Our June 4, 2026 Wednesday live drew one of the busiest question queues we have had in months. After the market data, the chat covered credit scores on joint applications, ARMs, VA loans, HELOCs behind an ARM, and a seller counter that puzzled everyone.
Each question is below with our answer written out and links to the deeper guides where they exist. Questions are what make the live show work, so bring yours on a Wednesday at 5pm Pacific.
Stop guessing what you can really afford
Tell Josh and his team your situation, and you'll get the exact price range you qualify for, the loan that gets you the most home for your money, and a step-by-step plan to close. They handle your loan directly, never a referral, and go far beyond a basic pre-approval, so you stop second-guessing, tour with confidence, and write offers sellers take seriously.
Build my Roadmap →It depends on the loan program and on what bad credit actually means. Nearly every program takes each borrower's middle credit score; FHA, VA, and USDA qualify off the lowest score, while Fannie and Freddie use the average of each borrower's median score for eligibility (pricing still uses the lower score). We hear bad credit and then find a 682, which on an FHA loan would not hurt you at all; on a conventional loan it could cost real money in pricing. Two offsets to check: HomeReady and Home Possible cap those pricing adjustments, as does being a first-time buyer under 100% of the area median income with your combined incomes. On program floors, FHA requires a 580 for 3.5% down per FHA guidelines, and conventional no longer has an official minimum but prices off the lower score, so few lenders go below 620; confirm current requirements. The honest answer is that your mileage varies, so run both scenarios before deciding whose name goes on the loan. Our credit score guide breaks down every program's cutoffs.
Start by naming what you are waiting for, because waiting is only a strategy if something specific improves. Inventory in many markets is back below last year, so listing now to test the market is reasonable, and waiting for the whole market to improve usually just means more competition when you finally list. The bigger issue is the interest rate you would give up. Josh's own rental carries a COVID-era rate in the low 3s; selling it means financing the replacement at 6.5% or higher (as of 6/4/2026), and offsetting the rate difference alone would take a $150,000 to $200,000 discount on the next property. If you bought in 2017 with a good rate, run that same math before you list. If the property cash flows and you have no better use for the equity, keeping it and collecting rent until a genuinely better opportunity shows up is a fine answer.
The national data applies everywhere; the granular weekly numbers are Southern California because that is where we work and can add real context. Numbers without context are just numbers. Our standing advice for any specific market is to find an agent who lives in that data daily, because someone working with local buyers and sellers can tell you what the numbers mean on the ground. Ask us a specific question and we will dig into it, and on the loan side our team is approved in 32 states, so we hear directly from buyers and agents about what other markets are doing.
Conservatively. HELOC guidelines are written by each individual bank or credit union because they keep those loans on their own books, and most will not qualify you off today's payment alone. Expect them to use a fully indexed payment on your ARM, cap the combined loan-to-value at a low number, or in some cases decline to lend behind an ARM at all. Shop a few institutions, because the rules genuinely vary lender to lender. Our HELOC vs home equity loan guide explains how the two products differ before you pick one.
Mixed, and we will not hide our skepticism about how the county is run. Per LA Times reporting, LA County has seen net out-migration, roughly 25,000 people leaving against 12,000 arriving, but the arrivals skew wealthier, which is its own form of gentrification and part of why prices have not felt the population loss so far. Supply is still very constrained, which supports prices. Parts of LA are fantastic; downtown we would avoid. New renter protections and measures like the mansion tax add friction and unintended consequences, but through today none of it has meaningfully dented home prices. Watch it, and do not bet on a cliff.
Because on the right loan the savings finally exist, but only in specific spots. Fannie and Freddie ARMs carry very little discount versus the 30-year fixed, which is why they disappeared from the conversation. Some portfolio lenders are now pricing 7- and 10-year ARMs aggressively enough to matter. Our filter: the savings need to be more than a quarter percent, the fixed period should be 7 or 10 years (a 3- or 5-year ARM is inappropriate for most buyers no matter the discount), and expect to pay points, since these lenders assume the loan pays off early. Jeb's own 2023 purchase sits on an ARM at roughly half a percent below the fixed rate at the time, and he remains comfortable in it. Run the numbers against how long you plan to stay; our guide to comparing mortgage offers shows how to weigh rate against loan structure.
