge before they have saved a large down payment.

It is not forever. On the loans that carry it, PMI generally comes off once you have built enough equity in the home — and the rules for removing it differ by loan type, which is worth asking about before you choose a loan, not after. Government-backed loans use their own form of mortgage insurance, with its own rules and duration. Ask your lender to show you, for each option, what the insurance costs and when it ends.

Question 22

What are points and lender credits?

Accepted Answer

They are two ends of the same trade. Points are an optional up-front fee paid at closing in exchange for adjusted loan pricing — paying more now to change the ongoing cost. Lender credits run the trade the other way: the lender covers part of your closing costs in exchange for adjusted pricing the other direction.

Neither is good or bad on its own. The right answer depends on how long you will keep the loan: a trade that pays off over many years can be a poor deal if you will move or refinance soon, and a credit that cuts your cash to close can be smart if cash is your constraint. Ask your lender to show both versions side by side, with the break-even point in plain sight, and decide with your timeline — not with a sales pitch.

Question 23

Are there programs that help with the down payment?

Accepted Answer

Yes — down payment assistance is a whole landscape, not a single program. State housing finance agencies, some local governments, and certain employers offer help that can take different shapes: assistance that is repaid over time, assistance that is deferred, and in some programs assistance that can be forgiven when its conditions are met. Connecticut buyers have a notable one — CHFA — covered in its own section next.

The honest fine print: assistance almost always comes with conditions. Eligibility rules, income and purchase-price limits, a required homebuyer education class, and the requirement that the home be your primary residence are all common. Assistance also has to pair with an eligible first mortgage through an approved lender. None of that makes it a bad deal — it makes it a program, and programs have gates. A lender who works with these programs can check your eligibility before you fall in love with a house.

Question 24

What is CHFA?

Accepted Answer

CHFA is the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority — the state's housing finance agency. It does not lend to you from a storefront. Instead, CHFA offers first mortgages through a network of CHFA-approved lenders, under CHFA's program rules, aimed at helping Connecticut buyers — especially first-time buyers — purchase a home they will live in.

Its best-known companion piece is down payment assistance (the DAP, next entry), which is designed to work together with a CHFA first mortgage. If you are buying in Connecticut, CHFA belongs on the list of options your lender walks through with you — eligibility is checked against CHFA's limits, and not every buyer or every home will fit.

Question 25

Can I really buy a home in Connecticut with no money down?

Accepted Answer

For eligible Connecticut first-time buyers, a CHFA loan can offer 100% financing when it is combined with the available down payment assistance program options. Income limits and restrictions apply.

Here is how that works in plain terms. The CHFA first mortgage covers the home. The assistance — a second loan through the Down Payment Assistance Program — covers the required down payment, and its funds can also go toward closing costs. Put together, an eligible buyer may not need down payment cash of their own to complete the purchase.

"Can offer" is the honest phrasing, and it matters. You must qualify for the CHFA first mortgage, be able to repay both loans, meet the income and sales-price limits, and complete the required homebuyer education. No money down also does not mean no money at all — moving, deposits, and a starter cushion still come out of your pocket. Treat 100% financing as a door worth checking, not a promise anyone can make before seeing your file. Income limits and restrictions apply.

Question 26

What is CHFA's Down Payment Assistance Program (DAP)?

Accepted Answer

The DAP is CHFA's Down Payment Assistance Program — a second loan that sits alongside your CHFA first mortgage. It covers the required down payment, and its funds can also be used toward closing costs. It exists for exactly the buyer CHFA was built for: someone who can carry the monthly obligation but has not been able to save the up-front cash.

It is a real loan, not a grant, and you must be able to repay both the first mortgage and the DAP loan. Paired with the CHFA first mortgage, the DAP is the piece that can offer 100% financing to eligible first-time buyers. Income limits and restrictions apply.

Question 27

Who qualifies for CHFA, and what are the limits?

Accepted Answer

Start with the first-time buyer definition: for CHFA, a first-time homebuyer is someone who has not owned a home in the past three years. That requirement is waived for buyers purchasing in federally designated targeted areas. The home must be your primary residence — the place you actually live.

Then the limits, and there are two of them. Your household income must be within CHFA's limits, and the home's sales price must be within CHFA's limits. Both limits vary by town and by household size, so there is no single statewide number anyone can honestly quote you in a paragraph — your town and your household decide which line applies to you — check chfa.org for the current limits.

