DTI, condo approval, escrow, DSCR, warrantable, clear to close. This page defines the words, walks through the process start to finish, and covers the Colorado-specific details that catch people off guard. Bookmark it and come back as questions come up.
Buying a first home or a first rental means learning a new vocabulary under time pressure. This page is meant to remove the pressure. Every section stands on its own, every term has an anchor link you can share, and the glossary at the bottom gives one-line definitions for quick lookups. Where Timberline has a tool that does the math for you, we link to it: the payment calculator, the DTI check, and the condo approval check.
Two ground rules. First, nothing here is a quote, a pre-approval, or a commitment to lend. Guidelines change, lenders differ, and your file is specific. Second, we describe how programs generally work without quoting rates, payments, or down payment figures, because those depend on your scenario and the day you lock. When you want real numbers, request a quote and a licensed loan officer will price your actual situation.
A mortgage is a loan secured by real estate. You sign two main documents. The promissory note is your promise to repay a specific amount on specific terms. The security instrument gives the lender the right to take the property if you do not. In most states that instrument is called a mortgage. In Colorado it is a deed of trust, which names a neutral third party, the county public trustee, to handle a foreclosure if one is ever needed. People still say "mortgage" for the whole package, and so do we.
Principal is the amount you borrowed and still owe. Interest is the cost of borrowing it, expressed as an annual percentage rate applied to the remaining balance. The term is how long you have to pay it back. Thirty-year and fifteen-year terms are the most common, but twenty, twenty-five, ten, and forty-year terms exist on some programs. A shorter term means a higher required payment and far less total interest. A longer term means a lower required payment and more total interest, though you can usually pay extra principal on your own schedule.
Amortization is the schedule that splits each payment between interest and principal so the loan reaches zero exactly at the end of the term. Early payments are mostly interest because the balance is large. Late payments are mostly principal. An amortization schedule lists every payment for the life of the loan. Extra principal payments shift the schedule forward and reduce total interest, but on a standard fixed-rate loan they do not change the required monthly payment unless you recast.
A fixed-rate mortgage keeps the same interest rate for the entire term. An adjustable-rate mortgage starts with a fixed period, then adjusts on a set schedule. A "5/6 ARM" is fixed for five years, then adjusts every six months. The new rate equals an index (a published benchmark, today usually SOFR) plus a margin set in your note, subject to caps that limit how much the rate can move at the first adjustment, at each later adjustment, and over the life of the loan. ARMs can make sense when you expect to sell or refinance before the fixed period ends, but you should be able to afford the payment at the fully capped rate.
Your total housing payment has four or five parts. Principal, Interest, property Taxes, and homeowners Insurance make PITI. Add Association dues (HOA) and you have PITIA, which is what underwriters use to measure your housing expense. Mortgage insurance, when required, sits in the same bucket. When someone quotes "the payment," ask whether it includes taxes and insurance. A principal-and-interest-only figure can be far lower than what you actually send each month.
Most lenders collect a slice of your annual property taxes and insurance premium with each monthly payment, hold it in an escrow account, and pay the bills when due. At closing you fund the account with a few months of reserves so it never runs dry. Once a year the servicer runs an escrow analysis. If taxes or insurance went up, you will get an escrow shortage notice and a higher payment. Some programs let you waive escrows and pay taxes and insurance yourself. The word "escrow" is also used for the neutral account that holds your earnest money during a purchase, which is a different thing.
A lien is a legal claim on the property that must be paid before clear ownership can transfer. Your main mortgage is a first lien. A home equity loan or HELOC is a second lien, paid only after the first if the home is ever sold or foreclosed, which is why seconds cost more. Tax liens, mechanic's liens, and HOA liens can also attach to a property and show up on the title search.
The lender is the institution whose money funds the loan. A mortgage broker like Timberline does not lend its own money. We take your one application to many wholesale lenders, compare their pricing and guidelines, and manage the file through closing. A correspondent lender funds in its own name and then sells the loan. The servicer is the company that collects your payments after closing, which is often not the company that funded the loan. Servicing transfers are normal. You will receive "goodbye" and "hello" letters, and your terms do not change. Read more on the why a broker page.
A mortgage loan originator (MLO, loan officer, LO) is the licensed person who takes your application and structures the loan. Every MLO and every mortgage company has a unique NMLS number from the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System. You can look up any number at NMLS Consumer Access to confirm licensing and history. Timberline's company number is 2528109 and each of our loan officers lists theirs on the team page.
A conforming loan meets the standards of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-sponsored enterprises (the agencies) that buy most U.S. mortgages. Those standards include a maximum loan amount, the conforming loan limit, which is reset each year and is higher in designated high-cost counties. Government loans are insured or guaranteed by a federal agency: FHA, VA, or USDA. Ginnie Mae packages those. Everything else is non-conforming: jumbo loans above the limit, and non-QM loans that use alternative documentation.
A qualified mortgage (QM) is a loan that meets federal ability-to-repay rules: full income documentation, limits on fees and risky features. Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, and most jumbo loans are QM. A non-QM loan uses a different way to prove you can repay, such as bank statements instead of tax returns, or the rental income of an investment property instead of your personal income (DSCR). Non-QM loans are legitimate, widely available products with their own pricing. They are not the "no-doc" loans of the mid-2000s.
A retail lender sells its own loans to the public through its own loan officers. A wholesale lender does not work with the public at all. It publishes pricing and guidelines to brokers, and brokers bring it borrowers. Because dozens of wholesale lenders compete for a broker's file, the broker channel lets one application see the whole market. That is the business model behind Timberline.
Mortgage rates are not set by the Federal Reserve. Lenders bundle loans into mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and sell them to investors. The price investors pay for those bonds moves all day with inflation data, jobs reports, Treasury auctions, and world events, and lender rate sheets follow. The 10-year Treasury yield is the benchmark most people watch because it tends to move with mortgage rates. The Fed's short-term policy rate matters mostly through expectations and through HELOC pricing, which is tied to the prime rate. Timberline's homepage carries a daily market note and Treasury chart for this reason.
Every lender offers a range of rates on any given day. Each rate has a price. The par rate costs nothing extra and pays nothing back. Choose a lower rate and you pay discount points up front (a point is one percent of the loan amount). Choose a higher rate and the lender pays you a lender credit toward closing costs. Neither is better in the abstract. Points pay off if you keep the loan long enough for the monthly savings to exceed the up-front cost. Credits make sense when cash to close is tight or you expect to refinance or sell soon. A good quote shows you the trade-off, not just one number.
