Questions, answered properly

A bank can only offer you its own products and measure you against its own guidelines. We are an independent brokerage with 24 wholesale lender relationships, so the same file can be measured against 24 sets of guidelines. When one lender's overlay blocks your file, we move it rather than decline you.

Either the lender pays us out of the pricing on your loan, or you pay us directly at closing. Which arrangement applies is disclosed in dollars on your Loan Estimate, and federal rules prevent us from taking both on the same loan. We will tell you which structure we are using before you choose a lender.

No. Mortgage inquiries inside a shopping window are treated as one inquiry by the scoring models. We also use a single credit pull for every panel quote, so you are not pulled repeatedly.

Yes, and we do it regularly with builder preferred lenders in Rio Rancho. We put their estimate next to ours over a four-year hold and let the totals speak.

The program floors are 580 for FHA and 620 for conventional, but lender overlays often sit higher than the program floor, and pricing improves at 660, 680, 700, 720 and 740. Our credit readiness page shows what moving one tier is typically worth.

Zero on VA and USDA if you are eligible, 3% on conventional for first-time buyers, 3.5% on FHA. Down payment assistance can cover part of it. Closing costs are separate and usually run 2% to 4% of the price (sample range).

Not necessarily. Agency financing works from two years of returns, but a bank statement program qualifies you on 12 or 24 months of deposits instead. It costs more, and for a lot of business owners it is still the right answer.

Typically 90 days, tied to the age of your credit report and income documents. We refresh it for free rather than making you start again.

Because a rate without a file behind it is a guess. Your rate depends on credit tier, loan-to-value, occupancy, property type, loan amount and which lender ends up with the file. Send documents in the morning and you will have real numbers from several lenders in the afternoon.

Only if you will hold the loan past the break-even month. One point is 1% of the loan amount, and what it buys in rate changes daily. We show the break-even in months on the comparison sheet rather than quoting the rate alone.

Once you are under contract and the appraisal is ordered, in most cases. Some panel lenders offer a one-time float-down if rates improve after you lock, and extended locks exist for new construction.

Extensions cost money and worst-case repricing costs more. This is one of the few situations where being a broker helps directly: we have moved a file to a different panel lender mid-process rather than pay a punitive extension.

Our median from contract to clear-to-close is 22 business days on a straightforward purchase (sample). Renovation loans, USDA and jumbo files with two appraisals take longer, and we tell you which bucket you are in before you agree contract dates.

Tell us before you do anything. Lenders re-verify employment shortly before closing. A move within the same field is often workable on an offer-letter program, but a surprise is what kills files.

New credit accounts, large purchases, cash deposits, moving money between accounts without telling us, and co-signing for anyone. Furniture can wait three weeks.

Constantly. Agents get a direct mobile number, same-day pre-approval letters and a one-page lender letter for listing agents. See the realtor partner page.

Send it to us and we will check the same day. The eligible boundary runs through neighborhoods in Rio Rancho and Valencia County, so two houses on one street can have different answers.

Yes. Santa Fe pushes more files above the conforming limit, so most of that work goes to the jumbo investors on our panel where reserves and appraisal strategy decide the outcome.

Several state housing agency programs, a municipal program inside Albuquerque city limits, and a lender-funded grant available in designated census tracts through two of our panel lenders. Details are on the down payment assistance page.

Yes, and there is no sales pitch at the end. Bring a notebook. They run on Saturday mornings in English and Spanish, about two hours.