Connecticut buyers should also know Time To Own, CHFA's forgivable down payment help. It provides up to $25,000 — up to $18,750 for households between 80% and 100% of area median income, and it is not available above 100% of area median income — at 0% interest with no payments, forgiven 10% per year over 10 years. It requires 3 consecutive years of Connecticut residency, documented with 3 years of tax returns or transcripts — and transcripts are the fast way to have them ready. Pull free tax return transcripts from the IRS at https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript: sign in with ID.me and they download immediately as PDFs, standing in for the returns themselves.

Two more requirements round it out. You must qualify for a CHFA first mortgage through a CHFA-approved lender, and demonstrate you can repay both loans if you use the DAP. And before closing, you must complete a free homebuyer education class. Income limits and restrictions apply — a CHFA-approved lender can check your exact eligibility, and that check costs you nothing but a conversation.

Question 28

How do I compare two lenders honestly?

Accepted Answer

Compare the same loan, on paper, on the same day. Every lender must give you a Loan Estimate in a standard format — that format exists precisely so you can lay two of them side by side. Compare the full picture: the loan's pricing terms and the total closing costs, section by section, not just the one shiny number in the advertisement.

Watch for the classic distortions: costs that quietly moved from one section to another, services one lender left out of the estimate, and "credits" that are really pricing trades. Ask each lender the same questions: What is locked, what is not, and what would change this estimate? Then weigh the unprintable part — whether the lender answers your questions straight and returns your calls. The cheapest estimate from someone who cannot close on time is not cheap.

Question 29

What's the difference between a home inspection and an appraisal?

Accepted Answer

Different people, different jobs, different bosses. A home inspection is for you. An inspector you hire examines the home's condition — structure, roof, systems, safety — and tells you what you are really buying, including what will need money soon. It protects your decision.

An appraisal is for the lender. A licensed appraiser estimates the home's market value, mostly by comparing it with similar recent sales, so the lender knows the property supports the loan. The appraiser is not checking whether the furnace will make it through winter, and the inspector is not setting the value. Skipping the inspection because "the bank is sending an appraiser anyway" is one of the most expensive misunderstandings in home buying.

Question 30

What contingencies protect me in an offer?

Accepted Answer

A contingency is a condition in your contract that lets you walk away — with your earnest money protected, when the contract is followed — if the condition is not met. The three that protect buyers most often: an inspection contingency, so a serious defect found on inspection gives you a way out or a basis to renegotiate; an appraisal contingency, so you are not forced to complete a purchase far above the appraised value; and a financing contingency, so a genuine failure of the loan does not cost you the deal and your deposit.

Contingencies are protection with a price: in a competitive market, an offer with fewer conditions can look stronger to a seller. That trade — protection versus competitiveness — is a decision to make deliberately with your agent and lender, never by default and never just to win a bidding war you will regret winning.

Question 31

What happens if the appraisal comes in low?

Accepted Answer

First, breathe. A low appraisal means the appraiser's value came in below the agreed price, and the lender will lend against the appraised value, not the contract price. Nobody has to panic, and the deal is not automatically dead — but the gap has to be resolved somehow.

The usual options: renegotiate the price with the seller; meet somewhere in the middle with additional cash from you, if you have it and choose to; challenge the appraisal with genuinely comparable sales the appraiser may have missed; or, if your contract has an appraisal contingency, walk away under its protection. What you should not do is cover a large gap with cash you needed for reserves without thinking hard about it. Sometimes the appraisal is the market telling you something worth hearing.

Question 32

How long does it take from offer to keys?

Accepted Answer

Plan on roughly a month to six weeks for a typical purchase, and treat that as a planning range, not a promise. The timeline is a relay: application and disclosures, processing and verification, the appraisal, underwriting and its conditions, final approval, closing documents, and signing. Each leg can move quickly or stall, usually over paperwork.

What speeds it up is unglamorous: documents delivered complete and early, questions answered the same day, and no surprises introduced mid-process. What slows it down is also unglamorous: missing pages, new debts, large unexplained deposits, and sellers or appraisers on their own schedules. Your contract sets a closing date — a good team works backwards from it from day one.

Question 33

What is the Loan Estimate?

Accepted Answer

The Loan Estimate is a standard, lender-issued document you receive early in the process — within a few business days of your application, by rule. It lays out your loan in a fixed format: the loan terms, the projected payments, and an itemized estimate of your closing costs, including which services you can shop for yourself.

