Your earnest money goes into a neutral escrow account, not to the seller. It is held there, protected by your contingencies, and it counts toward your down payment and closing costs, so it is not an extra cost on top…
A mortgage pre-approval is good indefinitely if we got you there without pulling credit, and it only resets when you change a major cornerstone of your qualification or when we actually run your credit. Once credit is pulled, a roughly…
Mortgage qualification is the step where your lender verifies everything you submitted, especially your income, so your pre-qualification is solid and there are no surprises later. It is also where most people start asking about interest rates, and where you…
Apply for a mortgage before you start seriously shopping for a home, not after you find one. Getting your documents and application looked at first is the difference between making a strong, ready offer and scrambling under pressure while the…
A mortgage discovery call is a short, no-pressure first conversation with your loan officer, and it does not involve pulling your credit. It is a chance to lay out the puzzle pieces of your situation so we can point you…
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…
