Financing readiness
Understand the documents, review path, and questions that make a file ready for lender review.
Read the guidejohn's real estate buyer's blueprint
Ten guides from John Palmer, a California broker and senior loan officer with 36 years in this market. They follow a purchase in the order it actually happens: the money first, the people second, the process third.
Written for buyers who want to understand what they are signing before they sign it. No jargon left unexplained, no pressure, and no assumption that you already know how any of this works. Read one, or read all ten in order.
Start with the question you need answered, then take the next practical step with John. These guides explain what to review. They do not promise a loan, property, or offer outcome.
new here? start with Start With the Loan, Not the Listing
Understand the documents, review path, and questions that make a file ready for lender review.
Read the guideUnderstand the conversations and agreements that shape how John represents you.
Read the guideReview the property, offer, and closing questions before you decide what to do next.
Read the guideThe most common mistake I see California buyers make, and the order I'd use instead: financing first, then your agent, then the house.
7 min02Lenders use a tri-merged credit report and your middle FICO score, not an app score and not an average. Here is what that number controls.
7 min03FHA, conventional, high-balance, jumbo, and VA down payment minimums in California, and the mortgage insurance most buyers forget to plan for.
7 min04What each fee on a California closing statement actually pays for, and how to get your own numbers in writing before you write an offer.
7 min05The rules changed in August 2024. Buyer agent compensation is negotiable, agreed in writing with your own agent, and no longer published in the MLS.
7 min06Both of them work for you, and neither one is interchangeable. The questions I would ask a California agent and a lender before hiring either.
7 min07A step-by-step walk through California escrow, from the fully executed contract through recording, in the order it actually happens.
7 min08Why a California home inspection matters even when the seller is honest, and how to handle the report while you're still inside your contingency period.
7 min09Property taxes, homeowners insurance, and HOA dues are property-specific in California. How to find out what a home really costs before you offer.
7 min10What a cloud on title is, why title insurance looks backward instead of forward, and what a California escrow officer actually does for you.
7 minConnect your home search, representation, and financing decisions.
Read the guideComplete your paperwork and validation. Get a decision and, if pre-approved, a loan amount to guide your home-price shopping.
Read the guidePrepare ten practical questions before you make an offer.
Read the guideA move for work compresses decisions that normally have room to breathe. These pages cover the same ground from either side: the employee doing the moving, and the team arranging it. The third answers the closing-cost question both of them tend to ask.
Connect your move, your timing, and the mortgage path that fits your file.
Read the guideFor HR, mobility, and talent teamsA resource HR, mobility, and talent teams can share without managing a transaction.
Read the guideFor HR, mobility, and talent teamsSomething relocating employees can ask John about, with nothing for the company to run.
Read the guide