Read it like it matters, because it does. Some figures on it are tightly limited in how much they can grow by closing, some can change within a set tolerance, and some are estimates that can move — the document itself tells you which is which. Keep every Loan Estimate you receive. Comparing it against the Closing Disclosure at the end is how you verify you got the deal you were quoted.

Question 34

What is the Closing Disclosure, and what's the 3-day rule?

Accepted Answer

The Closing Disclosure is the final, itemized statement of your loan — the actual terms and the actual costs, in the same standard format as the Loan Estimate so you can compare them line by line. It replaces estimates with finals, and it is the last document to study carefully before money moves.

The 3-day rule is a legal protection built around it: you must receive the Closing Disclosure at least 3 business days before closing, so you have a genuine window to review it, compare it with your Loan Estimate, and ask questions. Certain major changes after it is issued — to the loan's core pricing terms or product, for example — restart a new 3-business-day window. Use the time. A surprise found in that window is an inconvenience; the same surprise found at the signing table is a crisis.

Question 35

What does an underwriter actually do?

Accepted Answer

Start with how the decision actually gets made in my shop: your file runs through an automated underwriting system — the agencies' guidelines, built into software — and the system makes the call. The underwriter's job is to verify that what the system approved is real and documented: income, employment, credit, savings, debts, the property, the appraisal — each piece documented and fitting the rules for your loan type.

What comes back is usually a conditional approval: approved, subject to a list of conditions — a missing document here, an explanation there, a verification to complete. That is not rejection; that is the process working. And if the system does not approve a file, there is no hand-underwritten side door around it — not in my shop. The way forward is to fix what the system flagged — credit, reserves, documentation, ratios — and run it again. I trained as an underwriter, and I will tell you the secret: nobody in that chain is looking for reasons to kill your loan. They are looking for a file documented well enough that they never have to think about it again. Give them boring and complete, and they are happy people.

Question 36

What should I NOT do while my loan is in process?

Accepted Answer

Freeze your financial life as it was the day you applied. The loan was approved on a snapshot — your job, your debts, your balances — and anything that changes the snapshot can change the decision. The classic ways buyers sink their own loans:

Do not buy a car, finance furniture, or open any new credit account — yes, even the store card offered at the register. Do not make large deposits that are not your regular pay, and do not move money between accounts, without telling your lender first. Do not change jobs, go self-employed, or cut your hours without a conversation with your lender first. Do not close old credit accounts or pay off a debt unless your lender tells you to, in writing. Do not miss a payment on anything. Late payments during processing are the fastest self-inflicted wound there is.

If life forces a change — and sometimes it does — call your lender before it happens, not after. Most changes can be documented if they are known. Surprises are what kill files.

Question 37

What is escrow?

Accepted Answer

Escrow is a holding arrangement, and the word gets used for two holding arrangements in a purchase. During the transaction, a neutral third party holds funds — like your earnest money — until the conditions of the sale are met. After closing, escrow is the account your loan servicer keeps alongside your mortgage.

That second one is the one you will live with. Part of each monthly payment goes into escrow to pay your property taxes and homeowners insurance when they come due, so those large bills are collected gradually instead of ambushing you once or twice a year. The account is reviewed periodically and the amount collected can be adjusted as taxes and insurance change — which is why a payment can change over the years even when the loan itself is fixed.

Question 38

What is title insurance and why do I need it?

Accepted Answer

Before you buy, a title search examines the public record of the property: who has owned it, what liens or claims attach to it, whether the seller actually has the right to sell it to you. Title insurance then protects against defects in that history that a search could not surface — a forged signature generations back, an heir nobody knew about, a recording error at the courthouse.

There are typically two policies. The lender's policy protects the lender's interest and is generally required. The owner's policy protects yours — your equity, your right to be there — and it is the one buyers are tempted to skip because nothing has gone wrong yet. Title problems are rare, but they are the kind of rare that involves lawyers and your right to own your home. That is not the line item to economize on.

Question 39

When do I have to have homeowners insurance?

Accepted Answer

Before closing — lined up ahead of time, not the morning of. Your lender will require evidence that the home is insured effective from closing, because the property is the loan's collateral and an uninsured loss helps nobody. In practice, you choose your insurer and arrange the policy during the loan process, and the first period is typically paid as part of closing, with future premiums collected through escrow.

Do not leave this to the last week. Insurance can surface complications — a roof near the end of its life, a property type some insurers handle reluctantly — and finding that out early gives you time to shop. Bring your insurance agent into the process when your offer is accepted, not when your lender starts asking where the binder is.

Question 40

How do I avoid wire fraud at closing?

