How Long Does It Take to Buy a House

Yes. At least one occupying first-time homebuyer on the loan must complete a homebuyer education course. This is a requirement for all CalHFA programs involving first-time buyers. You can satisfy this requirement by taking an online course (through eHome) or attending an in-person or virtual session through NeighborWorks America or a HUD-approved Housing Counseling Agency. The certificate of completion is valid for one year. If you are not a first-time homebuyer (which is only allowed if you are not using MyHome assistance), this education requirement is waived.

CalHFA limits the fees that lenders can charge borrowers to ensure affordability. Customary lender origination fees are capped at the greater of 3% of the loan amount or 3,000∗∗.Lendersmayalsochargeaprocessingfeeofupto∗∗250 if you utilize the MyHome Assistance Program. Standard third-party fees, such as those for appraisals, credit reports, and title insurance, are allowed. Additionally, there is a 250fundingfee∗∗andan∗∗85 tax service fee payable to the master servicer, Lakeview Loan Servicing, which will appear on your closing disclosure.

The maximum amount of your monthly gross income that can go toward debt payments depends on your credit score. If your credit score is 700 or higher, your DTI ratio can go up to 50.00%. If your credit score is between 680 and 699, your DTI is capped at 45.00%. As noted previously, if you are purchasing a manufactured home, the limit is 45.00% regardless of your credit score. These caps are strictly enforced by CalHFA guidelines, even if the automated underwriting system approves a higher ratio.

Yes, you can purchase a manufactured home, provided it meets specific Fannie Mae guidelines. The home must be eligible under MH Advantage or Standard MH guidelines and must be a double-wide or larger; single-wide homes are not permitted,. When purchasing a manufactured home, the financial requirements are stricter: the maximum Debt-to-Income (DTI) ratio is capped at 45.00% regardless of your credit score. Additionally, the home cannot be on leasehold land (a rented lot), and you must receive an automated underwriting approval.

No. Unlike CalHFA’s FHA loan offerings, the CalHFA Conventional and CalReady Conventional programs do not allow manual underwriting,. To qualify, your loan file must run through Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter (DU) system and receive an “Approve/Eligible” recommendation. This requirement is strict; if your credit history involves extenuating circumstances that the automated system does not accept, you cannot use a human underwriter to override the decision for these specific conventional programs. You might need to look at CalHFA FHA options if manual underwriting is required.

The standard minimum credit score for CalHFA Conventional and CalReady Conventional loans is 680. However, there is an exception for lower-income borrowers. If your qualifying income is less than or equal to the “HomeReady” 80% Area Median Income (AMI) limit, you may qualify with a minimum credit score of 660. Lenders will always use the middle credit score of the lowest-scoring borrower on the application to determine if you meet these thresholds. Borrowers with no credit score are not eligible for these conventional programs.

To qualify, the total income of all borrowers must not exceed the CalHFA Income Limits for the county where the property is located. For example, effective June 2025, the annual limit for counties like Alameda and Contra Costa is $316,000, while Los Angeles is $211,000,. Lenders calculate your income using Fannie Mae guidelines for “credit qualifying” purposes. This means that income not used to approve the loan (such as income from a non-borrowing spouse or overtime you don’t need to qualify) typically does not count toward the program cap.

Generally, no. The CalHFA Conventional and CalReady Conventional programs are designed to be paired with the MyHome Assistance Program, which provides up to 3.0% of the purchase price or appraised value. Because the minimum down payment for a conventional loan is 3.0%, the MyHome funds are usually exhausted entirely by the down payment, leaving no funds for closing costs. Unlike the “CalPLUS” program, these standard Conventional loans cannot be combined with the Zero Interest Program (ZIP) for closing costs,. If you need closing cost assistance, you must switch to the CalPLUS Conventional program.

It depends on whether you are combining the first mortgage with down payment assistance. If you plan to use the MyHome Assistance Program—which is the standard strategy for most borrowers using these loans—you must be a first-time homebuyer. CalHFA defines this as someone who has not held an ownership interest in a primary residence in the past three years. However, if you have your own down payment funds and only need the first mortgage (the CalHFA Conventional or CalReady Conventional loan itself) without any CalHFA subordinate financing, the first-time homebuyer requirement is waived.

From the borrower’s perspective, these two programs are nearly identical. Both are 30-year fixed-rate first mortgages featuring the Fannie Mae HFA Preferred loan product, which offers competitive interest rates and lower mortgage insurance costs,. The primary difference is the backend funding source used by the California Housing Finance Agency; CalReady loans are funded through taxable bonds, while the standard CalHFA Conventional uses portfolio financing. Your lender will typically select the version that offers the best pricing or execution at the time you lock your rate, but your eligibility criteria, such as credit score and income limits, remain the same for both.