Agency pricing starts from a base and then applies loan-level price adjustments based on risk factors: credit score, loan-to-value, occupancy, property type, number of units, cash-out, and others. This is why two people quoted the same day can get different rates. A higher credit score and a larger down payment lower your adjustments. Condos, investment properties, second homes, cash-out refinances, and multi-unit properties raise them.
The note rate is the interest rate in your promissory note and drives your payment. The annual percentage rate (APR) is a legally defined figure that folds certain closing costs into the rate so you can compare offers on a common basis. APR is usually a bit higher than the note rate. A large gap between the two means high lender fees or points. APR is useful for comparing two quotes with the same loan type and term; it is less useful across different products, and it says nothing about how long you will keep the loan.
Until you lock, your rate floats with the market. A rate lock is the lender's commitment to a specific rate and price for a set period, commonly 15 to 60 days. If closing slips past the lock, you pay an extension fee or relock at the current market, whichever the lender allows. Some lenders offer a float-down: if rates fall after you lock, you can move down once, usually for a cost. Locking is a judgment call. We watch bond pricing all day and try to lock ahead of afternoon reprices when the market turns against borrowers.
A permanent buydown is just paying discount points for a lower rate for the life of the loan. A temporary buydown lowers the effective rate for the first year or two, then steps up to the note rate. A "2-1 buydown" is two percentage points lower in year one and one point lower in year two. The cost is paid at closing, often by the seller or builder as a seller concession, into an account that subsidizes your payment. You qualify at the full note rate, not the reduced one. Buydowns are popular in slower markets when sellers want to help a buyer without cutting the price.
Each lender has its own appetite. One prices condos well and self-employed borrowers poorly. Another is aggressive on jumbo loans and slow on FHA. Their fees differ, their turn times differ, and their overlays (rules stricter than the agency minimum) differ. Shopping is not just about the rate on one day; it is about finding the lender whose box your file fits with the least friction. That comparison is what a wholesale broker does for a living.
Underwriters talk about the four Cs: credit (your history of paying debts), capacity (your income compared with your obligations, measured by DTI), capital (your down payment and reserves), and collateral (the property itself and its appraised value). The next four sections take each one in turn. A weakness in one can be offset by strength in another, which underwriters call a compensating factor: a big down payment can offset a thin credit file, large reserves can offset a higher DTI, and so on.
A pre-qualification is an estimate based on what you tell a loan officer, with no documents checked. A pre-approval means the loan officer has pulled credit and reviewed income and asset documents, and issued a letter stating the amount you are likely to be approved for. An underwritten pre-approval (sometimes called a TBD approval or credit approval) goes further: an underwriter has signed off on everything except the property. In a competitive offer, an underwritten pre-approval is close to a cash offer in a seller's eyes because the only open question is the appraisal. Ask which kind you are getting.
Agency loans run through automated underwriting systems: Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter (DU) and Freddie Mac's Loan Product Advisor (LPA). The system reads your credit, income, assets, and the property and returns findings, typically "Approve/Eligible" or "Accept," plus the list of documents needed to verify what was entered. Findings are the roadmap for the whole file. A human underwriter then confirms every item. Government loans use the same systems with their own scorecards, and some files must be manually underwritten when the automated system cannot approve them.
You will certify how you intend to use the property. A primary residence is where you live most of the year; it gets the best pricing and the most flexible programs. A second home is a property you occupy part of the year, in a location that makes sense for that use, that you control year-round and do not primarily rent. An investment property is one you buy to rent out. Pricing and down payment requirements rise in that order. Misstating occupancy to get better terms is occupancy fraud, a federal crime, and lenders check. If you plan to house-hack a duplex by living in one unit, that is a primary residence and a legitimate, common strategy.
If your score is the thing holding you back, Timberline builds free written credit action plans before you apply. Read that page for what we do, then come back here for how mortgage credit actually works.
Mortgage lenders pull a tri-merge credit report from all three bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) and use the middle of your three scores. With two borrowers, most programs use the lower of the two middle scores, though some agency pricing now averages them. The scoring models used for mortgages are specific older FICO versions, so the number you see in a banking app or free credit site will often differ from your mortgage score by a meaningful amount. Do not be surprised by the difference; ask your loan officer for the actual mortgage score.
A mortgage credit pull is a hard inquiry. Scoring models treat multiple mortgage inquiries within a short shopping window as a single event, so getting quotes from several lenders in the same couple of weeks does not stack up damage. Applying for new credit cards or car loans during the process is a different story and can hurt both your score and your DTI.
Payment history carries the most weight, and a single 30-day late payment on a mortgage or rent in the last twelve months is a serious problem on most programs. Utilization, the share of your available credit card limits you are using, is the second biggest factor and the easiest to fix quickly by paying balances down before the statement date. Length of history, mix of accounts, and recent new accounts matter less. Closing old cards can hurt by shortening history and raising utilization.
If you pay down a balance or fix an error, the bureaus normally take a month or more to reflect it. A rapid rescore lets your lender push the update through in days, using proof of the payment or correction. It can move a score enough to change your pricing tier. Only a lender can order it; consumers cannot.
A collection is a debt sent to a collection agency. A charge-off is one the original creditor wrote off. Whether you must pay them before closing depends on the program, the type, and the amount; medical collections are treated more leniently than others, and many programs ignore them entirely. Judgments and tax liens usually must be paid or on a documented payment plan, because they can attach to the property. Disputed accounts on your report can block automated approval until the dispute is resolved or removed.
Each major program has a waiting period after these events before you can qualify again, measured in years from the discharge or completion date and varying by program and by whether there were extenuating circumstances (a one-time event outside your control, like a medical crisis). FHA and VA are generally the most forgiving, conventional the strictest, and several non-QM lenders will lend within a year of a credit event at a higher price. The clock starts on different dates for different events, so bring the paperwork.
If you have no score or very little history, some programs allow non-traditional credit: twelve months of documented on-time rent, utilities, insurance, phone, and similar payments. Rent history in particular is increasingly used by the agencies' automated systems when you give the lender permission to read your bank account. Becoming an authorized user on someone else's long-standing card can help a score, but underwriters may exclude authorized-user accounts when the file depends on them.
If you froze your credit for security, you must temporarily lift the freeze at all three bureaus before the lender can pull the report. A frozen file returns no score and stops the application. Some lenders also do a soft pull shortly before closing to confirm nothing new was opened; new debt discovered at that point can kill an approval.
