All guides
Buying a home
How to read a Loan Estimate, page by page
Where to look on the three-page Loan Estimate to compare two lenders fairly: loan terms, closing costs and the comparisons box.
Buyer readiness checklist: the 90 days before you apply
A three-month checklist for Southern California buyers: credit, savings, documents and the decisions to make before talking to a lender.
Closing Disclosure vs. Loan Estimate: what's allowed to change
The three tolerance buckets under federal rules, the three-day waiting periods, and how to compare your Closing Disclosure line by line.
Your first rental
DSCR worksheet for a first rental: run the ratio before you offer
A fill-in worksheet to test a rental's debt-service coverage before you write an offer, with a worked example and the inputs that move it.
First rental in California: what AB 1482 means for a new landlord
The statewide rent cap and just-cause rules, the single-family exemption and its required notice, and what changed with SB 567.
Money, credit & equity
Self-employed? A 90-day prep plan for a bank-statement loan
What to clean up in the three months before applying with bank statements instead of tax returns: deposits, accounts, transfers and letters.
HELOC or cash-out refinance? A blended-rate worksheet
How to compare adding a second lien with replacing your first mortgage: blended cost, closing costs and term.
Debt-to-income ratio: a worked example
How lenders calculate front-end and back-end DTI, which debts count, and a worked example you can redo with your own numbers.