Current conventional guidelines, updated from one source.
Treat these as the program’s fixed points rather than an offer: the minimum down payment for a first-time buyer and for everyone else, the credit floor behind these pages, the leverage at which mortgage insurance begins and the points at which it ends, and the ratio an automated approval allows.
First-time buyer; 5% standard; 97% loan-to-value at the top
The agencies set the floor at 3% down for a first-time buyer and 5% for a repeat buyer, on a principal residence; the whole down payment may be a gift from a relative on a one-unit home, and twenty percent down removes mortgage insurance from the payment entirely.
Priced on the score; no agency minimum with an automated approval
620 is the working floor, a wholesale overlay rather than an agency rule, since Fannie Mae requires no minimum score for a loan the automated system approves and 620 only on a manual fixed-rate file. Above the floor, each step up in score lowers the cost of the loan and of the insurance.
Required above 80% LTV; removed at 80% by request, 78% automatically
The insurance line in a conventional payment is a bridge, not a fixture: required above 80% loan-to-value, cancellable at 80% on request and 78% by law, and priced by the insurer on the score inside Fannie Mae’s published 0.58%–1.86% range. Twenty percent down skips it entirely.
With an automated approval; 36% to 45% on a manual file
Lenders compare total debt against gross income, with limits up to 50% on an automated approval and 36% to 45% on a manual file. The housing payment counted includes the mortgage insurance while it applies, which is why cancellation changes the ratio as well as the payment.
| Purpose | Occupancy and program | Maximum LTV |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase | One-unit principal residence, first-time buyer (fixed rate) | 97% |
| Purchase | One-unit principal residence, standard | 95% |
| Purchase | HomeReady / Home Possible (income limits apply) | 97% |
| Purchase | Two- to four-unit principal residence | 95% |
| Purchase | Second home | 90% |
| Purchase | Investment property, one unit | 85% |
| Purchase | Investment property, two to four units | 75% |
| Refinance | Limited cash-out (rate-and-term), one-unit principal residence | 95% |
| Refinance | Cash-out, one-unit principal residence | 80% |
| Refinance | Cash-out, two to four units, second home or investment | 75% |
| Combined LTV | Maximum contribution |
|---|---|
| above 90 percent | 3% of the sales price |
| 75.01 to 90 percent | 6% of the sales price |
| 75 percent or less | 9% of the sales price |
| investment property (any) | 2% of the sales price |
| Event | Waiting period |
|---|---|
| Chapter 7 or 11 bankruptcy | four years from discharge or dismissal (two years with documented extenuating circumstances) |
| Chapter 13 bankruptcy | two years from discharge; four years from dismissal (two with extenuating circumstances) |
| Multiple bankruptcy filings | five years when more than one filing within the past seven years |
| Foreclosure | seven years (three with extenuating circumstances, then limited to a principal residence or second home at 90 percent LTV, purchase or limited cash-out) |
| Deed-in-lieu, short sale or mortgage charge-off | four years (two with extenuating circumstances) |
Mortgage insurance: Fannie Mae reports that private mortgage insurance typically ranged from 0.58%–1.86% of the loan amount a year; the premium on a specific loan is priced by the insurer on the score, the leverage, and the coverage, and is never quoted here. Gifts from relatives may fund the entire down payment on a one-unit principal residence. HomeReady and Home Possible lend to 97% with income at or below 80% of the area median; HomeOne lends to the same leverage with a first-time buyer and no income limit.
Current conventional snapshot · updated October 3, 2026 · principal residences occupied within sixty days, second homes, and one- to four-unit investment properties · conforming limits apply by county and are confirmed by a Lendmire loan officer · above the limit, see the jumbo program · no prepayment penalty · Lendmire is a broker, never the lender.
Informational only; not a commitment to lend, an approval, or a quote. Every figure on this page is a program parameter read from Lendmire’s guideline source, built on the agencies’ published guides, and may change without notice; eligibility, the loan amount, the insurance, and the ratios depend on the credit profile, the property, the occupancy, and underwriting. The mortgage insurance estimate is editable and not a premium quote. Lendmire is a mortgage broker licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages. NMLS #2371349.
What a conventional loan is — and how the file is qualified.
A conventional loan is a mortgage written to the rules of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac so a lender can sell it to them after closing. Those rules decide the leverage by occupancy, the credit standard, the insurance above the threshold, and the ratios, and the four cards below take a Charlottesville file apart along exactly those lines.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s conventional loan program, or the statewide guide at Conventional Loans in Virginia; for the mortgage insurance cancellation rules, see the CFPB.