Underwriters do not use what you make. They use what they can document and what they can reasonably expect to continue for at least three years. That distinction explains most of the surprises people have about income.
Salary is the simplest case: current pay stubs, the last two years of W-2s, and a verification of employment (VOE) with your employer. Hourly income is averaged if your hours vary. A recent raise counts once you have a pay stub showing it. A new job in the same field usually counts immediately with an offer letter and a first pay stub, and some programs allow closing before your start date with a signed offer. Gaps in employment longer than a month or so need a short written explanation.
These are variable income, and the rule is history: most programs want a two-year track record and average it, and a declining trend can cause the underwriter to use the lower recent year or exclude it. Commission-only borrowers are usually treated like the self-employed on documentation. A second job or part-time work counts with a two-year history at that job. A one-time bonus does not count; a bonus paid every year with a pattern does.
If you own a business, are a partner, or file a Schedule C, you are self-employed for mortgage purposes. Standard documentation is two years of personal and business tax returns (some programs accept one year), a year-to-date profit and loss statement, and often business bank statements. The underwriter starts from the net income on the returns, then adds back non-cash deductions like depreciation and subtracts items like meals and one-time gains. That figure, averaged over two years, is your qualifying income. Heavy write-offs lower it, which is the classic self-employed trap. The workaround is a bank statement loan, described in the programs section, which qualifies you on deposits instead of returns.
Business owners who get a K-1 from a partnership or S corporation qualify on their share of the business income, with ownership percentage, distributions, and business liquidity all examined. Multi-entity returns are among the hardest files in the industry. Dave has spent twenty-plus years reading them, and it is a specialty of this office.
Contractors and gig workers are self-employed. Full-doc loans use tax returns as above. Several non-QM lenders offer 1099-only programs that use one or two years of 1099 forms with a standard expense factor instead of returns.
Rent from a property you already own is documented with the Schedule E on your tax return, or with a lease if the property is newly rented. For the property you are buying, the appraiser completes a rent schedule (Form 1007 for single units, Form 1025 for two-to-four units) estimating market rent. Lenders count only a portion of that rent, commonly three-quarters, to allow for vacancy and repairs, and they generally require a history of managing rentals or specific reserves before letting it offset the payment. DSCR loans take a different route and are covered in the investing section.
Retirement and disability income counts with an award letter and proof of receipt, and non-taxable income can be grossed up (increased by a factor) to compare it fairly with taxable wages. Child support and alimony count if they are court-ordered, have been received for several months, and will continue for three years. Trust income, note income, and annuity income count with the governing documents and a continuance period. Unemployment benefits generally do not count unless seasonal and recurring.
If you have large liquid assets but little formal income, some programs let you qualify by treating a share of your assets as if it were spread out as monthly income over a set period. It is a common fit for retirees and business sellers. Reserves are counted separately.
Expect a written or electronic verification of employment during processing and a verbal verification (VVOE) within days of closing. You will also sign a Form 4506-C authorizing the lender to pull your tax transcripts directly from the IRS, which is how they confirm the returns you gave them match what you filed.
Your debt-to-income ratio is your total monthly debt payments divided by your gross monthly income (before taxes). There are two versions. The front-end or housing ratio is just the new PITIA divided by income. The back-end or total ratio adds every other monthly obligation on your credit report. When people say "DTI" without qualifying it, they mean the back-end number, and it is the one that usually decides the loan. Try your own numbers in the DTI check.
Limits vary by program and by the strength of the rest of the file. Most conventional and government approvals land with a total DTI somewhere in the 40s as a percentage, and automated underwriting can approve higher ratios when credit, reserves, and down payment are strong. Manually underwritten files and some non-QM programs use tighter caps. Jumbo lenders are often stricter still. The precise number is less important than understanding what counts.
The minimum monthly payment on every credit card, car loan, car lease, personal loan, student loan, and other mortgage; alimony and child support you pay; and the full PITIA on the new home. Co-signed debts count unless you can show twelve months of the other party paying from their own account. Debts with fewer than ten months left may be excluded on some programs. A car lease always counts, even if it ends soon, because the assumption is you will lease again.
Student loans are a frequent surprise. If your loan is deferred or in forbearance, or on an income-driven plan with a tiny or zero payment, the program rules decide what payment the underwriter must use. Conventional loans generally use the actual documented payment, including a zero income-driven payment in some cases, and otherwise a set percentage of the balance. FHA uses a percentage of the balance unless the documented payment is higher. The difference can be hundreds of dollars a month of assumed debt, so tell your loan officer the loan type and plan early.
Utilities, cell phones, insurance premiums not tied to a loan, groceries, childcare, and subscriptions are not in DTI. That is why a DTI that looks fine on paper can feel tight in real life, and why you should build your own budget rather than borrowing the maximum the underwriter allows.
Pay off a small loan or card entirely (paying it down only lowers the minimum payment a little). Pay a card to zero before the statement closes. Ask about excluding a debt paid by someone else with proof. Add a co-borrower with income. Choose a longer term or use a temporary lender credit to lower the housing payment. Increase documented income by including overtime or a second job with history. Or, for investors, look at DSCR loans, which do not use personal DTI at all.
The down payment is the part of the purchase price you pay from your own funds rather than the loan. Requirements range from zero on VA and USDA loans to larger shares on jumbo and investment loans, and the size affects your rate, whether you pay mortgage insurance, and how strong your offer looks. The old idea that you need a fifth of the price saved is a myth for most first-time buyers; low-down-payment conventional and FHA programs exist precisely for them, and down payment assistance can cover much of the rest. Our first-time homebuyer guide lays out every program. What you need is a plan for both the down payment and closing costs, which are separate.
Lenders want to see that your money is yours and did not come from an undisclosed loan. Seasoned funds have sat in your account long enough to appear on two consecutive monthly statements. Sourced funds are ones whose origin you can document. Any large deposit that is out of pattern for your account, roughly anything bigger than half your monthly income on conventional loans, will need a paper trail: a bonus stub, a sale receipt, a transfer from your own other account. Cash kept at home cannot be used until it has been deposited and seasoned, because there is no way to source it.
Family gifts are allowed on most owner-occupied programs. The donor signs a gift letter stating the amount, the relationship, and that no repayment is expected. The lender usually wants proof the donor had the money and proof of the transfer to you or directly to closing. Gifts from friends, employers, or non-profits are allowed on some programs and not others. Gifts are not allowed on most investment property loans. A gift of equity is when a family member sells you a home below market value and the difference serves as your down payment.
