Mortgage news and helpful tips

Who pays closing costs in Nevada? The purchase contract decides. See the buyer's own line items, from origination charge to prepaid taxes and insurance, and how much the seller can credit: 9/6/3% conventional by LTV, 6% FHA, 4% VA concessions.

Mortgage underwriting is one person verifying four things — credit, income, assets, and the property — usually after an automated first pass from DU or LPA. What the underwriter checks in each lane, why a conditions list means the process is working, the 8 most common conditions and what satisfies each, the 10-day employment re-verification, the large-deposit rule, and what clear to close really means.

VA IRRRL recoupment, worked: divide your recoupable costs by the monthly payment reduction, and 36 months or fewer clears 38 U.S.C. 3709(a)(2). Includes a full recoupment matrix, the statute's exclusion list, and what happens when a streamline fails the test.

Compare prequalification and preapproval, documents, credit checks, conditions and expiration dates. Learn what to ask before choosing a mortgage lender.

VA loan eligibility, verdict first: most veterans qualify — about 90 days of wartime-era active service, 181 days in peacetime eras, 24 continuous months for Gulf-War-to-present service, or six creditable years in the Guard or Reserve — and the Certificate of Eligibility is the proof, which a lender can usually pull online in minutes. The full service-era table, the three ways to get a COE, entitlement math with a Clark County worked example, restoration, surviving spouses, and discharge questions.

A mortgage rate lock freezes your rate and points for a set lock period while your loan closes. When to lock vs. float, what 30-, 45-, 60-, and 90-day locks cost, how float-down options work, what happens when a lock expires - and the exact monthly cost of floating, in real numbers.

How much house can I afford? Two honest answers: the lender’s ceiling — total debts up to roughly 45–50% of gross monthly income — and your budget’s number, which is usually lower. The full math chain on a $95,000 income, an income-to-price table, the approved-for-more trap, and the 2026 Las Vegas loan limits.

Refinancing wins when you keep the loan past your break-even point: closing costs divided by monthly savings. The framework in real numbers - when a refi wins, when it loses, rate-and-term vs cash-out vs streamline, and the honest math behind the no-closing-cost option.

There is no special "self-employed mortgage" - the programs are the same. What changes is the income math: two years of tax returns, averaged after deductions, with paper write-offs added back. How lenders count it, the write-off trap in real numbers, and the bank-statement alternative.

FHA vs conventional in 2026 usually comes down to credit score. See the side-by-side: 3.5% vs 3% down, flat MIP vs credit-priced cancellable PMI, 580 vs 620 floors, the 2026 Las Vegas loan limits, and a 660-vs-760 worked example priced both ways.