The first purchase is the one where the paperwork is least familiar and the stakes feel highest. We slow the front end down so the back end runs quickly: a proper read of your position, one document checklist, and a pre-approval that has actually been through an underwriter rather than a calculator.
Deposit assistance and gifted funds
State and county assistance schemes change often and each lender treats them differently. Gifted deposits are refused far more often for how they were documented than for where they came from — we prepare the gift letter and the paper trail before the application goes anywhere near a lender.
The number that actually matters
Below a twenty per cent deposit you should expect mortgage insurance on top of the monthly payment. We model that from the start, so the price bracket you go shopping in is one you can genuinely afford rather than one you technically qualify for.