Reserves are funds left after closing, measured in months of the new PITIA. Many owner-occupied loans require none, but reserves are a strong compensating factor. Jumbo loans, investment properties, second homes, and multi-unit properties typically require several months, and investors with multiple financed properties need reserves for each one. Retirement accounts often count at a reduced value because of taxes and penalties on withdrawal.
Checking and savings, money market, CDs, stocks, bonds, and mutual funds; retirement accounts such as 401(k)s and IRAs; the cash value of life insurance; proceeds from the sale of another home or of personal property with documentation; a loan against a 401(k) (which is not counted as debt on most programs); and business funds when you own the business and a cash-flow analysis shows the withdrawal will not harm it. Cryptocurrency generally must be converted to dollars and seasoned before it counts, with the exchange history documented.
Earnest money is the deposit you make when your offer is accepted, held by the title company or brokerage in escrow and credited to you at closing. It shows the seller you are serious. If you back out for a reason covered by a contract contingency before the deadline, you get it back. If you back out for another reason, the seller may keep it. Underwriters trace the check or wire like any other asset.
Cash to close is the total you bring to the closing table: down payment plus closing costs plus prepaid items, minus earnest money already paid, seller credits, and lender credits. It appears on your Loan Estimate and, in final form, on your Closing Disclosure. It must arrive by wire or cashier's check; personal checks are not accepted for large amounts.
An appraisal is a licensed appraiser's opinion of the property's market value, prepared for the lender. The appraiser visits the property, measures it, notes its condition, and compares it with recent sales of similar homes nearby, the comparables or comps, adjusting for differences. You pay for it, but the lender orders it through an appraisal management company so neither the loan officer nor the seller can influence the choice of appraiser. You are entitled to a copy.
Loan-to-value is the loan amount divided by the lower of the purchase price or the appraised value. Combined LTV adds any second mortgage. HCLTV uses the full credit line of a HELOC even if you have not drawn it. LTV drives pricing, mortgage insurance, and program eligibility. On a refinance it is based on appraised value alone, which is why appraisals matter more on refinances.
If the appraised value is below the contract price, the lender bases the loan on the appraised value and you must cover the difference in cash, renegotiate the price with the seller, or walk away under the appraisal contingency if the deadline has not passed. Buyers in competitive markets sometimes write appraisal gap coverage into the offer, promising to pay some or all of a shortfall. You can also request a reconsideration of value with better comps, though success is uncommon.
On strong files with good data, the agencies' automated systems sometimes offer an appraisal waiver (Fannie Mae's "value acceptance," Freddie Mac's ACE), which lets the loan close on the automated valuation with no appraisal. Other files get a desktop or hybrid appraisal where a third party photographs the home and the appraiser works from a desk. Government loans nearly always require a full appraisal.
Appraisers rate condition on a scale, and lenders require the home to be safe, sound, and sanitary. Peeling paint, missing handrails, a broken furnace, or exposed wiring can trigger a repair condition that must be fixed before closing, or an escrow holdback where money is set aside to finish it after. FHA and VA have their own minimum property requirements that are stricter than conventional. "As-is" in the purchase contract means the seller will not negotiate repairs; it does not exempt the property from the lender's standards.
A single-family residence (SFR) is the standard. A condominium is a unit you own inside a project where common areas are owned jointly; it has extra lender rules covered in the next section. A townhome may be legally a condo or a fee-simple house that shares walls, and the lender cares about the legal form, not the architecture. A PUD (planned unit development) is a house in a community with an HOA that owns shared amenities. Two-to-four-unit properties are still residential and can be owner-occupied. Manufactured homes are financeable when permanently attached to a foundation and titled as real estate, with program-specific rules. Mixed-use, rural acreage, and log homes all have lenders that like them and lenders that do not.
Title is legal ownership. A title company searches public records for liens, easements, unpaid taxes, and ownership gaps, then issues a title commitment listing what it found and what must be cleared before closing. Lender's title insurance, required by the lender, protects the loan. Owner's title insurance, optional but strongly recommended and usually paid by the seller in Colorado by custom, protects you for as long as you own the home against claims that predate your purchase. An easement is someone else's right to use part of your land, for a utility line or a shared driveway; it stays with the property.
A full survey establishes exact boundaries. An improvement location certificate (ILC), common in Colorado, is a cheaper drawing showing where buildings sit relative to the lot lines and revealing fence encroachments or setback issues. Lenders and title companies may require one; it is worth having either way.
You must have a homeowners insurance policy (hazard insurance) in force at closing, with the lender named as mortgagee. Bind it early: in parts of Colorado with wildfire or hail exposure, insurers have tightened underwriting and quotes can take time or come back high. The premium is part of your PITIA. If the home is in a designated flood zone, separate flood insurance is mandatory. Condos require a master policy from the HOA plus your own HO-6 policy for the interior.
The Uniform Residential Loan Application, called the 1003 (ten-oh-three) after its old form number, collects your identity, employment, income, assets, debts, and the property. Once a lender has your name, income, Social Security number, property address, estimated value, and loan amount, you have a legal application and the disclosure clock starts. Timberline's secure online application lets you upload documents from your phone.
Within three business days of application the lender must send a Loan Estimate (LE), a standardized three-page form showing the loan terms, projected payment, closing costs, and cash to close. Because every lender uses the same form, LEs are the fair way to compare offers. Nothing is charged except a credit report fee until you sign an intent to proceed. Some LE figures can change later; the form sorts fees into buckets with different tolerances, and lender fees cannot go up at all.
A processor gathers and organizes your documents, orders the appraisal, title work, verifications, and flood certificate, and packages the file for underwriting. The faster you return documents, the faster this stage goes. Answer every request even if it seems redundant; the underwriter will ask for it anyway.
The underwriter verifies everything against the program guidelines and issues a conditional approval: the loan is approved subject to a list of conditions. Prior-to-document conditions must be satisfied before closing documents are drawn; prior-to-funding conditions before money moves. Typical conditions are updated pay stubs, a letter of explanation for a deposit, the HOA questionnaire, or the appraisal itself. When a condition does not belong on the file, Timberline pushes back with the guideline in hand rather than relaying it to you.
Clear to close (CTC) means every condition is satisfied and the lender is ready to prepare closing documents. Dave's purchase files average roughly ten business days from submission to CTC. Once the loan is clear, the closing date is confirmed with title.