Accepted Answer

Wire fraud is the one scam aimed squarely at home buyers, and it works like this: criminals compromise an email account somewhere in the transaction, watch it, and at the last moment send you perfect-looking "updated" wiring instructions that route your closing funds to them. The money moves fast and is usually gone. It has happened to careful people.

The defense is dull and absolute. Never wire money based on instructions that arrived by email alone. Before sending anything, call the closing office at a phone number you obtained independently — from your earlier documents or by looking it up, never from the email that carried the instructions — and verify the account details out loud. Treat any last-minute change to wiring instructions as fraud until a human you reached yourself proves otherwise. Two minutes on the phone protects the largest check most people ever write.

Question 41

When is my first mortgage payment due?

Accepted Answer

Not the day you move in — and this surprises people. Mortgage payments are made in arrears, meaning each payment covers the month just lived in, and closings usually collect the partial interest to the end of the closing month up front. The practical result: your first regular payment is generally due on the first of the month, roughly a month or so after closing — buyers often describe it as "skipping" a month.

Do not guess, and do not spend the gap. Your Closing Disclosure and the payment information you receive after closing state the exact first due date and where the payment goes. Mark it the week you move in. If you set up automatic payments, set them up as soon as your servicer's welcome information arrives, and confirm the first one actually runs.

Question 42

Why might my loan get sold, and does it change anything?

Accepted Answer

Most mortgages are made to be transferred. The lender who closed your loan may sell the loan itself, or transfer the servicing — the job of collecting your payment and managing your escrow — to another company. It is a normal, built-in part of the system, not a sign that anything is wrong with you or your loan.

What does not change: your loan's terms. The rate structure, balance, and conditions you signed stay exactly as written; a transfer cannot rewrite them. What can change is logistics — where you send the payment, a new account number, a new website. You will get formal notices from both the old and new servicer with the details and timing. Read them, update your autopay, and keep the notices with your closing documents. The one real-world trap is continuing to pay the old servicer out of habit — follow the notice, and confirm your first payment to the new servicer landed.

Question 43

Are there prepayment penalties?

Accepted Answer

For most home loans made today, no — prepayment penalties have become uncommon on standard owner-occupied mortgages, and many loan types do not permit them at all. Paying extra principal, or paying the loan off early through a sale or refinance, is generally your right.

"Generally" is doing work in that paragraph, so verify it in your own documents rather than trusting anyone's summary — including mine. Your Loan Estimate and your note address prepayment directly. If a loan offered to you does carry a prepayment penalty, that is a material fact that belongs in your comparison of lenders, stated plainly before you sign anything. Ask the direct question of every lender you shop: "Does this loan have a prepayment penalty?" A straight answer takes five seconds.

Question 44

When does refinancing make sense?

Accepted Answer

A refinance is a new loan replacing the old one, so judge it the way you would judge any loan: total cost against total benefit, over the time you will actually keep it. Refinancing can make sense when it meaningfully improves your situation — a better overall cost picture, removing mortgage insurance you no longer need, changing the loan's term or type to fit your life now, or restructuring debt as part of a deliberate plan. It makes poor sense when the savings are small, the closing costs are large, or you will move before the break-even point arrives.

Two disciplines protect you. First, run the break-even honestly: how long until the benefit repays the cost of the new loan, and will you be there to collect it? Second, be wary of resetting the clock without noticing — a fresh long term can lower a payment while raising what you pay over the life of the loan. And a specific caution: a refinance offer that arrives as a glossy mailer is a sales document, not an analysis. Bring it to a lender who will run your real numbers — including the costs — before you sign anything.

Question 45

What credit score do I need to buy a house?

Accepted Answer

There is no single magic number — there are bands, and each band changes what is realistic:
500–579: FHA with 10% down is the only financing path. Approval is very difficult, with higher rates and fees.
580–619: FHA with 3.5% down is possible, but harder and pricier. VA may be possible — VA has no official minimum credit score; most lenders look for 600+ in practice.
620–679: FHA and VA should be workable, depending on the credit profile behind the score.
680–719: approvals get easier and pricing gets better — 680+ is where qualifying noticeably loosens up.
720–850: the ideal range — best rates and lowest fees available, maximum debt ratios, minimum down payments, and significantly cheaper PMI.

Two honest footnotes. This is general guidance, not a promise or a pre-approval: the automated approval decides each file on the whole profile — debts, reserves, and payment history ride along with the score. And the score a lender uses is a mortgage score, which can differ from the one in your banking app. Episode 3 walks through both.