Leverage by occupancy and buyer
Who the buyer is matters as much as what the home is. A first-time buyer, meaning no ownership interest in a home for three years, qualifies for the smallest down payment on a principal residence; a repeat buyer starts a little higher; and HomeReady, Home Possible, and HomeOne open the top leverage to buyers who meet their conditions.
Credit scores and automated underwriting
Conventional credit is priced more than it is gated. The floor in the snapshot is the lowest score the lanes accept, and above the floor the score sets the loan-level price adjustments and the mortgage insurance premium. A Charlottesville buyer with a stronger score pays less on both lines.
Mortgage insurance that cancels
The federal cancellation rules are the quiet advantage of a conventional loan. The borrower can ask to drop the insurance when the balance reaches the request threshold, the servicer must drop it at the automatic threshold, and it cannot outlast the midpoint of the term. On an FHA loan at full leverage the premium stays for the life of the loan.
Ratios, reserves, and the DU finding
The automated finding is the hinge of a conventional file: it reads the income, the assets, the credit, and the property, allows a total debt ratio up to the automated maximum, and names the reserves the file must show. A Charlottesville underwriter then verifies what the finding assumed.
A lender runs the same math on a Charlottesville file with one difference: the insurer’s actual premium replaces the estimate. The estimate here starts at the low end of the published range and is editable, because the real figure depends on the score and the leverage.
Where Charlottesville buyers borrow — and how a conforming loan fits.
Three Census figures frame a Charlottesville conventional file. Ownership says how much of the market the program reaches, the median value says what a low-down-payment loan typically comes to, and household income says what ratio that payment produces.
Read the figures as backdrop. Higher values mean a larger down payment in dollars and a larger insurance premium; lower values mean a payment that leaves more room under the ratio ceiling. The percentages do not move; what they amount to does.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Distinct Charlottesville neighborhoods, distinct conventional files.
One program, several Charlottesville submarkets: the cards below describe the housing stock, the price range, and the conventional question that comes up most often in each.
Higher-value homes
On Charlottesville’s higher-value homes, a conventional loan hits the conforming limit first. Buyers over it can bring a larger down payment to fit under it, use the high-balance range where the county has one, or choose the jumbo program. A loan officer confirms the current limit before the offer. Charlottesville is home to about 45K people.
Investor and second-home purchases
A second home in Charlottesville, occupied part of the year and never run as a rental business, is a conventional file at the second-home leverage with deeper reserves and part of the down payment from the buyer’s own funds. Roughly 8,767 Charlottesville households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 44% of all households, the pool a conventional purchase joins.
Two-to-four-unit homes
The owner-occupied multi-unit Charlottesville file is a conventional specialty with its own leverage, its own rent-counting rules, and its own reserve requirement. The buyer in one unit qualifies on the combined picture. The median owner-occupied home value in Charlottesville runs near $486,700 on the latest Census estimate.
Newer infill and recent construction
New rows and recent infill in Charlottesville tend to appraise cleanly, so the loan amount is the question: a contract near the conforming limit is checked against the county figure before the offer, and a loan above it needs a larger down payment or the jumbo program. On a one-unit principal residence at Charlottesville’s median value, the first-time buyer’s minimum down payment comes to about $14,600 and the standard minimum to about $24,300 — before closing costs, and before the mortgage insurance that comes with either; a second home, a multi-unit home, or a rental starts higher, as the leverage table shows.
Condominiums and townhomes
Much of Charlottesville’s entry-level stock is attached housing, and a conventional loan finances it whenever the project is warrantable under the agencies’ review. The dues go into the ratio, and the first-time buyer’s minimum applies as it would on a house. About 56% of Charlottesville’s households rent — roughly 11,048 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Established close-in neighborhoods
The Charlottesville blocks nearest the core carry the oldest houses, and a conventional appraisal reads them for value first and condition second: no HUD or VA property standard, but the home must be safe, sound, and marketable, and a failing roof or system still draws a condition note. Median household income in Charlottesville sits near $74,824 on the latest Census estimate.
Neighborhood sets the price, the property type, and often the occupancy; the agencies set the rest. The leverage table, the insurance thresholds, the ratio ceiling, and the waiting periods apply identically on every Charlottesville file.
Four ways Charlottesville buyers put a conforming loan to work.