The Closing Disclosure (CD) is the final five-page statement of your terms and costs. By federal rule you must receive it at least three business days before you sign, so you can compare it with the Loan Estimate and ask questions. Certain changes after that, like a change in the APR beyond a tolerance or the loan product, restart the three days. This waiting period is why a last-minute change can move your closing date.
In Colorado you close at a title company, which acts as the neutral settlement agent. You sign the note, the deed of trust, and a stack of affidavits; the seller signs the deed. You bring your cash to close by wire (see the wire fraud warning in the contract section). The lender funds the loan, the title company disburses the money and records the deed and deed of trust with the county clerk, and you get the keys at the possession time in your contract. Colorado is generally a same-day funding state on purchases, so keys usually come the day you sign.
Mortgage interest is paid in arrears. At closing you prepay interest from the funding date to the end of that month; your first full payment is then due on the first of the month after the next. Close in the middle of March and the first payment is due May 1. Watch the mail for the servicer's welcome letter and set up payments there, not with the lender's name on your closing documents if a transfer has been announced.
On a refinance of your primary residence, federal law gives you three business days after signing to cancel. Funds are not disbursed until that period ends. It does not apply to purchases or to investment property loans.
This is what each program is for and how it behaves. For what Timberline offers in each category, see the loan programs page.
Loans that meet Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines. They allow low down payments for first-time buyers and owner-occupants, have the widest lender competition, and use private mortgage insurance (PMI) when the down payment is below the agencies' threshold. PMI on a conventional loan is cancelable: you can request removal once the balance falls to a set share of the original value, and federal law requires automatic cancellation a little further down the schedule. Special affordable variants, HomeReady and Home Possible, offer better pricing and reduced PMI for borrowers under area income limits.
Insured by the Federal Housing Administration, FHA loans accept lower credit scores and higher DTIs than conventional loans and allow a low down payment that can come entirely from a gift. The trade-off is mortgage insurance premium (MIP): an up-front premium financed into the loan plus an annual premium paid monthly, and on most FHA loans the annual premium lasts for the life of the loan. FHA has county loan limits, its own appraisal standards, and a streamlined refinance. FHA loans are assumable by a qualified buyer, which can be a selling point later. Condos must be in an FHA-approved project or qualify for single-unit approval.
Guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs for eligible service members, veterans, and some surviving spouses. No down payment is required in most cases, there is no monthly mortgage insurance, and rates are typically among the lowest available. A one-time funding fee applies unless you are exempt, commonly for service-connected disability. Eligibility is proven with a certificate of eligibility (COE); entitlement is the amount VA guarantees, and remaining or "bonus" entitlement lets some veterans hold two VA loans at once. VA uses residual income alongside DTI and has minimum property requirements. The IRRRL is VA's streamlined refinance. VA loans are also assumable.
Guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for homes in eligible rural and outer-suburban areas, which include more of Colorado than people expect. No down payment is required, there are household income limits, and a guarantee fee replaces mortgage insurance. Properties must be modest and primary residences. Eligibility is checked on USDA's address map.
Any loan above the conforming limit for its county. Jumbo lenders set their own rules, typically stricter on credit, reserves, and documentation, and pricing varies more between lenders than on agency loans. Some lenders offer "high-balance" conforming loans in high-cost counties before true jumbo pricing kicks in. Jumbo is where a broker's access to many portfolios matters most.
Programs, usually run by state or local housing agencies or non-profits, that provide part of the down payment or closing costs as a grant, a forgivable second loan, or a deferred second loan. In Colorado the largest source is CHFA, the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, layered on top of an FHA, VA, USDA, or conventional first mortgage. Most programs have income limits, require a homebuyer education course, and require the home to be your primary residence. See Timberline's DPA options.
A non-QM program for self-employed borrowers that calculates income from twelve or twenty-four months of personal or business bank statement deposits, applying an expense factor for business accounts, instead of tax returns. It solves the write-off problem. Pricing is higher than conventional, and reserves and credit requirements are meaningful.
A debt service coverage ratio loan qualifies an investment property on its own rent rather than your personal income. The ratio is the property's monthly rent divided by its full monthly payment including taxes, insurance, and HOA. A ratio of one means the rent exactly covers the payment; lenders prefer more, and some will lend below one at a price. No tax returns, no personal DTI, and the loan can close in an LLC. Short-term rental income can often be used with a track record or a market rent analysis. Most DSCR loans carry a prepayment penalty for the first few years, which you can buy down. Timberline can do DSCR loans in most states, not just Colorado. More in the investing section.
A home equity line of credit is a revolving line secured by your home in second position, with a variable rate tied to prime, a draw period when you can borrow and repay, and a repayment period after. A closed-end second (home equity loan) is a fixed lump sum with a fixed payment. Both let you tap equity without touching a low first-mortgage rate. Some HELOCs are available on investment properties. A piggyback structure uses a second at purchase to reduce the first mortgage and avoid PMI.
A rate-and-term refinance replaces your loan with a new one at a different rate or term without taking cash. A cash-out refinance replaces it with a larger loan and gives you the difference; it prices higher and has seasoning rules. Streamline refinances (FHA Streamline, VA IRRRL, USDA Streamlined-Assist) simplify documentation when you already have that kind of loan and the new loan offers a net tangible benefit. The refinancing section below covers the decision itself.
A construction-to-permanent loan funds the build in draws and converts to a regular mortgage when complete; a one-time-close version has a single closing. Renovation loans such as FHA 203(k), Fannie Mae HomeStyle, and Freddie Mac CHOICERenovation base the loan on the after-improved value so you can buy and fix in one loan. A bridge loan lets you buy before you sell. Fix-and-flip and hard money loans are short-term, asset-based, and priced for speed rather than cost.
ITIN loans for borrowers without a Social Security number. Foreign national loans for non-residents buying U.S. property. Physician loans that ignore student debt for new doctors. Manufactured home programs. Interest-only loans where the payment covers only interest for a period. Reverse mortgages (HECM) for owners over a set age who want to draw equity without a payment. Land loans and lot loans. Portfolio loans that a lender keeps on its own books with its own rules. Each has its place, and the niches section of the programs page lists what we can place.
FHA, VA, and USDA loans can be assumed by a qualified buyer, who takes over the existing rate and balance. In a rising-rate market an assumable low-rate loan can be a real asset when you sell. The buyer must qualify with the servicer, must cover the difference between the price and the loan balance in cash or a second loan, and on VA loans the seller's entitlement stays tied up unless the buyer is also an eligible veteran.
