Novato is Marin County's northernmost city, with a small-town Old Town along Grant Avenue, oak-covered hills and the redeveloped Hamilton neighborhood on the former Air Force base. We help Novato buyers and homeowners with high-balance and jumbo purchase loans, refinances, reverse mortgages and equity lines. For many first-time buyers in Novato, an FHA loan is the difference between renting another year and owning. Pacific National Lending explains exactly how FHA works, including the mortgage insurance, so you can decide with real numbers whether FHA or a low-down-payment conventional loan is the better fit.
Call Pacific National Lending for FHA loans in Novato: (916) 526-2700
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Novato is the most attainable entry point into Marin County, which brings in move-up families from Sonoma County and buyers priced out of southern Marin. Even so, most purchases require high-balance conforming or jumbo financing, and the city's many condo and townhome communities need a lender who checks HOA approval before an offer is written. FHA loans in Novato require a minimum 3.5 percent down payment with a 580 or higher credit score, and the down payment can come from savings, a gift from family or an approved down payment assistance program. Sellers can also contribute toward closing costs, which keeps cash to close manageable in this market.
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Housing includes 1950s to 70s ranch homes in central Novato and San Marin, newer homes and townhomes at Hamilton and Pointe Marin, golf-course homes around Marin Country Club, wooded lots in Indian Valley and Pacheco Valle, and waterfront homes in Bel Marin Keys. Our FHA process in Novato mirrors any other purchase loan: a fully underwritten pre-approval, a clear document list, appraisal and final approval, typically in about three weeks. Because we broker to several FHA lenders, a file that one lender declines often has a home with another.
Buyers in Novato using FHA can often combine it with CalHFA or local down payment assistance to cover part or all of the 3.5 percent down. We check every first-time buyer's eligibility for assistance before finalizing the loan structure.
We help borrowers with FHA loans throughout Novato, including Hamilton, San Marin, Old Town Novato, Marin Country Club, and across northern Marin County. Novato is about an hour and forty minutes from our Gold River office via I-80 and Highway 37.
For FHA loans in Novato, call Pacific National Lending at (916) 526-2700 or use the secure application on this page. A licensed loan officer will follow up within one business day.
Apply HereLearn more about the program itself: FHA Loans · All loan options · Purchase · Refinance · Today's rates
Area photo: "Hamilton, Novato, California (7385088284)" by Sharon Hahn Darlin, CC BY 2.0.
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