Question 46

How do I build credit if I'm starting from scratch?

Accepted Answer

Start by looking. Pull your free reports at AnnualCreditReport.com so you know what is actually on them — building on a report you have never read is building blind. A score can exist with almost no profile behind it, and lenders read the profile, not just the number.

Then climb the ladder, in order:
If you have collection accounts, settle them and negotiate their removal — in writing.
Become an authorized user on a well-managed family member's card; their on-time history starts showing on your profile.
Open one easy-to-qualify starter card with no annual fee — a secured card if that is what it takes to get started.
Keep balances under 25% of the limit, and never pay 30 or more days late.
After about 6 months, add up to two more accounts.
By about 12 months of clean history, you have an established profile: 2–3 open accounts with a year of on-time payments behind them.

That is the whole playbook — no products to buy and no repair company to hire. Time plus boring, on-time payments is exactly what an underwriter wants to see.

Question 47

How is my income counted if I'm hourly, commission, or self-employed?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the kind — each type of income has its own way of being counted, because the question underneath is always the same: is it stable, and will it continue?
Salary: full salary counts, with a 2-year history of school or full-time work.
Hourly: earnings are averaged — generally a 1-year history, or guaranteed minimum hours/pay.
Commission / bonus: 1 year minimum, 2 years preferred.
Second job: generally 1 year of history (conventional) / 2 years (FHA).
Self-employment: 2 years, income averaged — but if you have been self-employed 5+ years, a conventional loan may only need the most recent 1 year.
Retirement / Social Security: usable if it will continue at least 3 years; non-taxable income can be grossed up.
Child support / alimony: must continue at least 3 years to count.
Asset-based income: scheduled withdrawals or an annuity.

General education only — guidelines vary by loan type and lender, and the automated approval makes the final call on every file. Episode 2 has the full income table, and Episode 7 covers the paperwork that proves each kind.

Question 48

How do I know my pre-approval is accurate?

Accepted Answer

Not all pre-approval letters are built the same, and sellers' agents can tell the difference at a glance. Three tells separate a real one from a dressed-up guess:

Your actual documents were reviewed. Income, assets, and credit — read by the loan officer, not just recited by you. A pre-approval built on the numbers you stated plus a credit report is a guess on letterhead. The loan officer is licensed, not merely registered. Licensed loan officers pass national and state exams — exams more than half of test-takers fail. Loan officers at banks and credit unions never take them; they only register with the NMLS. Experience. Programs and guidelines change constantly, and an experienced officer who keeps current spots the problem in a file before the underwriter does.

Full disclosure, since I'm the one recommending the test: I am a licensed loan officer — NMLS #68512 — with 25+ years in the business. Ask those three questions of any lender, mine included. The good ones will not mind being asked.

Question 49

What does it mean that a loan is assumable?

Accepted Answer

It means the loan itself can change hands. FHA, VA, and USDA loans are generally assumable: instead of taking out a brand-new mortgage, a qualified buyer can step in and take over the existing loan — its rate, its balance, its remaining term — with the lender's approval. Conventional loans generally cannot be assumed.

When you buy, there is nothing to do with this — you are getting a new loan, and its own terms are what matter. Assumability pays off years later, when you sell. If rates have climbed since you bought, a home carrying a low-rate assumable loan is a real selling point: the buyer is not just buying your house, they are buying their way into your loan.

The buyer still has to qualify and be approved to take it over — assumable does not mean automatic. But in a high-rate market, it can be the feature that makes your home the one that sells.

Question 50

When can I get rid of PMI?

Accepted Answer

If your conventional loan carries PMI, there are three doors out — and you, not your servicer, have to walk through them:

Ask at 80%. Once your balance reaches 80% of the home's original value, you can request cancellation in writing. Be current on your payments; the servicer takes it from there. Automatic at 78%. Never ask, and PMI still terminates on its own when the balance is scheduled to reach 78% of the original value on the original amortization schedule, as long as you are current. The early route: a new appraisal. If your home's value has risen, a fresh appraisal can support removing PMI ahead of schedule — but the loan must be at least 2 years old before it can come off that way. It used to be 1 year; it isn't anymore. You initiate it, you pay for the appraisal, and the servicer sets the process.

FHA loans play by different rules. On most FHA loans made today, the mortgage insurance does not drop off on any schedule — it runs for the life of the loan. The usual exit is refinancing into a conventional loan once your equity is high enough that no mortgage insurance is required at all.