When you buy a condo, the lender underwrites two things: you, and the project. The project review checks that the homeowners association is financially healthy, the building is sound and insured, and the mix of owners fits the agencies' rules. A project that passes is warrantable, meaning Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will buy the loan. Run a building through our condo approval check to see the likely outcome before you write an offer.
Common reasons: too many units owned by investors rather than occupants; one person or entity owning too many units (single-entity concentration); too much commercial space in the building; the HOA is in litigation, especially about construction defects; too many owners delinquent on dues; the budget does not set aside enough for reserves; the project is still under construction or the developer still controls the HOA; hotel-like features such as a front desk, daily rentals, or mandatory rental pools (a condotel); or, since the 2021 Surfside collapse, significant deferred maintenance, unfunded structural repairs, or large pending special assessments. Non-warrantable does not mean unfinanceable; it means the loan goes to a portfolio or non-QM lender at a different price. Read our non-warrantable condo playbook.
The lender sends the HOA a standardized condo questionnaire and collects the declarations (CC&Rs), bylaws, current budget, balance sheet, reserve study if one exists, recent meeting minutes, and the master insurance certificate. HOAs often charge for the questionnaire. Delays here are the most common reason condo closings slip, so the request goes out the day you are under contract.
On owner-occupied conventional loans with a larger down payment, the agencies allow a limited review that checks only a few items. Smaller down payments, second homes, and investment condos trigger a full review of the whole project. FHA and VA maintain their own lists of approved projects; FHA also allows single-unit approval for a unit in an unapproved building that meets certain tests.
The HOA's master policy insures the building. Depending on its type, it stops at the studs or includes interior finishes. Your HO-6 policy covers your interior, your belongings, liability, and any deductible the HOA can pass to you. Lenders also require the HOA to carry fidelity (crime) coverage and, in flood zones, a master flood policy.
Monthly dues are part of your PITIA and your DTI. A special assessment is a one-time charge for a project the reserves cannot cover; a pending one must be disclosed and may need to be paid or escrowed at closing. In Colorado the HOA issues a status letter before closing confirming the dues balance, any assessments, and any violations; the seller normally pays for it. Read the minutes: if a roof or elevator is coming up, so is an assessment.
Lenders classify by legal ownership. If you own the land under your unit, it is treated like a house (often inside a PUD) with a light review. If you own only the interior airspace, it is a condo and gets the project review, even if it looks like a row house. A site condo is a detached house that is legally a condo; it gets a simplified review. Your title commitment tells you which one you are buying.
Colorado HOAs operate under the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (CCIOA), which sets rules for budgets, records access, meetings, collections, and the status letter. Ask for the association's full document package at the HOA deadline in your contract and read it; you have the right to terminate within that window if you do not like what you find.
Colorado real estate agents use a state-approved form, the Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate. Its heart is a dates and deadlines table that lists every milestone: earnest money due, title and HOA document deadlines, inspection objection and resolution deadlines, appraisal deadline, loan terms and loan availability deadlines, closing date, and possession. Missing a deadline can cost you your earnest money or your right to walk away, so your agent and loan officer should be working from the same table from day one.
A contingency is a condition that lets you terminate and keep your earnest money if it is not met. The inspection contingency lets you object to defects or terminate. The appraisal contingency protects you if the appraisal comes in below the price. The loan contingency (loan availability deadline in Colorado) protects you if financing falls through. A home sale contingency makes the purchase depend on selling your current home. Waiving contingencies makes an offer stronger and riskier; an underwritten pre-approval lets you shorten the loan deadline with confidence rather than waive it blind.
An inspection is for you, not the lender, and is separate from the appraisal. In Colorado, add-on inspections worth considering are radon (the state has high natural radon levels), a sewer scope in older neighborhoods with clay lines, a roof inspection given the hail history, and well and septic tests on rural property. Colorado counties often require a septic use permit or inspection at transfer.
A seller concession is money the seller contributes toward your closing costs, prepaids, or a buydown, written into the contract. Every program caps concessions as a share of the price, with the cap depending on program and down payment, and a concession cannot exceed actual costs. In a buyer's market, a concession can lower your cash to close far more than a price cut of the same size lowers your payment. We price these into offers before you write them.
Criminals monitor real estate email and send fake wiring instructions that look like they came from the title company. Before wiring cash to close, call the title company at a phone number you looked up independently, not one in the email, and confirm the account details verbally. Title companies never change wire instructions by email at the last minute. This is the single most expensive mistake a buyer can make.
The closing date is when documents are signed and the loan funds. Possession is when you get the keys, which can be the same day or a set time later. A post-closing occupancy agreement (rent-back) lets the seller stay for a short period after closing; lenders limit how long on an owner-occupied loan. Avoid closing on the last business day of a month if you can; title companies and lenders are slammed, and a hiccup pushes you into the next month's interest and rescission math.
Lender fees: origination, underwriting, processing, and any discount points. Third-party fees: appraisal, credit report, flood certification, title search, lender's title insurance, settlement or closing fee, recording fees, and in Colorado a small state documentary fee on the deed. Prepaids: interest from funding to month-end, the first year's homeowners insurance premium, and the initial deposit into your escrow account. Prepaids are not fees; they are your own future bills paid early.
By custom, the seller pays for the owner's title insurance policy and the HOA status letter, and property taxes are prorated to the closing date. The buyer pays the lender's title policy, recording, and the loan costs. Everything is negotiable in the contract, and seller concessions can shift the buyer's side to the seller.
The Loan Estimate is the forecast; the Closing Disclosure is the final bill. Compare them line by line. Lender fees and transfer taxes cannot increase. Fees for services you shopped for can change freely if you picked the provider; if you used the lender's list, the total of that group can rise only a small amount. Prepaids and escrow deposits can change because they depend on the closing date and actual premiums.
There is no such thing as a free loan. A no-closing-cost loan pays the costs with a lender credit in exchange for a higher rate, or rolls them into the balance on a refinance. That can be the right choice when you will not keep the loan long. Just know what you are trading.
Colorado property taxes are paid in arrears: the bill you pay in a given year covers the previous year. At closing the seller credits you for their share of the current year's tax, and you will pay the full bill when it comes. In new subdivisions with a metropolitan district (metro district), a separate mill levy that repays the developer's infrastructure bonds can make the tax bill much larger than the county rate alone suggests. Ask for the current tax bill and the metro district disclosure before you write the offer.
Your loan may be sold or its servicing transferred, sometimes within weeks. You get a "goodbye" letter from the old servicer and a "hello" letter from the new one, and a grace period during which a payment sent to the old servicer cannot be treated as late. The terms of your note do not change. Verify any new payment address against the letters, not against an email.
