Mortgage guides for Maryland
Buying your first home, comparing loans or planning a refinance? Start with what matters to you today.
Guides in the order you will need them
Browse all the guides below and choose the topic you need. You can read one guide now and come back for the rest.
What to do first, who to call, and what happens at each step of a Maryland home purchase: credit and budget, preapproval, the offer, the application, underwriting, and closing.
Read guideHow a mortgage preapproval works in Maryland: prequalification vs. preapproval, the documents a loan officer asks for, how long the letter lasts, and what it does not guarantee.
Read guideThe two numbers every first-time buyer in Maryland needs: what a lender can qualify you for and what you can comfortably pay. Plus credit, savings, documents, and your team.
Read guideHow much down payment you need for a house in Maryland, what mortgage insurance is, how gift funds and large deposits are documented, and where Maryland down payment assistance comes from.
Read guideWhat an FHA loan is and how it works for a home in Maryland: the 3.5 percent down payment, FHA mortgage insurance, credit flexibility, county limits, condos, and FHA versus conventional.
Read guideThe difference between a mortgage broker, a lender, a loan officer, and a servicer, how each is paid, how to verify a Maryland license on NMLS Consumer Access, and how to compare offers.
Read guideA plain roadmap for first-generation homebuyers in Maryland: who to call first, the two numbers that set your budget, the papers you will need, Maryland programs, and free counseling.
Read guideHow a lender calculates self-employed income for a Maryland mortgage: two years of returns, averaging, how deductions cut qualifying income, the year-to-date P&L, and large deposits.
Read guideHow a Maryland mortgage works when you own a company: how K-1 income and distributions are read, why gross revenue is not your income, and when business funds can pay the down payment.
Read guideBuying a home in Maryland with an ITIN: what the number is and is not, the questions to ask a loan officer before applying, the documents usually involved, and your fair-lending rights.
Read guideHow to decide whether refinancing your Maryland mortgage is worth it: what it costs, how to find your break-even month, what “no-cost” really means, and how cash-out differs.
Read guideHow to use the equity in your Maryland home: what equity is, how a HELOC, a home equity loan, and a cash-out refinance differ in rate, payment, and risk, and what to ask before you borrow.
Read guideHow a fixed-rate mortgage differs from an ARM, what happens when an ARM adjusts, the caps and index that set the new payment, and how a 15, 20, or 30-year term changes the math.
Read guideWhat a conventional loan is, what makes it conforming, why the limit is higher in some Maryland counties than others, and what changes when a loan is jumbo.
Read guideHow USDA Rural Development loans work in eligible areas of Maryland: the guaranteed and direct programs, the no-down-payment feature, income and location limits, and how to check an address.
Read guideWhere these guides apply
Paola helps with mortgages for properties in Maryland only. A license does not decide eligibility or promise an outcome; every file is reviewed on its own.
Scope of this guide: Education for homes in Maryland, and a way to reach Paola. This page is not a loan application, a preapproval, an eligibility or credit decision, or a commitment to lend.
Tell Paola what you are trying to do and she will call you. You do not need to send any documents through this website.