All guides

Plain-English answers for buyers, owners, sellers, and investors

47 guides with real dollar examples, the common mistakes, and links to the calculators so you can run the numbers on your own situation.

Get oriented

Where to start

First-time buyer guide
A no-BS walkthrough of the financing side of buying your first home, from saving the down payment through closing day.

Exploring

Before you start shopping

Understanding DTI
How lenders calculate debt-to-income, which debts count, and how to bring the number down.
Pre-approval vs pre-qualification
Why a pre-qual is mostly worthless and a pre-approval is the one sellers care about. What goes into a real one and what blows it up.
Improving your credit score for a mortgage
Mortgage lenders use Classic FICO 2/4/5 (or VantageScore 4.0 at lenders that have adopted it for Fannie/Freddie loans), not FICO 8. Tactics that can raise your score in 30-90 days.
Down payment strategies
Conventional 3%, FHA 3.5%, VA 0%, gift funds, DPA, and the math of putting more vs less down.
Self-employed mortgage guide
What lenders want from self-employed borrowers: 2-year tax returns and add-backs, plus the bank statement and DSCR loan alternatives.
Buying with student loans
How each loan program counts your debt: Fannie, Freddie, FHA, VA, USDA. Income-driven payments after SAVE ended and RAP launched in July 2026.
RSUs and your mortgage
Why new-hire grants are a problem, how Fannie and Freddie count RSUs, public vs pre-IPO stock, and shopping lenders with tech comp.

Shopping

Picking the right loan and property

Mortgage loan types
Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, jumbo, ARM, and when each makes sense.
FHA vs conventional vs VA
Which of the three fits your down payment, credit, and eligibility.
ARM vs fixed-rate mortgage
When ARMs make sense again, how modern caps work, and why ‘I’ll just refi later’ is a risky plan.
Jumbo loans
Loans above the conforming limit: tighter underwriting, reserve requirements, when piggyback beats jumbo.
Buying a condo: warrantability
The post-Surfside Fannie Mae rules. What kills financing, and the documents to demand before you offer.
Buying new construction
The builder's lender pitch, long rate locks, why you still need an inspector, and the punch list.
Working with a buyer's agent (post-NAR)
The 2024 settlement changed how buyers pay agents. What to expect and how to negotiate the agreement.
Choosing a lender
How to compare Loan Estimates, what fees are negotiable, and when the lowest rate is the wrong choice.

Closing

Getting to the keys

Closing costs
What they are, who pays, what to negotiate, and how to sanity-check your Loan Estimate.
Reading your Loan Estimate
Page-by-page walkthrough of the standardized form. Tolerance categories: what can change, what can’t.
Reading your Closing Disclosure
How to spot errors before signing. The 3-day window, the LE comparison, and what triggers a re-disclosure.
The home appraisal process
How appraisers value your house, what to do about a low appraisal, and the new Reconsideration of Value right.
The home inspection process
What inspectors check (and what they don't). Sewer scopes, radon, and the specialty add-ons by property type.
Title insurance
Lender's vs owner's policies, what each one covers, and why skipping the owner's policy to save $2k is a bad bet.
Closing day: what happens
Hour-by-hour walkthrough. The 3-day CD review, the wire-fraud reminder, and what to bring.

Owning

After you have the keys

Property tax basics
How assessments and millage work, when to appeal, and the year-1 reassessment surprise in CA/FL.
Homeowners insurance basics
HO-3 coverage breakdown, replacement cost vs ACV, the gaps you must add, and how claims work.
Escrow (impound) accounts
How lenders manage your taxes and insurance. Why your monthly payment changes annually on a fixed-rate loan.
Decoding your mortgage statement
Every line, what it means, and the common errors that cost you money. Extra payments, suspense accounts, 1098s.
Tracking your cost basis
The receipts that save you tens of thousands at sale. The BAR test, what counts and what doesn’t, with worked examples.
PMI removal walkthrough
Find the earliest you can drop PMI: scheduled milestones plus the reappraisal path.

Refinancing

Re-pricing your existing loan

How to refinance
When refinancing makes sense and how to run the break-even math on your own loan.

Comparisons

Side-by-side decision frameworks

5/1 ARM vs 30-year fixed
When the lower initial rate of an ARM is worth the rate-reset risk, and when it isn’t. Caps, worst-case math, time horizon.
Cash-out refi vs HELOC
Three ways to tap home equity, and why your existing mortgage rate is the most important variable.

Selling

Cashing out of your home

Pricing your home for sale
Setting the list price that nets you the most, aggressive vs aspirational pricing, and when and how to cut.
Capital gains tax on home sales
Section 121, depreciation recapture, partial exclusion, and ways to owe less.
Negotiating offers as a seller
Handling multiple offers, weighing contingencies, and when to call for ‘highest and best’.

Life events

Big changes that affect your mortgage

Divorce and your mortgage
The four ways to handle the house and loan, the risk of leaving the departing spouse on the mortgage, and Section 121 timing.
Inheriting a home
Step-up in basis, the three options heirs have, taking over the existing loan, and what to do when heirs deadlock.

Investing

Real estate as an investment

Real estate investing 101
The four ways a rental pays you, strategies ranked by complexity, and the risks people underestimate.
House hacking
Owner-occupied 2-4 units: the financing edge, the 5-year repeat play, and living next door to your tenants.
Short-term rental (Airbnb) investing
Underwriting an STR, regulation as the #1 risk, financing options, and the operations time cost.
1031 exchange step-by-step
The 45/180 deadlines, picking a QI, the trade-equal-or-up rule, and avoiding taxable boot.

VA

For veterans and active duty

VA loans
Funding fee, IRRRL, entitlement, assumability, and the VA’s minimum property requirements (MPRs).

Tax

Deductions, credits, and ways to defer tax

Mortgage interest deduction
The TCJA $750k/$1M cap, SALT cap interaction, refi grandfathering. Why most homeowners no longer benefit.
Rental property tax basics
Schedule E, depreciation, §469 passive loss limits, $25k allowance phaseout, recapture at sale.
Real estate professional status
The 750-hour test, material participation, audit risk, and what it takes to qualify.
QBI deduction for rentals (§199A)
The 20% deduction most landlords miss. Rev Proc 2019-38 safe harbor, what counts toward 250 hours, phaseout mechanics.
Cost basis tracking
Which improvements add to your basis under the BAR test, and why the receipts can be worth tens of thousands at sale.
Energy / IRA tax credits
OBBBA ended §25C/§25D after 2025 and §30C after June 30, 2026. What 2025 installs can still claim, and the rebates that remain.
Capital gains on home sale
Section 121 exclusion ($250k single / $500k MFJ), depreciation recapture, and partial exclusion.
1031 exchange step-by-step
Defer cap gains and recapture by reinvesting in like-kind property. The 45/180 deadlines.
Property tax basics
How assessments and millage work, when to appeal, and the year-1 reassessment surprise in CA/FL.