Washington State Mortgages, Made Clear. Buying or Refinancing? Let's find the right loan together.
I'm Rhonda Porter — a licensed Mortgage Advisor with 25+ years of experience helping homebuyers and homeowners across Washington State find the right loan with confidence. No jargon. No pressure. Just honest guidance.
Where did your loan officer go?A lot of loan officers have left the business over the past couple of years. Volume dried up, commissions followed, and many originators either changed careers or moved to a different lender without telling their old client base. Others are still licensed and technically “in business,” but they’ve gone quiet — waiting for rates to drop far enough to trigger a refi boom before they pick up the phone again. [Read more…]
Nurse Practitioners, CRNAs & Physician Assistants Now Qualify for the Doctor Loan ProgramI’m excited to share an update to the medical professional mortgage program: Nurse Practitioners (NP), Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA with DNAP or DNP), and Physician Assistants/Associates (PA) now qualify. This has been one of the more common questions I’ve fielded since the doctor loan program launched — I’ve had nurses reach out in the past hoping to use it, and I wasn’t able to help them qualify. That’s changed, and I’m glad to finally have an answer for them. [Read more…]
This post explains how lenders calculate post-closing reserve requirements under conventional (conforming) guidelines, and how FHA, VA, jumbo, and Non-QM programs differ. Reserve rules vary by lender overlay, so figures here reflect agency minimums — always confirm current requirements with your loan officer before making financial plans.
When underwriters talk about reserves, they’re not talking about your down payment or closing costs — those are separate. Reserves are the liquid assets you’d have left after your loan closes: money in the bank that could cover your mortgage payment if your income disappeared tomorrow. [Read more…]
With affordability tight across King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, I’m seeing more buyers team up with someone other than a spouse or partner — roommates who decide renting no longer pencils out, adult siblings splitting an investment property, or longtime friends going in together on a home. If that’s you, Washington’s vesting rules are the same ones that apply to any unmarried co-buyers, but the practical questions around exit strategy and unequal contributions tend to matter even more when there isn’t a relationship holding things together. [Read more…]
