These are the types of home loans California Mortgage Solutions arranges in San Luis Obispo County: government-insured, conventional, jumbo, state-assisted and adjustable. Beside them are the investor, short-term, construction and commercial loans that a file in the county can need instead. The tables below set them against each other, so you can see which ones are even in play for your file.
Your credit, income, savings, the property, the loan size, whether you have served and whether you will live there decide which programs are open to you.
So read the tables for the shape of each program rather than for a verdict. Then start the application: it asks what a lender would ask, which is what sorts out the programs that could apply to you. Your loan officer reads the answers.
A file may have more than one of these genuinely open, or none of the ones you were hoping for.
Read across a row for one program, or down a column to see how they differ on one dimension.
| Program | Who it suits | Credit | Mortgage insurance | Loan size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FHA | A thin or recently repaired credit file | 580 and above on standard terms; 500 to 579 still insurable | An up-front premium plus an annual premium | Up to the county FHA limit |
| VA | A veteran or service member with entitlement | VA's credit standards plus each lender's | No monthly mortgage insurance premium | No VA limit with full entitlement |
| USDA | Buying inside USDA's eligible area | Decided by the lender's rules on top of USDA's | USDA's own fees rather than private insurance | Bounded by the home's value and its price, under USDA's rule |
| Reverse | A homeowner of sixty-two and over who means to stay in the home | HUD's financial assessment: credit history, cash flow and how property charges were paid | An initial FHA premium and an annual premium, added to the balance | Set by HUD's rules: the youngest borrower's age, the rate and the home's value |
| CalHFA | A first-time buyer who needs help with the up-front money | Follows the first mortgage underneath, plus CalHFA's rules | Whatever the first mortgage carries | Bounded by the first mortgage's county loan limit |
| CalVet | A veteran weighing a state benefit against VA | CalVet underwrites to its own rules | No monthly mortgage insurance premium | A California home you occupy yourself |
| Conventional | Solid credit and documented income | No minimum in Fannie Mae's automated underwriting; a floor if underwritten by hand | Private mortgage insurance that can end, on conditions | Up to the conforming loan limit |
| Jumbo | A loan above the county conforming limit | Set by each lender, not by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac | Lender-dependent, like every other jumbo guideline | Above the county conforming limit |
| Adjustable-rate | A borrower who does not expect to keep the loan long | Set by the program it sits inside, plus rules for an adjusting rate | Whatever the underlying program carries | Follows the program it is written under |
| HELOC | A homeowner borrowing against equity, over time or in one sum, who keeps the first mortgage | Set by each lender's own underwriting criteria | Set by the lender | A limit the lender sets against your equity |
Two loans side by side:FHA vs conventionalFHA vs VAFHA vs USDAVA vs conventionalVA vs CalVetConventional vs jumboBank statement vs conventionalDSCR vs conventionalHELOC vs cash-out refinanceReverse mortgage vs HELOCDSCR vs bank statementBridge loan vs HELOC
The short version of each one, family by family. Open the one that sounds like your situation.
Backed by a federal agency: the FHA, the VA or USDA Rural Development.
Government-insured
Government-insured, with credit score tiers HUD publishes.
An earned benefit
For veterans, service members and some surviving spouses. It begins with a Certificate of Eligibility.
Rural development
A Section 502 loan for an eligible address in the county, with a household income ceiling and USDA's own fees in place of private mortgage insurance.
Federal programs
FHA-insured, for a homeowner of sixty-two and over: equity drawn without a monthly mortgage payment, after HUD-required counseling, repaid when the last borrower leaves the home.
The state's own help for first-time buyers and veterans, placed through approved lenders.
State first-time buyer help
California's own first-time buyer programs: a CalHFA first mortgage, MyHome assistance, and ZIP for closing costs, written through approved lenders.
California veterans
California's own veteran home loan, run by CalVet as a contract of purchase with the fund holding title until the contract is satisfied.
Not insured by a government agency. Jumbo and adjustable-rate loans can be written this way too.
Not government-insured
A loan for solid credit and income, with private mortgage insurance that does not have to be permanent.
Above the conforming limit
For a loan above the county's conforming limit, where each lender writes its own guidelines.
A rate that adjusts
The rate holds for an opening period, then adjusts with an index and a margin inside caps. For a borrower who does not expect to keep the loan long.
Home equity
A line of credit secured by your home, or a loan paid in one sum, that sits behind any first mortgage, which stays as it is. The rate on a line can change, and falling behind puts the home at risk.
