Read it, then try it with your own numbers.
Home Express Mortgage · Learn
Know more before you borrow.
Short, plain-English lessons on buying, refinancing and investing in property. Taught by Joe Farro, Certified Mortgage Planner, in the mortgage business since 1991.
Pick a path
Start where you are.
Each path is a short series of lessons. Read one, then try it with your own numbers.
First-time buyers
From your first question to closing day.
Investors
For investment property: DSCR loans, which are for investment property only, and how lenders look at a rental.
Homeowners
Refinancing and using your equity.
Self-employed
Bank statements, P&Ls and showing your income.
Build or renovate
Construction and renovation loans, step by step.
Featured lesson
Before you shop, know where you stand.
What gets reviewed, what the letter means, and what it doesn't promise.
- 1Read: the short versionArticle
- 2Try it: run your own numbersCalculator
Worth knowing
Two things people often get wrong.
A pre-approval isn't a final approval.
It's a conditional yes, given after a review of income, assets, credit and debts. The home itself and final underwriting still have to clear before the loan does.
What happens after pre-approval →Talking to a broker isn't a commitment.
It's how a loan can be compared across more than one lender's programs before you commit to anything. A broker works with many lenders and programs; a single lender generally offers its own.
Loan options →Glossary
Mortgage words, A to Z.
The terms you'll meet, in a sentence or two.
Amortization
How each payment splits between interest and paying down the loan, and how that split shifts over the life of the loan.
Appraisal
An independent estimate of a home's value, ordered for the lender, that the loan is measured against.
Assumable loan
A mortgage a buyer can take over from the seller, if the loan allows it and the buyer qualifies with the servicer. Government-backed loans (FHA, VA, USDA) are generally assumable; most conventional loans aren't.
Try it
Run your own numbers.
Purchase, refinance and side-by-side options. Try them with your own numbers. Some boxes start with an estimate you can change, and any starting rate shown is a conventional average, not a rate set for you.
Open the calculatorsLearn
Start with a lesson.
Short, plain-English lessons on buying, refinancing and investing. Start anywhere.
Browse the lessons
Your guide
Questions? Ask Joe.
Joe Farro, Certified Mortgage Planner and owner of Home Express Mortgage. When you're ready, he's the person you talk to.
In writing
The Home Express Mortgage Guarantee
Six promises from Joe, from before you apply to long after closing, in his own words.
Read the Guarantee
Five Star Communication
Everyone in your transaction gets the same update at the same time: you, your agents, the settlement company and the lender. Status is shared with your OK.
How it works →