HELOC vs. Home Equity Loan vs. Cash-Out Refinance: Which Is Right for You? If you've owned your home for a while, you've likely built equity without even thinking about it. As your home increases in value and your mortgage balance decreases, that equity can become a valuable financial tool. Maybe you're planning a home renovation, [..]

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How much house can I afford based on my income? Your income is an important part of mortgage affordability, but it is not the only factor. Lenders also evaluate your monthly debts, down payment, credit, mortgage rate, property taxes, homeowners insurance and loan program. A personalized prequalification can provide a more useful estimate than [..]

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How to calculate your refinance break-even point A lower mortgage rate or monthly payment can make refinancing sound like an easy decision. But before you move forward, there’s another number worth knowing: your refinance break-even point. Refinancing comes with costs, and your break-even point tells you how long it could take for your monthly savings [..]

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What happens after paying off your mortgage? Paying off your mortgage is a major financial milestone. Whether you've reached the end of your loan term or paid off your mortgage early, owning your home free and clear is an exciting accomplishment.  But after making your final mortgage payment, you may [..]

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How Is Self-Employment Income Calculated for a Mortgage? Mortgage lenders generally calculate self-employment income by reviewing tax returns and other business records, identifying stable income available to the borrower and determining whether that income is likely to continue. The amount used to qualify may be different from gross revenue, taxable [..]

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The mortgage FAQs Gen Z buyers are actually asking (and how to answer them) Gen Z isn't avoiding homeownership. They're avoiding salespeople. Only 25% of respondents said they trust the mortgage industry, and another 28% aren't sure what to think (Guild Mortgage & YouGov, 2026). That may feel like rejection, but it’s [..]

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Understanding VA loan entitlement: How to use and restore your VA benefits One of the biggest misconceptions about VA loans is that you can only use your benefit once. Fortunately, that's not the case. Many veterans, active-duty service members and eligible surviving spouses can use their VA home loan benefit multiple [..]

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The three-year homebuyer journey: Why buying and selling a home starts earlier than you think We’ve traditionally measured the homebuying journey in weeks: the time between an accepted offer and a closing date. New research from Guild Mortgage and YouGov suggests that view may be too narrow. For many prospective buyers, especially [..]

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What Gen Z's Learning Habits Reveal About the Future of Homebuyer Education For decades, homebuyer education followed a relatively predictable path. Prospective buyers connected with a lender or housing counselor, enrolled in a homebuyer education course when appropriate and learned the fundamentals of budgeting, credit, mortgage financing and the homebuying [..]

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Am I ready to buy a home? Why so many first-time buyers think the answer is no. There's one question that many prospective homebuyers ask themselves long before they ever speak with a loan officer: Am I ready to buy a home? It's a reasonable question. Purchasing a home [..]

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