Sacramento Home Mortgage Loans | The Chris Kennedy Team
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Sacramento Housing Blog

Sacramento Housing Blog

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Why Buying a Home is the Best Investment

Welcome to The Chris Kennedy Team Mortgage Blog

Honest, local, easy-to-understand mortgage guidance for buyers and homeowners across Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, and Yolo Counties.

Hi — I'm Chris Kennedy. For years, I've helped first-time buyers, veterans, families upsizing into their forever homes, and seasoned investors navigate one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives: getting a mortgage in the greater Sacramento area.

This blog exists for one simple reason. Most mortgage advice online is generic, confusing, or written by people who've never closed a loan in Sacramento, Roseville, Folsom, El Dorado Hills, or Davis. I wanted to change that.

Every post on this site is written for you — the buyer, homeowner, or veteran trying to make sense of mortgages in a real Northern California market. Real numbers. Real neighborhoods. Real programs that actually work here.

What you'll find on this blog

Whether you're brand new to homebuying or you've owned for decades, you'll find practical, local guidance on every part of the mortgage process. The articles below cover:

For first-time buyers — How to qualify, how much you really need to put down, how to use CalHFA assistance, and how to stop waiting and start owning.

For veterans, active-duty service members, and surviving spouses — Everything you need to know about putting your VA home loan benefit to work in Sacramento, Roseville, Folsom, and beyond. Zero down. No PMI. The benefit you earned.

For move-up buyers and luxury buyers — Jumbo loan strategies for higher-priced markets like El Dorado Hills, Granite Bay, Serrano, and Bass Lake — including how to qualify, what reserves you'll need, and how to compete in luxury bidding wars.

For investors and wealth-builders — How to use FHA multi-family loans (yes, with just 3.5% down) to "house hack" your first investment property, plus the long-term wealth-building strategy that real estate quietly delivers better than almost any other investment.

For buyers in rural and semi-rural areas — A breakdown of USDA loans across Placer, El Dorado, and Yolo counties, where surprisingly large portions of the region qualify for $0-down financing.

For credit-building buyers — How FHA loans help buyers with imperfect credit get into Sacramento-area homes, plus practical credit improvement strategies that actually move the needle.

Why this blog is different

Three things set this content apart:

It's local. Every article names real neighborhoods, real Sacramento-area home prices, and real programs available in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, and Yolo counties — not vague national advice.

It's honest. I tell you what works, what doesn't, what the catches are, and when a loan isn't right for you. No high-pressure pitches. No fine print buried at the bottom.

It's actionable. Every post is built so that by the end, you know what to do next — whether that's running numbers, checking eligibility, or starting a conversation.

A little about me

I've spent my career helping Sacramento-area families navigate mortgages — through every kind of market, every kind of loan, and every kind of buyer situation. I've helped:

  • First-time buyers close with $0–$5,000 out of pocket using FHA + CalHFA strategies

  • Veterans buy in Sacramento, Roseville, Folsom, and El Dorado Hills with zero down

  • Move-up families step into luxury markets using jumbo financing

  • Investors build long-term wealth through smart house-hacking and refinance strategies

  • Self-employed borrowers other lenders turned away find creative solutions

My team and I serve the entire greater Sacramento region, including:

  • Sacramento County — Sacramento, Elk Grove, Folsom, Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova, Antelope, Natomas

  • Placer County — Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln, Auburn, Loomis, Granite Bay

  • El Dorado County — El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park, Placerville, Diamond Springs, Pollock Pines

  • Yolo County — Davis, Woodland, West Sacramento, Winters, Esparto

If you're buying anywhere in Northern California, there's a good chance we can help.

Start exploring

Scroll down to find articles tailored to your situation. If you're not sure where to begin, here are three good starting points:

Ready to talk?

Reading is great — but a 15-minute conversation will tell you more about what's possible for your specific situation than any article ever could. No pressure, no obligation, no salesy follow-up calls.

Chris Kennedy | The Chris Kennedy Team NMLS# 971546 Mortgage Lender serving Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, and Yolo Counties www.thechriskennedyteam.com

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The Chris Kennedy Team specializes in FHA, VA, USDA, conventional, jumbo, and CalHFA loans throughout Sacramento, Roseville, Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Granite Bay, Davis, Woodland, Auburn, Lincoln, Rocklin, Cameron Park, and the surrounding Northern California region. Browse the articles below to learn more — or reach out anytime.

ADU Financing in Sacramento: Loans & Rental Income Guide

Accessory dwelling units, ADUs, granny flats, casitas, whatever your neighborhood calls them, are one of the more underused tools in the Sacramento housing market. California has spent the last several years passing laws to make them easier to build. Most buyers still don't know how to actually finance one, or how it can help them qualify for a bigger loan.

What counts as an ADU

An ADU is a secondary, independent living unit on the same lot as a primary home. That can be a detached backyard unit, a converted garage, or an attached unit with its own entrance. To count toward your loan the way described below, it generally needs to be a legal, permitted unit, not something built without permits.

Two different situations, two different financing paths

You're buying a home that already has an ADU. If the ADU is legal and has an established rental history, or the appraiser can support market rent for it, that rental income can potentially be used to help you qualify for the loan. This isn't automatic, it depends on the loan program and the appraisal, but it's a real option worth raising with your lender before you rule out a property because the payment looks tight on paper.

You want to build an ADU on a home you're buying or already own. This usually means either a renovation-style loan that lets you roll construction costs into your mortgage, a HELOC, or a cash-out refinance to fund the build. Each comes with different qualifying rules and different costs, and the right one depends on how much equity you have and what the ADU will realistically cost to build.

Why this matters for house hacking and investing

An ADU can work like a smaller-scale version of house hacking. You live in the main home, rent out the ADU, and use that income to offset your payment. For investors, a legal ADU can add rental income to a property without buying a full duplex or triplex.

Rules on how much of that rental income a lender can count vary by loan program and change over time. Don't assume a number, ask what applies to your specific loan and property before you build a budget around it.

What to check before you count on ADU income

  • Is the ADU permitted and legal, or does it need to be brought up to code first

  • Does it have its own utilities, entrance, and kitchen (requirements vary by jurisdiction)

  • Will the appraiser support a market rent estimate for it

  • Does your specific loan program allow that income to be counted, and how much

FAQ

Can I use future ADU rental income if it's not built yet? Sometimes, depending on the loan program and whether the appraisal can support projected rent. This is very case-by-case, talk to your lender before assuming either way.

Does building an ADU increase my home's value? Generally it can, since it adds usable living space and potential rental income, but the actual value impact depends on the local market and how the ADU is finished. Get an appraiser's opinion for your specific property rather than assuming a fixed return.

Is a garage conversion cheaper than a detached ADU? Usually yes, since you're not building a new foundation and structure from scratch, but costs vary a lot by scope and local permitting requirements.

Chris Kennedy, NMLS #971546, is the founder of Reliant Lending in Sacramento, helping buyers and investors across Sacramento, Placer, and El Dorado County figure out financing for ADUs, multi-unit properties, and rental income strategies.

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