Once a year the servicer compares what it collected for taxes and insurance with what it paid. A shortage means your payment rises to catch up and to cover the higher bills going forward; you can usually pay the shortage in a lump sum to soften the increase. In a new home's second year the tax bill often jumps because the first year was assessed on the land or a partial build.
On a conventional loan you can request PMI cancellation once you reach the required equity, based on the original value or, after a period, on a new appraisal. Automatic cancellation follows a bit later by law if you are current. FHA annual MIP on most loans made since 2013 lasts for the loan's life; the exit is a refinance into a conventional loan once you have the equity.
A recast re-amortizes your existing loan after a large lump-sum principal payment, lowering the required payment while keeping the rate and the original maturity date. Most conventional servicers allow it for a small fee; government loans generally do not. It is useful when you sell a previous home after buying the new one.
Any extra amount marked "apply to principal" shortens the loan and cuts interest. A biweekly plan simply results in one extra monthly payment per year. Do not pay a third party to set that up; you can do it yourself. Check for a prepayment penalty first; owner-occupied QM loans do not have one, many DSCR loans do.
Colorado reassesses property every two years, and you can appeal a valuation in a short window each spring. The state also offers a senior property tax exemption for long-time owner-occupants over a set age and a similar exemption for disabled veterans. Apply through the county assessor.
After recording, your loan information is public. You will receive letters styled as urgent notices offering mortgage protection insurance, home warranties, or "final notice" refinance offers. None are from your lender. Call your loan officer if anything looks real.
A refinance costs money, whether paid in cash, financed into the balance, or paid through a higher rate. Divide the total cost by the monthly savings to get the break-even in months. If you will keep the loan longer than that, the refinance pays off. If you may sell or refinance again sooner, it does not, no matter how good the new rate sounds. Also compare total remaining interest, because restarting a thirty-year clock can cost more over time even at a lower rate.
Cash-out refinances price higher than rate-and-term, have lower maximum LTVs, and require you to have owned the home for a seasoning period before using the new appraised value. Rules differ for primary, second home, and investment properties. Paying off a HELOC that you drew on recently can be treated as cash-out. If you only need a portion of your equity and your first-mortgage rate is low, a HELOC or closed-end second usually beats a cash-out.
FHA, VA, and USDA each have a streamlined refinance for borrowers already in that program that reduces documentation, often skips the appraisal, and requires a net tangible benefit such as a meaningful payment reduction. They cannot take cash out, apart from VA's separate cash-out program.
If you have a HELOC or second and refinance only the first, the second lender must agree to stay in second position through a subordination agreement. Some will, some will not, and it takes time. Tell your loan officer about any second lien at the start.
Investment refinances can use full documentation or DSCR. Cash-out on rentals is where many investors fund the next purchase; seasoning and LTV limits apply, and a delayed-financing exception lets you recover cash soon after an all-cash purchase.
The most accessible path is house hacking: buy a two-to-four-unit property, or a house with an ADU or spare rooms, as your primary residence with an owner-occupied loan, live in part, rent the rest. Owner-occupied loans allow low down payments and the best pricing, and the rental income can help you qualify. After the occupancy period in your loan documents, typically a year, you can move on and repeat. The second most common path is converting a former home to a rental when you buy the next one.
The DSCR loan is the workhorse of small-investor financing. Qualification is the property's rent divided by its PITIA. Rent comes from the current lease or the appraiser's market rent schedule, and many lenders use the lower of the two. Higher ratios earn better pricing; lower ratios and higher LTVs cost more. There is no personal income review, no DTI, and no limit on the number of financed properties in most cases, and the loan can close in an LLC with a personal guarantee. Expect a credit score requirement, a few months of reserves, a higher down payment than owner-occupied, and a prepayment penalty structure you can select. Short-term rentals are financeable with a booking history or a short-term-rent analysis, at somewhat tighter terms. Timberline does DSCR in most states.
Agency loans on rentals use your full personal income and DTI, with the new property's rent partly offsetting the payment. They price better than DSCR for strong borrowers but cap the number of financed properties (currently ten), require reserves for each, and must close in your personal name. Many investors use conventional for the first few properties and DSCR after.
Agency and government loans require a person, not an entity, as borrower. DSCR and portfolio loans allow an LLC. Transferring a property into an LLC after closing on a conventional loan can technically trigger the due-on-sale clause, although the agencies now permit transfers to an LLC controlled by the borrower under certain conditions; ask before you do it and keep insurance in the right name. An LLC is a liability and organizational tool, not a tax strategy by itself; talk to a CPA and an attorney.
Gross rent is total rent collected. Operating expenses are taxes, insurance, HOA, management, maintenance, utilities you pay, and a reserve for vacancy and capital items like roofs and furnaces. Net operating income (NOI) is gross rent minus operating expenses, before the mortgage. Cash flow is NOI minus debt service. Cap rate is NOI divided by price and lets you compare properties independent of financing. Cash-on-cash return is annual cash flow divided by the cash you invested and shows what leverage did for you. Vacancy and capex reserves are the line items new investors forget, and forgetting them is how a "cash-flowing" property loses money.
Borrowing amplifies returns in both directions. A property that appreciates modestly can produce a large return on a small down payment; a property whose rent falls short of the payment drains cash every month. The safety margin is reserves: several months of full payments per property, plus money for the surprise repair. Lenders require some; you should hold more.
Short-term rentals (STRs) can produce more revenue and more work, and they live or die on local rules. Denver requires an STR license and limits STRs to primary residences. Mountain towns from Breckenridge to Winter Park have caps, zones, licensing waitlists, and lodging taxes that change often. Verify the rules for the specific address before you count on STR income, and expect lenders to want a booking history or a conservative market analysis. Mid-term rentals (furnished, one to six months, often to traveling nurses or relocating families) sit between the two on both revenue and regulation.
BRRRR stands for buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat: buy a property that needs work with cash or a short-term loan, fix it, rent it, then refinance on the new value to recover your capital. Its success depends on the after-repair value appraising as planned and on cash-out seasoning rules. Fix-and-flip loans and hard money fund the purchase and rehab quickly at a high cost and short term, usually with draws tied to work completed. Bridge loans let you buy before you sell.
A 1031 exchange lets you sell an investment property and defer capital gains tax by buying a replacement through a qualified intermediary within strict deadlines. Depreciation is the annual deduction that shelters rental income, and cost segregation accelerates it. These are tax matters; get a CPA who knows real estate before you buy, not after you sell.
