Santa Monica Mortgage Broker
Buying a condo your bank won't lend on, or earning in stock that a bank barely counts? We compare your loan across more than 100 wholesale lenders and find the one whose rules fit. The first call costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
- ✓ NMLS #1277693
- ✓ Licensed in California
- ✓ Direct broker access
What a Santa Monica Mortgage Broker Does for You
You have the down payment, the income and the home picked out, and a bank still hesitates. Here the reason is usually one of two things. Either the condo building fails the bank's rules, or the bank will not count the way you get paid. A mortgage broker does not lend money. We take one application from you and compare it across more than 100 wholesale lenders, each with its own rules about buildings and income. The lender that fits then reviews, approves and funds your loan.
When the building is the problem
If you are buying a condo, the lender judges the whole building, not only your unit. It looks at how many units the owners live in, the HOA budget and reserve savings, any lawsuit against the association, and the building's insurance. Lenders call a building that meets the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rules warrantable. A building that misses them is non warrantable, and many banks stop right there. A few lenders finance those buildings on purpose, and some have already reviewed a given tower recently.
When your pay arrives as stock
If a good share of your pay comes as restricted stock units, your salary line tells only part of the story. RSUs vest on a schedule, which is the date each batch of shares becomes yours. Some lenders ignore shares that have not vested and discount the ones you hold but have not sold. Others count shares due to vest over the next 12 months, based on your grant paperwork. Same person, same grant, and the income a lender will use can land far apart. Tell us how your grant vests and we will point you to the lenders that count it best.
The other ways buyers here qualify
If you run your own studio, agency or production company, a bank statement loan qualifies you on deposits instead of tax returns. If you are buying a rental, a DSCR loan qualifies the property on its rent.
If most of your wealth sits in accounts rather than a paycheck, an asset depletion loan turns those balances into income. And because nearly every house in the city costs more than the conforming limit, most purchases start as a jumbo loan.
Tell us which one sounds like you and we will start there.
Santa Monica has an income documentation challenge most cities don't: technology sector buyers with significant RSU compensation that retail lenders discount heavily. Two lenders can look at the same Santa Monica buyer and calculate qualifying income that differs by hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, depending on how they handle unvested and recently vested equity grants. That variation is exactly what you're buying when you work with a brokerage rather than going directly to one bank.
If You Are Buying a Condo
Your credit can be spotless and the loan can still stall because of the building. Lenders read the HOA budget, the reserve savings, any lawsuits, the insurance, and how many owners live in their units. A large special assessment, such as one for earthquake retrofit work, can make some lenders cautious too. We check how lenders treat your building before you pay for an appraisal. If it turns out to be non warrantable, we go straight to the lenders that finance those buildings. Send us the building name and we will look.
When a Big Part of Your Pay Is Stock
Your offer letter shows a salary, but your real pay includes RSUs that vest every few months. Lenders split sharply on whether to count that stock and how much of it to count. Bring your grant letters, your vesting schedule and your recent brokerage statements. Those papers let a lender see a steady pattern instead of a string of one time bonuses. We then take you to a lender whose method treats your equity pay as the income it really is.
Buying a House Instead of a Condo
A house here will almost always need a jumbo loan. That means a loan above the conforming limit, the cap on loans that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy. Jumbo lenders write their own rules for down payment, credit and the savings you keep after closing. Those rules differ widely from lender to lender, and so does pricing. We put your loan in front of several jumbo lenders and lay the offers next to each other. See our jumbo loan overview.
Self Employed and Paid Through Your Own Company
If you own a studio, a production company or a creative agency, your write offs are doing their job and shrinking your taxable income. That same tax return is what a standard lender reads. A bank statement loan reads 12 to 24 months of deposits instead, from business or personal accounts. It suits income that arrives project by project rather than on a steady schedule. We check which lender's deposit math gives you the higher number.
Buying a Small Apartment Building
You want a duplex or a small building, and your personal income is not the point. A DSCR loan qualifies the property by comparing its rent with the mortgage payment. Much of the city's older rental stock falls under local rent control, so the math has to use the rent tenants pay today, not a market guess. If the building needs work first, a short term bridge loan can carry you until it is ready for a long term loan.
