July 2026 | GTG Financial | Santa Rosa, CA First-Time Buyer Down Payment: How Little You Actually Need in Sonoma County A first-time buyer in Sonoma County may need as little as 3% down on a conventional loan, or 3.5%…
July 2026 | GTG Financial | Santa Rosa, CA Real Estate Contingencies Explained: The Big Three and When to Waive Them Real estate contingencies are safety nets written into your purchase contract that let you back out without losing your…
July 2026 | GTG Financial | Santa Rosa, CA 80/10/10 Loan: How We Beat PMI and a Jumbo Rate on a $1M Petaluma Home An 80/10/10 loan is a piggyback structure: a first mortgage for 80% of the price, a…
July 2026 | GTG Financial | Santa Rosa, CA Earnest Money Deposit: What It Is, and When You Could Lose It An earnest money deposit is a good faith deposit, usually 1 to 3% of the offer price, that you…
July 2026 | GTG Financial | Santa Rosa, CA Pre-Qualified vs Pre-Approved: What’s the Difference, and Which Do You Need? A pre-qualification is an informal estimate based on what you tell a lender, with nothing verified. A pre-approval means your…
July 2026 | GTG Financial | Santa Rosa, CA HELOC vs Cash-Out Refinance: How to Tap Your Home Equity Without Losing Your Low Rate A HELOC lets you borrow against your home equity through a second loan, so your first…
July 2026 | GTG Financial | Santa Rosa, CA TL;DR: What’s in This Post The price-vs-credit reframe: same to the seller, different for you Why knocking $1,000 off the price only saves about $7 a month How to put a…
July 2026 | GTG Financial | Santa Rosa, CA TL;DR: What’s in This Post Why an FHA loan is not only for first-time buyers The mortgage insurance detail most people never hear (500 or 850, same cost) The 3.5% down…
July 2026 | GTG Financial | Santa Rosa, CA TL;DR: What’s in This Post What a VA IRRRL (the streamline refi) is, and what it skips Why the “4% refi” offers flooding your mailbox are usually a trap How a…
June 2026 | GTG Financial | Santa Rosa, CA TL;DR: What’s in This Post Why mortgage rates spike fast but fall slowly Where rates actually stand right now, and why the level is not the problem What Thursday’s jobs report…
