Buying a first home in San Luis Obispo runs pre-qualification first, then the house, then the offer, and this page walks a first-time buyer through each step with us. It says what we will ask you for, and what costs money up front and every month. You need no documents to start.
This is the order it happens in, what you do at each step and what we do.
You fill in the application, which asks what you earn, what you owe and roughly what you are looking for. Your loan officer reads your answers and can talk you through which programs could fit your file and what each one asks of you. Any figure you shop with comes from that conversation, not from the application.
Once you are pre-qualified you know what you can offer before you choose a house. Your agent needs that figure to write an offer, and so do you.
A seller or the seller's agent may ask for a pre-qualification letter with the offer. Your loan officer can write yours for the offer you are making, so the figure on the letter matches the figure on the contract.
Once the offer is accepted the file goes to the lender. Underwriting reads your documents and asks questions; where the loan calls for an appraisal, an appraiser values the house. Requests for paperwork arrive in this stretch, and turning them around quickly helps protect your closing date.
You sign at escrow, the lender funds the loan, the deed records and the house is yours. The Closing Disclosure sets out the final figures ahead of signing, so read it before you sit down.
What the letter says, and what it does not:the pre-qualification letter page
You can start before you have any of this. The application asks questions, not documents. Your loan officer tells you which of these your file needs after the call. Nothing on the list is unusual.
What we do not need yet. You do not need an address, a clean credit file or a decision to get pre-qualified.
A lender starts with what you earn, takes out what you already owe each month, and sees what is left for housing. This runs that backwards into a price, with property taxes and insurance inside the figure. We publish no rates: enter the rate you have been quoted and the numbers appear, then call us and we can price your actual file.
Enter the rate you have been quoted and the numbers appear. We do not publish rates.
These are estimates from the figures you entered, not a quote, an offer, or a commitment to lend.
A calculator works from the figures you typed into it. Your loan officer works from your file and your credit, against the lenders on our panel.
Ask us for a real quoteThe same tool on its own page, with every figure broken out:Affordability calculator
These are sketches: each program page carries the detail, the loan limits and the sources behind them.
Insured by the Federal Housing Administration
Made by FHA-approved lenders, with credit score tiers HUD publishes.
Guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
For veterans, service members, some National Guard and reserve service, and some surviving spouses. Both Vandenberg Space Force Base and Camp San Luis Obispo sit inside our service area.
California's own housing finance agency
A state agency that does not lend directly: its loans go through CalHFA-approved lenders. Some of its programs, including MyHome, want a first-time buyer, which CalHFA defines as not having owned and occupied a home in the past three years.
Underwritten to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines
The standard loan when credit and income are solid. A loan above the conforming limit for this county is not conventional-conforming but jumbo.
Every loan program, compared:All loan programs
Two different questions. What follows are the names of the costs and not their amounts: each one depends on the house, the program and the lender. Once you apply for a loan on a particular house, the lender's Loan Estimate puts the loan's costs in writing. What you put toward the purchase itself sits on top of the up-front list, and that is a conversation for the call.
Help with the down payment exists for buyers who qualify:down payment assistance
Nobody can give you these numbers off a web page. Get each one in writing before you rely on it.
The part you control is quick: pre-qualification is the application and a phone call. The clock that matters after that is the escrow period written into your purchase contract, and what stretches it is the appraisal, the documents underwriting asks for, and anything unexpected on the title. Turning document requests around quickly helps protect a closing date.
There is no single number; it depends on the program. FHA publishes decision credit score tiers: a score of 580 or above is eligible for its standard terms, 500 to 579 is still insurable on more limited terms, and below 500 FHA does not insure the loan at all. Conventional has no federal floor: Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's own credit rules, automated underwriting and each lender's overlays decide.
Yes. On a full-documentation loan, underwriting works from what your federal tax returns show rather than from what passed through your account, so the write-offs that help you in April can work against you here. Expect to send returns and possibly a year-to-date profit and loss statement. Lenders read self-employed income differently from one another.
It is a letter from us saying we have looked at what you told us about your income, your debts and your credit, and that you look able to borrow what you are offering. It is not an underwriting decision. Nothing on this site is one. A seller or the seller's agent may ask for one with the offer. If you pre-qualify, your loan officer writes the letter after the call, so the application on this site starts that conversation rather than producing the letter itself.
Not necessarily. They go into the comparison between what you owe every month and what you earn, and the programs count them differently, including a loan in deferment, which can still count. That difference is sometimes the entire reason one lender says no and the next one says yes.
No. Your agent is your choice. If you have not picked one yet, start the loan side anyway: walking into that conversation already knowing what you can offer makes it a much shorter one.
That depends on the program and on the house. Any figure here would be a guess about your file. California also runs assistance programs aimed at exactly this problem, including CalHFA's.
Quoted from the brokerage's Google profile, with each reviewer's permission.
“Working with Vic at California Mortgage Solutions has been an absolute pleasure. He's a true professional—knowledgeable, responsive, and always goes the extra mile to deliver. I highly recommend to anyone looking for a trusted mortgage expert they could build a long lasting relationship with.”
“Working with Vic was such a pleasure! He helped us tremendously and made a potentially stressful event like buying a home more manageable. He was very knowledgeable, responsive & thorough. Highly recommended!”
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Answer a few questions and your loan officer can talk you through what could fit your file and what to do next.
No credit pull to get started. This is not a commitment to lend. Equal Housing Opportunity.
