A Mortgage Payment That Stays the Same

The 30-year fixed is what most of my California buyers end up with, and there's a reason. You lock the rate and the principal-and-interest payment for the full 360 months, then amortize over the longest term Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will write. That stretches the payment thin enough that families can actually afford Sonoma County prices without betting on a refinance later.

It's available as Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, and Jumbo. The structure is the same across all five — what changes is the qualifying box, the down payment, and the mortgage insurance. I'll show you the side-by-side so you can see which version fits cleanest.

The 15-year fixed prices below the 30 — typically by a noticeable margin — and you own the house outright in half the time. The trade is a higher monthly payment, because you're amortizing the same balance over 180 months instead of 360. For borrowers with strong income and modest loan amounts, the lifetime interest savings are large enough that it's worth a careful look.

Available as Conventional, FHA, VA, and Jumbo. On FHA 15-year loans with at least 10% down, the annual MIP is reduced and falls off after 11 years, which is one of the few places the FHA program is genuinely competitive with conventional.

A conventional fixed is any fixed-rate loan that meets Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac guidelines and falls under the conforming loan limit. In most of California the 2026 baseline conforming limit is in the $800K range and high-cost counties like Sonoma, Marin, and the Bay Area counties carry a higher ceiling — I'll confirm the current limit for your county when we price it.

Down payment can go as low as 3% on primary residence purchases, and private mortgage insurance (PMI) drops off automatically at 78% LTV — or sooner if you request it at 80%. For borrowers with credit in the 740+ range and a 20% down payment, conventional almost always prices and structures better than FHA.

VA loans are guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs and available to eligible veterans, active-duty service members, National Guard and Reserve members, and surviving spouses. There's no down payment requirement and no monthly mortgage insurance — two things that don't exist together in any other program. Rates also tend to price competitively with or better than conventional.

There is a VA funding fee charged at closing (waived if you have a service-connected disability rating), which can be financed into the loan. I'll pull your COE — Certificate of Eligibility — directly through the VA portal so we know your entitlement and any funding fee tier before we structure the file.

A jumbo fixed is any fixed-rate loan that exceeds the conforming loan limit for the county. In most of Sonoma County and the Bay Area, that's the loan you need once the loan amount climbs past the high-cost ceiling. Jumbo guidelines aren't set by Fannie or Freddie — each investor writes their own — so reserves, credit, and documentation requirements run tighter, but pricing is often closer to conventional than people expect.

I work with multiple jumbo investors, which matters because their boxes differ. One will go to 89.99% LTV with no MI on a strong file; another will price aggressively at 80% but cap DTI at 43%. For self-employed borrowers, I also have bank statement and asset-depletion jumbo options if tax returns don't tell the real story.