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.

Student Loans & Your DTI: Orangevale Buyer Guide

Orangevale has a lot of first responders, teachers, healthcare workers, and public employees, and a lot of them are carrying student loan debt. If that's you, the number on your credit report is probably not the number your lender actually uses to qualify you. That gap catches people off guard constantly, so let's walk through it plainly.

Why your credit report payment isn't always the real number

Your credit report shows whatever payment is currently being reported by your loan servicer. If you're on an income-driven repayment plan and your reported payment is low, or even zero, some loan programs won't just take that number at face value.

FHA loans: historically, FHA has used a percentage of your outstanding student loan balance (commonly cited around 0.5%) as your monthly payment for qualifying purposes when no fixed payment is reported, rather than accepting a $0 or unusually low reported payment. The exact percentage and rules have shifted over the years, so confirm the current figure with your loan officer rather than relying on an old number.

Conventional loans (Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac): these programs generally allow use of the actual payment reported on your credit report, including a documented income-driven repayment payment, in many cases. Rules here have also changed over time and can differ between the two agencies, so this needs to be checked against current guidelines for your file.

VA loans: VA has its own residual income and payment calculation approach for student loans, which can work differently from FHA or conventional. If you're a veteran using VA eligibility, ask specifically how your student loans will be counted under VA guidelines.

I want to be direct about something here: federal student loan repayment programs have been in legal and political flux over the past couple of years, with income-driven repayment plans changing names, pausing, and getting challenged in court. Whatever I tell you generally today, confirm the specific rule that applies to your loan program before you count on a number. This is exactly the kind of detail your loan officer should pull fresh at the time you apply, not something to assume from an old blog post, including this one.

What this means practically for Orangevale buyers

If you have federal student loans on an income-driven plan showing a low or $0 payment, don't assume that's the number that will be used to qualify you. Ask your loan officer to run your file under a couple of different scenarios so you know your real range before you start touring homes. If your reported payment recently changed (loans came out of forbearance, you switched repayment plans, consolidated loans), get an updated credit pull. Old data can undersell or oversell what you actually qualify for.

What to bring to your loan officer

Your most recent student loan statement showing your servicer, balance, and current payment. Documentation of your repayment plan type if you're on an income-driven plan. Any correspondence about plan changes, forbearance, or consolidation in the last 12 months.

FAQ

Does a $0 student loan payment help me qualify for more house? Not necessarily. Several loan programs will still calculate a payment for qualifying purposes even if your actual current payment is $0, so don't count on that extra room without checking with your lender first.

Do student loans on deferment count against me? Often yes, some deferred loans are still counted at whatever your lender's guidelines specify. Confirm your specific situation before assuming otherwise.

Can I pay down student loans to improve my debt-to-income ratio before buying? Sometimes, depending on the loan type and how much you'd need to pay down to make a difference. Run the math with your loan officer before deciding this is worth doing instead of saving that money for your down payment.

This is general educational information, not a guarantee of a specific qualifying outcome. Student loan and debt-to-income rules vary by loan program and change over time. If you're in Orangevale carrying student debt and thinking about buying, let's pull your actual numbers so you know where you stand.

Chris KennedyComment