Charlottesville borrowers use conforming loans for reasons that repeat, from the first purchase at the first-time-buyer minimum to the refinance on a home with equity, and the cards below take up the ones that come up most often.
Buy a second home
A second home in Charlottesville is a conventional file with its own leverage and reserve rules: more down than a principal residence, the payment on the existing home counted in the ratio, and a property the owner occupies part of the year rather than rents full time.
Buy with twenty percent down and no insurance
A Charlottesville buyer with twenty percent down gets the conventional loan’s cleanest form: no mortgage insurance, loan-level adjustments at the best tier the score allows, and a payment of principal, interest, and escrows alone. Second homes and investment property are priced from the same structure.
Buy a condominium in a warrantable project
A Charlottesville condominium is a conventional purchase when the project passes the agencies’ review: owner-occupancy mix, budget and reserves, litigation, commercial space, and ownership concentration. The dues enter the ratio, and the leverage follows the occupancy as it would on a house.
Refinance or take cash out
A Charlottesville owner can refinance a conventional loan two ways: a limited cash-out refinance to the rate-and-term leverage in the snapshot, or a cash-out refinance to the lower cash-out leverage after the seasoning period, on a principal residence, second home, or rental at each occupancy’s own limit.
Estimate the payment on a Charlottesville price before requesting a quote.
The program’s own math on your Charlottesville inputs: price less the down payment, amortized at the benchmark, with the insurance estimate added while the leverage is above the threshold and the escrows added throughout. The actual rate, premium, payment, and costs come in writing from a licensed loan officer.
Charlottesville conventional payment estimate
Seeded with a Charlottesville price and the first-time buyer’s minimum down; every field updates the result as you type.
Editable benchmark: 7.28% as of October 1, 2026 · Freddie Mac 30-year average via FRED®. A conventional market reference, not a conventional loan quote.
Estimate seeded at the low end of Fannie Mae’s published range (0.58%–1.86% a year); the insurer prices the actual premium on the score and the leverage. Applies only above 80% loan-to-value.
Illustrative starting assumptions: a $485,000 price near Charlottesville’s median owner-occupied home value, the first-time buyer’s minimum down payment, a thirty-year term at the current Freddie Mac benchmark, mortgage insurance at the low end of Fannie Mae’s published range, property taxes and insurance estimated for Virginia (U.S. Census Bureau). Every field is editable.
Illustrative estimate only — not a Loan Estimate, approval, quote, or commitment to lend. The rate field carries the weekly Freddie Mac thirty-year conventional benchmark, a market reference and not a conventional loan quote; your rate is set by the lender at lock. The mortgage insurance figure is an editable estimate seeded from Fannie Mae’s published typical range, not a premium quote; the insurer prices the actual premium, and the cancellation month assumes scheduled payments with no extra principal and no change in value. Taxes, insurance and dues are editable estimates; closing costs are not included. Conforming loan limits apply by county. Licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages.
Same buyer, three very different closings.
The alternatives put the conventional loan’s cost in perspective: FHA charges a premium every month and an upfront premium at closing, VA charges a one-time fee, conventional charges a premium only until equity arrives. The comparison below is written for a Charlottesville buyer weighing all three.
Conventional, FHA, or VA.
Conventional fits the Charlottesville buyer with a solid score: the premium is smaller than FHA’s for strong credit and it ends, the monthly structure carries no upfront premium, and twenty percent down removes insurance altogether. A modest score or a thin file is where FHA competes.
Where conventional prices the score, FHA prices by schedule. FHA fits the buyer whose score would be priced heavily on a conventional loan, or who needs the room FHA’s ratio tiers allow; it rarely wins for a Charlottesville buyer with strong credit and a down payment above the minimum. See Lendmire’s FHA loan program.
VA beats conventional on the principal residence for nearly every eligible borrower; conventional beats VA on everything VA does not touch: second homes, rentals, and buyers without the certificate. The two often sit side by side in one Charlottesville household. See Lendmire’s VA loan program.
Choose by profile: a strong score and any down payment point to conventional; a modest score and a small down payment point to FHA; eligibility with full entitlement points to VA. A Charlottesville loan officer runs all three on the same numbers before recommending one. Above the conforming limit, see the jumbo loan program.
What to prepare for a Charlottesville scenario review.
The paperwork is the standard mortgage set, with the automated finding deciding how much of it the file actually needs; here is what a Charlottesville scenario review typically draws on.