Loans qualified on the property, on other documents or on a project rather than on a finished home. Each is priced by its own lender, and each has a place where it is not the answer.
Which investor loan fits:Start with the investment property guide
| Loan | Who it suits | Credit | Mortgage insurance | Loan size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSCR | A rental whose rent covers its own payment | Still pulled; it sets the terms and which lenders are open | Set by the lender | Set by the rent, the value and the lender's own caps |
| Bank statement | Self-employed income the tax returns understate | No federal minimum; each lender sets its own | Set by the lender | Each lender's own cap, not the conforming loan limit |
| Non-QM | A file that does not fit agency rules | Each lender sets its own rules on a recent credit event | None | Lender by lender, on either side of the conforming limit |
| ITIN | A borrower who files taxes under an ITIN | Each lender's rules; federal rules allow rent and utility history | None | The lender's own cap rather than the conforming loan limit |
| Bridge | A homeowner buying the next home before the current one has sold | Pulled; the equity and the sale plan weigh most | None | Sized against the equity in the home you are selling |
| Hard money | An investor with a property or a timeline a bank will not take | Each lender's rule; the property and the exit weigh most | None | Sized against the property's value, lender by lender |
| Fix-and-flip | An investor renovating a property to resell | Pulled; your record on prior projects can count too | None | Sized on the purchase, the rehab budget and the after-repair value |
| Renovation | A home that needs work | FHA's credit rules on a 203(k); Fannie Mae's or Freddie Mac's on the others | FHA premiums on a 203(k); private mortgage insurance on the others when the loan is large relative to the value | Measured against the value with the work finished, within each program's loan limit |
| Construction | Building a home on a lot you own or are buying | Income and credit, for the finished home's mortgage | Follows the permanent mortgage it turns into | Set by the budget, the lot and the as-completed value |
| Land and lot | Buying raw land or a building lot before you build | Each lender's own rule; the land's value can count too | Set by the lender | Set lender by lender |
| ADU | A homeowner with equity, ready to build a second dwelling | Income and credit reviewed on every route; the score sets which lenders are open | None on a second lien; the first mortgage's rules on a refinance or renovation loan | Your equity today, or the finished value on a renovation loan |
| Commercial | Income property, or the building a business occupies | Lender by lender; your track record counts alongside the score | No private mortgage insurance | Set by the property's income and the lender's appetite |
The short version, family by family. Open the one that sounds like your situation.
Qualified on the property's rent or on bank statements, for files agency rules do not fit.
Investor and self-employed
Qualified on the rental's rent rather than your tax returns. A business-purpose loan for an investor, priced like one.
Investor and self-employed
Income read from your bank deposits instead of your tax returns, for the self-employed whose returns understate what they take home.
Investor and self-employed
For a borrower who can repay but whose income, credit history or property does not fit agency rules. Costs more than an agency loan.
Investor and self-employed
For a taxpayer who files under an ITIN rather than a Social Security number. A lender-held loan that can buy the home you live in.
Short-term money, bank or private, repaid by a sale or a refinance, and mortgages that pay for the work a home needs.
Short-term and renovation
Uses the equity in the home you own to buy the next one before the first has sold. Short-term, costs more, and only as safe as the sale.
Short-term and renovation
Short-term, asset-based money from private lenders, for a property or a timeline a bank will not take. It costs more.
Short-term and renovation
Purchase and rehab money in one short-term loan for an investor, sized on the after-repair value and repaid at the sale.
Short-term and renovation
One mortgage for the home and the remodel, with the money for the work paid out in draws as it is done.
Land and lots, building, adding and buying income property, each on its own kind of loan.
Construction and commercial
Pays for building a home on your lot, in draws, then becomes or is replaced by a mortgage.
Construction and commercial
Buys raw land or a building lot, with a loan from a lender such as a bank, credit union or private lender, on its own terms. It can cost more.
Construction and commercial
There is no single ADU loan. Four routes to pay for a second dwelling on your lot, and how to pick between them.
Construction and commercial
Apartment buildings, mixed-use, retail, office and industrial property, and the building a business occupies, underwritten on the property's income.
Tell us what you earn, what you owe, what you have put aside and what you are trying to buy, and we can talk through which of these programs your file may reach.
The answer may be that you are not ready yet.
Answer a few questions and your loan officer can talk you through which programs your file may reach.
No credit pull to get started. This is not a commitment to lend. Equal Housing Opportunity.