When Savings Matter More Than Salary
Maybe you sold a company, or you live off investments now. On paper your monthly income looks small next to what you own. An asset depletion loan turns eligible savings, brokerage and retirement balances into a monthly income figure a lender can use. Each lender runs its own formula and treats retirement money its own way. So the same balances can support very different loan amounts. We compare those formulas before you choose a lender.
Quick Facts on Getting a Mortgage in Santa Monica
When a Broker Makes Sense for You
Contact Advanced Funding Solutions to discuss whether this program may be a fit for your scenario. Eligibility, loan amounts, and terms are set by the funding lender after a complete application and underwriting review.
Get a Quote →- You are buying a condo and your bank has questions about the building
- Part of your pay arrives as RSUs and your lender is counting too little of it
- You run your own studio, agency or production company and your tax return shows less than you earn
- You want a house here and the price sits well past the conforming limit
- You are buying a small apartment building and want it to qualify on its rent
- Your savings and investments are much larger than your paycheck suggests
How to Get a Mortgage in Santa Monica
Tell Us About the Home and Your Pay
Start with a phone call or the form. We want to know whether it is a condo or a house, the building name if it is a condo, and how your income arrives. Salary, stock, business deposits, rent or savings all point to different lenders. You do not need to send documents yet. Those few answers tell us which lenders to look at and which to skip.
We Check the Building and Your Income
On a condo, we look at how lenders treat the building first, because a building problem can sink a loan no matter how strong you are. Then we match your income to the lenders whose rules count all of it. You see the options, and what each lender will ask of you, before you apply anywhere.
You Apply Once, With the Lender That Fits
Your application goes to the lender that suits you and the property best. That lender pulls your credit, reviews your paperwork and orders the appraisal, its independent estimate of the home's value. On a condo it also asks the HOA for its budget and insurance papers. We track every request and tell you plainly what each one means.
The Lender Approves and Funds Your Loan
The funding lender gives the final approval and funds the loan at closing. Advanced Funding Solutions is a licensed California mortgage brokerage, so we never lend our own money, and that is what lets us compare so many lenders for you. We stay on the loan through escrow, the neutral account that holds the money until closing. Before you sign, we tell you who will collect your payments.
Mortgage Broker in Santa Monica: Common Questions Answered
Do most Santa Monica homes need a jumbo loan?
What is a non warrantable condo?
Will a lender count my RSU income?
Can I qualify on bank statements if I'm self employed?
Can I get a DSCR loan on a rent controlled building?
Does it cost anything to talk to you first?
About Mortgage Broker in Santa Monica, CA
If you are shopping here, the conforming limit barely comes into it. Nearly every house in the city prices above it, so most purchases are jumbo loans from day one. That moves the real work to two questions buyers in most places never face. Will a lender accept this condo building, and will it count the way you are paid?
Condos make up a large part of what sells here, from the high rises on Ocean Avenue to small buildings on quiet side streets. Each building carries its own approval status, and that status can change when a reserve study comes back short or ownership shifts. If you have a unit in mind, send us the building name early. It is far better to rule a lender out while you can still walk away than after.
If you are buying a rental, ask the seller for current rents and any rent control disclosures as soon as you can. Those figures decide how much a DSCR lender will lend, and they are hard to argue with later.
Our office is on Calabasas Road in Calabasas. For loan options across the county, see our Los Angeles mortgage broker page, or send us the address and how you get paid and we will tell you where to start.
Mortgage Broker programs in California → · Los Angeles County Mortgage Broker Overview → · Advanced Funding Solutions, NMLS #1277693 →
Other Loan Programs in Santa Monica
Santa Monica borrowers working with Advanced Funding Solutions have access to the full non-QM suite, not just mortgage broker. Whether you need jumbo loans in Santa Monica , hard money loans in Santa Monica, AFS routes your scenario across 100+ wholesale lenders to the one best positioned to fund it.
Mortgage Broker in Other California Cities
Send us the building and how you get paid
Send us the address, or just the building name, plus a line on how your income arrives. We will come back with the lenders most likely to accept both, and asking costs you nothing. Call (818) 478-2555 or use the form. Advanced Funding Solutions, NMLS #1277693, is a licensed mortgage brokerage in California. All loans are subject to credit, income, asset, property, and underwriting approval.
Ready for a Santa Monica Mortgage Broker quote?
Advanced Funding Solutions, NMLS #1277693. Licensed in California. No call center. No junior LO handoff.