A rental needs a landlord policy (often a DP-3 form), not a homeowners policy, with loss-of-rent coverage. An umbrella policy adds liability coverage above the property policies. Require tenants to carry renters insurance.
Colorado sets rules on security deposit handling and return deadlines, late fees, notice periods, the warranty of habitability, and, since 2024, limits on when a landlord can decline to renew a lease. The details change with each legislative session. Read the current statutes or hire a property manager who does; the cost of a manager is often less than the cost of one mistake.
An accessory dwelling unit is a second, smaller home on the same lot: a basement apartment, a garage conversion, or a backyard cottage. Colorado passed a 2024 law requiring many cities in metro areas to allow ADUs on single-family lots, which took effect in 2025. Lenders can count ADU rent on some programs, and renovation loans can build one. Confirm permitting with the city and check whether the ADU can be rented separately.
A second home is occupied by you part of the year and gets better pricing than an investment property. If you plan to rent it most of the year, it is an investment property for the lender, and calling it a second home to save money is occupancy fraud. Many mountain-town buyers fall into this gray zone; be honest with your loan officer about your plan and we will structure the loan correctly.
Less than most people think. VA and USDA loans require none, FHA and first-time-buyer conventional programs allow a small down payment, and Colorado down payment assistance can cover part of that. You also need closing costs and prepaids, which are separate, and often larger than the down payment on a low-down loan. A loan officer can size both for your price range.
It depends on the program. FHA and VA accept lower scores than conventional loans, and non-QM lenders go lower still at a higher price. Score also affects your rate through loan-level price adjustments. The score that matters is your mortgage tri-merge middle score, which is often different from the score in a banking app.
Debt-to-income ratio is your monthly debt payments, including the new house payment, divided by your gross monthly income. It is the main measure of whether you can afford the loan. Most approvals fall with a total DTI in the 40s as a percentage, with room above that on strong files. Check yours on our DTI page.
The lender reviews the condo project, not just you: the HOA's finances, insurance, owner-occupancy, litigation, commercial space, and building condition. A project that passes agency rules is warrantable. One that does not is non-warrantable and needs a specialty lender. Our condo approval check gives a quick read on a building.
Pre-qualified is an estimate from what you say. Pre-approved means documents and credit were reviewed and a letter was issued. Underwritten pre-approved means an underwriter has already signed off on everything except the property, which makes your offer nearly as strong as cash.
A bank lends its own money and offers its own products. A broker takes your one application to many wholesale lenders, compares their pricing and guidelines, and manages the loan through closing. Brokers are paid by the lender or the borrower, disclosed on your Loan Estimate, and are licensed and regulated like any lender.
Rates move with the mortgage bond market every day and sometimes several times a day. A quote is a snapshot until you lock. Your final rate also depends on credit score, down payment, property type, and occupancy once those are verified.
Private mortgage insurance protects the lender on a conventional loan with a smaller down payment. It is cancelable once you reach the required equity, and it drops automatically a little later by federal law. FHA mortgage insurance works differently and usually stays for the life of the loan unless you refinance.
Two things. During a purchase, escrow is the neutral account that holds your earnest money. After closing, your escrow account is where the servicer collects and pays your property taxes and insurance as part of your monthly payment.
Timberline can close a standard purchase in as little as seven days when the file is complete, and our purchase files average about ten business days to clear to close. Thirty days is a comfortable contract timeline for most purchases. Condos, self-employed income, and appraisal delays are the usual reasons a file needs longer.
Yes. Full-documentation loans use two years of tax returns with add-backs for non-cash deductions. If write-offs make your taxable income too low, bank statement loans qualify you on deposits instead. Both are routine here.
A loan for investment property that qualifies on the property's rent divided by its payment instead of your personal income. No tax returns, no DTI, closes in an LLC, and available in most states through Timberline.
On most owner-occupied programs, yes, from a family member with a signed gift letter and proof of the transfer. Gifts are generally not allowed on investment property loans.
A standardized three-page form every lender must send within three business days of your application, showing the loan terms, projected payment, closing costs, and cash to close. Use it to compare lenders on equal footing.
The loan is based on the appraised value, so you cover the gap in cash, renegotiate the price, or terminate under the appraisal contingency if the deadline has not passed. A reconsideration of value is possible with better comparable sales.
Lock when the rate works for your budget and the closing date is set. Floating is a bet on the bond market. We watch pricing all day and tell clients when we would lock; the decision is yours.
A temporary buydown lowers your effective rate for the first year or two, usually paid for by the seller as a concession. A permanent buydown is paying discount points for a lower rate for the whole loan. You qualify at the full note rate either way.
Not inherently. An ARM has a fixed period, then adjusts on a schedule within caps. It fits people who will sell or refinance before the fixed period ends, and who could afford the payment at the capped rate if they do not.
Lender fees, third-party fees like appraisal and title, recording, and prepaid items like interest, insurance, and the first escrow deposit. They are separate from your down payment. Seller concessions and lender credits can cover part of them.
Look up the company and the loan officer at NMLS Consumer Access. Every licensed originator and company has a number and a public record. Timberline Lending LLC is NMLS 2528109.
That is the file we are best at. Most declines are one lender's guideline, not an industry verdict. We move the same application to a lender whose box it fits, whether that means a different agency lender, a non-QM program, or a portfolio lender.
Every underwriting condition is satisfied and the lender is ready to draw closing documents. The Closing Disclosure goes out, the three-business-day wait runs, and you sign.
A special taxing district in many newer Colorado subdivisions that repays the developer's infrastructure bonds through an added mill levy on your property tax bill. It can make taxes much higher than the county rate alone. Ask for the tax bill and district disclosure before you offer.
Our residential lending is focused on Colorado. DSCR investment loans are available in most states.
One-line definitions. Most terms are explained in more depth in the sections above.
This page is educational and general. It is not a Loan Estimate, rate quote, pre-approval, or commitment to lend, and it is not legal, tax, or investment advice. All loans are subject to credit approval, underwriting, and program guidelines. Not all applicants will qualify. Programs, rates, terms, and conditions are subject to change or termination at any time without notice. Other restrictions and limitations may apply. Timberline Lending LLC is not affiliated with, or acting on behalf of or at the direction of, FHA, VA, USDA, HUD, or any agency of the federal or state government. Timberline Lending LLC · NMLS #2528109 · Dave Glotfelty, NMLS #857935 · 303-669-2102 · Equal Housing Lender.
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