Most likely, on the equity side at least. In a market with flat to slightly soft prices, you are still amortizing the loan down every month, so outside the hardest-hit pockets (parts of the Gulf Coast, Florida, Texas, and some of Phoenix) equity should not block a refinance. Whether rates cooperate is the honest unknown: we both think there will be windows below 6.5% in the next few years, but the last two years have taught us it will not be a straight line down, and nobody can promise where rates go. Buying in an up-and-coming neighborhood at a payment you can afford today, with roughly 2 to 3% annual appreciation as our base case, is a reasonable position. Our guide on waiting for lower rates covers how to think about the timing.
Start with whoever insures your car and price the bundle; that gives you a baseline, and bundling discounts frequently win. From there, check an online marketplace like Lemonade and ask your realtor and lender for carrier referrals. Get at least three quotes, because the days of every quote landing within a few dollars of each other are over: One of our recent buyers had a worst quote come in about $140 a month higher than the other two. In some regions quotes still run consistent, but you will not know until you shop.
Almost certainly there is another offer near yours, because a seller holding a single full-price offer who counters higher simply priced the home wrong. The title company part is normal: in seller's markets the seller typically controls title and escrow, usually on their agent's recommendation, and as long as it is a major carrier there is no real downside to you. On the price, the follow-up details matter: this home dropped from $520,000 to $438,000 in 35 days, which suggests distress or serious initial overpricing, and the counter works out to about $4,000. If you really like the house, that is rarely the hill to die on. Decide with your agent where your line is and respond accordingly. Our escrow guide explains who those third parties are and what they actually do.
The VA loan, and in our book it is not close. A VA disability rating exempts you from the funding fee, which is the one real cost consideration on VA loans. With the exemption you get a lower rate than comparable conventional pricing, no monthly mortgage insurance, and more flexible qualifying, since VA uses a residual income calculation instead of a hard debt-to-income cap. We could not name a reason to choose conventional in that situation.
You can, but only if you will actually walk when it expires. In practice most offer deadlines mean nothing, because the buyer who loved the house Tuesday night still loves it Wednesday morning and accepts the late response anyway. In California the purchase agreement gives sellers three days to respond by default, and many listing agents intentionally hold offers until after the first weekend. So communicate: have your agent ask how and when offers will be reviewed. And write your strongest offer first, because with multiple offers on the table sellers often accept one outright without countering anyone; Jeb's clients have done exactly that more than once.
It depends on your price point and whether the $120,000 comes with you when you sell. In Corona, California you are realistically shopping $800,000 to $1 million, and the conforming loan limit in Riverside County is $832,750 (as of 6/4/2026; limits change annually, so confirm the current figure). If you sell and bring the full $120,000, that is a healthy 10%-plus down payment, and you are likely fine leaving the debt alone. At lower price points where a smaller down payment works, paying off debt may free up more qualifying power per dollar. This is exactly the kind of positioning we work through on a Roadmap call: how to split your cash between down payment, debt payoff, and reserves for the strongest monthly outcome, with your actual numbers. Our debt-to-income guide shows how paying off debt changes what you qualify for.
Essentially none. We have not seen a single short sale recently, and the one foreclosure near Jeb's house proved why distressed bargains deserve caution: once the buyer gutted it and pulled the drywall, it exposed more termite damage than we have ever seen in one house, damage no buyer would have spotted behind finished walls. If distressed inventory does cross your path, budget hard for the unknowns and inspect aggressively. Our appraisal vs inspection guide covers what each one actually protects you from.
Honestly, at 770 the payoff is small, so weigh the effort. Paying off your car loan probably moved nothing: installment debt with a fixed payoff date barely factors into scoring, and a what-if analysis on your credit report will usually show no change or a couple of points. Fannie and Freddie's top pricing tier now starts at 780, and by our read the pricing difference from where you sit is about 0.125% in loan-level fees, roughly $600 on a $500,000 loan (as of 6/4/2026). So the move to 780 is worth something, just not worth heroics. Our guide to raising your credit score covers the levers that actually move it in a short window.
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Every week we answer real buyer questions live, on the spot. Bring the one that's keeping you up at night, or send it ahead if you can't make it and we'll cover it on air. We go live every Wednesday at 5pm PT / 8pm ET on YouTube, with the replay on Spotify.
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