Buying a home,
done in order.
The right order is program first, house second: know what you qualify for and what it really costs monthly before you fall for a kitchen. Residential programs are available in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, and North Carolina.
Stonehaven Lending arranges purchase financing as a mortgage brokerage - matching your profile with conventional, FHA, or VA programs from third-party lenders, then managing the file from qualification through closing. Which path fits depends on your credit profile, down payment, and the property; the honest comparison takes one conversation, not a rate ad. Start with the payment calculator, then tell us about the home.
Three ways into the same front door.
Conventional - loans underwritten to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines. Down payment options vary by program and profile, and mortgage insurance generally applies below 20% down but can be removed later as equity grows.
FHA - government-insured, built for accessibility: down payments from 3.5% for qualifying credit profiles and more flexibility on credit history, in exchange for mortgage insurance premiums.
VA - for eligible veterans, service members, and certain surviving spouses: qualifying borrowers can buy with no down payment and no monthly mortgage insurance.
Investment property? That's a different desk - DSCR loans qualify on the property's rent, not your paycheck.
Shop with the full payment, not the price.
The number that matters is the full monthly payment - principal, interest, taxes, insurance, HOA, and any mortgage insurance - not the sticker price and not a teaser rate. Run your scenario in the mortgage calculator: it itemizes PITI honestly and also inverts the math to show what a housing budget supports. We deliberately publish no rates - they move daily and a stale number would mislead you; the calculator is exact for whatever estimate you enter.
What operations experience buys you.
Purchase timelines die in the file, not at the lender. Our founding team spent two decades running mortgage operations - processing, underwriting support, post-closing quality control - so your documents get requested once, guideline issues get anticipated instead of discovered in week three, and your contract dates get treated as real. Under contract already? Say so - urgent files get sequenced accordingly.
What we'll tell you plainly.
If your profile needs work before a lender will say yes, we'll say that - and what specifically to work on. If renting longer is genuinely the better math for your situation, we'll say that too. A brokerage that tells you only what closes this month isn't advising you; it's harvesting you.
Tell us about the home.
Share the basics and a specialist replies personally within one business day - no obligation, no credit pull at this stage.