/PROGRAM · Consumer
Conventional, FHA, VA & USDA loans
Investor-focused shops treat an ordinary purchase as the boring file and hand it to whoever is free. You end up unable to get a straight answer on FHA against conventional, on what the mortgage insurance actually costs you, or on why your pre-approval moved.
- Scope
- Consumer mortgage product. I originate these in select states. Outside those states I can introduce you to a licensed colleague at NEXA Mortgage, LLC.
- Best if
- you’re buying or refinancing a home you’ll live in, and your income documents normally.
- Not for
- a rental you won’t occupy, or income that won’t show on returns. Those have their own paths here.
- First step
- We start with what you want to buy and what your income documents look like. That decides which of the four programs is even on the table.
The ordinary qualified-mortgage lane: conventional, FHA, VA and USDA on a home you will live in or a second home, underwritten on your income, your credit and the property. Available in select states.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by any government agency. Nothing here is an approval, a rate, or a fee quote, eligibility and terms vary by scenario and are decided by the lender.
Who an agency loan is for
Buying your first home
Documented income and decent credit, and you want to know what you can actually afford before you start looking.
Refinancing out of a higher rate
You bought when rates were higher and want to know whether the maths works yet, including the costs of doing it.
Comparing FHA against conventional
Low down payment either way, and nobody has shown you what the mortgage insurance costs across the years you actually plan to hold it.
Buying a second home
A place you will use yourself rather than rent, which prices and underwrites differently from an investment property.
How an agency loan works
- 01
We start with what you want to buy and what your income documents look like. That decides which of the four programs is even on the table.
- 02
Occupancy is the dividing line. This lane is for a home you will live in, or a second home you will use yourself. A rental belongs on the investor side.
- 03
FHA against conventional is a mortgage-insurance question more than a rate question, and it turns on how long you hold the loan. I show you both on your own numbers.
- 04
USDA and VA each have their own eligibility gate (geography for one, service for the other), and those are the agency’s determination, not mine.
- 05
Consumer loans are limited to select states. Outside those I introduce you to a licensed colleague and stay involved.
Worth knowing
A concession can go further than a price cut
When a buyer is stretched, a seller putting the same money toward a rate buydown often does more for the monthly payment than taking it off the asking price. Worth running both ways before a listing drops its number.
A score where there was not one
VantageScore 4.0 is accepted on conventional files now. It scores on a shorter history than the classic model and can count rent where the landlord actually reports it, which makes some thin-file and first-time buyers scoreable who were not before. It does not fix income, debt load or collections.
Questions about an agency loan
Is this different from what a bank would do?
The products are identical. Conventional, FHA, VA and USDA are agency programs and the rules are the agency’s, not mine or a bank’s. What differs is who you deal with: you get the loan officer directly rather than whoever picks up the queue that day.
FHA or conventional, which one?
It depends on your credit, your down payment and how long you plan to hold the loan, mostly because of how mortgage insurance behaves in each. FHA’s is life-of-loan under 10% down; conventional’s can come off. That comparison is worth doing on your actual numbers rather than on a rule of thumb.
Can you do this everywhere?
No. Consumer loans are limited to the states I am licensed in, listed above and in the footer of every page. Outside those I can introduce you to a licensed colleague and stay involved, but I cannot originate the file myself.
I’m self-employed. Does this still apply?
If your returns show the income, yes, and this lane is usually the cheapest one. If they do not, that is what the bank-statement and P&L programs exist for.
Related reading
All guides →FHA takes VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T on January 1, and it decides on the lowest score
FHA published the rules on October 8. Send more than one score model and the borrower is judged on the lowest of them, and every model has to pass.
Industry updateFHA or conventional, the mortgage insurance is the decision
Both let you in with little down. What separates them is not the rate: it is whether the insurance ever goes away.
Cash-out refinance seasoning requirements on a rental property
Two separate clocks decide how soon you can pull cash out of a property you own. Most people only know about one of them.
Send this scenario
Tell me the property and the plan and I’ll come back with what’s eligible. Eligibility and terms vary by scenario.