This is a general preparation guide, not a universal checklist. The selected lender may request additional information based on the transaction, the property, the automated underwriting finding, and the income picture. Nothing here is legal or tax advice.
Local details that can change the loan.
The percentages tell only part of the story. What a Charlottesville conventional loan actually becomes depends on the score, the appraisal, the project review, and the automated finding, and these are the details that move it.
Use these checks to keep the Charlottesville file clean and fundable.
The list is short because the program is simple at its core: the insurance, the score, and the property decide most Charlottesville files before income is even opened.
- Plan the insurance: the premium is priced on the score and the leverage inside the published range.
- Confirm the score: the score sets the loan-level adjustments and the insurance premium more than it gates the loan.
- Know the seasoning: each credit event has its own waiting period counted from a specific date.
Mortgage insurance: how much, and until when
Cancellation on request needs a good payment history, no subordinate liens, and no decline in value; automatic termination needs only that the loan be current. A Charlottesville owner whose home has gained value may also ask the servicer to recognize the current value under its own rules, which is a servicer decision rather than a program right.
The score sets the cost
The decision score comes from the lender’s report, and with multiple borrowers the automated system uses the average of the median scores. On a Charlottesville conventional file the score rarely ends eligibility, but it sets the loan-level adjustments and insurance premium, so a few points can change monthly cost.
Waiting periods after a credit event
A documented hardship beyond the borrower’s control, such as a job loss or a medical event, can shorten several of the waiting periods, and the shortened foreclosure period limits the leverage and the occupancy. A Charlottesville file inside a waiting period is written later, not now.
The conforming limit
The conforming limit is the first thing confirmed on a Charlottesville file near the top of the market, and the high-balance range in some counties sits above the standard figure. Ask a loan officer for the current limit where you are buying before writing the offer; a loan above it needs a larger down payment or the jumbo program.
The appraisal and value acceptance
When the value comes in under the contract price on a Charlottesville file, the loan is sized on the lower figure: the buyer brings the difference, the price is renegotiated, or the contract is released under its appraisal contingency. Condition findings are rarer than on government loans but still appear on older homes.
From a Charlottesville pre-approval to keys in hand.
Underneath, the Charlottesville process is any mortgage process; what makes it conventional is the automated finding, the project review where it applies, the leverage by occupancy, and the insurance threshold. Each step below says what happens and what the buyer does.
Pre-approval
The first conversation settles the shape: whether the buyer counts as a first-time buyer, what leverage the occupancy allows, how much insurance the down payment carries, and whether conventional is the right program next to FHA and VA for the Charlottesville purchase.
Contract and appraisal
The appraisal is a valuation first and a condition report second on a conventional file; a short value re-sizes the loan, and the Charlottesville contract is adjusted or released under its contingency. Where the system offers value acceptance, the step collapses to the system’s figure.
Underwriting
The automated finding says what the file needs; the underwriter confirms the file has it. A Charlottesville buyer who gathered the documents at pre-approval clears conditions quickly; one who did not spends the time here.
Closing
Closing is where the structure becomes a payment: principal and interest, the insurance while the loan is above the threshold, taxes and insurance. The Charlottesville buyer takes the keys, and the lender delivers the loan to the agency it was written for.
A brokerage that prices the whole market.
The case for a brokerage on a conventional loan is candor with numbers: the same file priced across programs, the insurance premium and its cancellation month stated outright, the leverage checked against the occupancy, and the terms in writing.
Several programs, one set of numbers
The comparison printed on this page is run for real on every Charlottesville file: conventional with the insurer’s actual premium beside FHA with its premiums beside VA where eligibility exists, and the written terms follow from it.
The insurance explained before the offer
The insurance is the program’s cost and the cancellation rules are its advantage, and Lendmire explains both first rather than last: how much the premium is, which structure fits, and when it ends for a Charlottesville buyer at the price in hand.
Licensed, consumer-purpose, in writing
Lendmire carries the license for the state the Charlottesville home is in, delivers the disclosures a consumer mortgage requires, and commits the terms to paper. The program figures on this page are read from one guideline source built on the agencies’ published guides.
Trusted by buyers & families alike.
Charlottesville conventional loan FAQs
The questions below come up on nearly every Charlottesville conventional conversation. The answers are general; the figures in the snapshot above are the program’s current parameters.
What is a conventional loan, and who is it for?
A conventional loan is a mortgage written to the rules of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac so the lender can sell it to them after closing; no government agency insures it, and a private insurer covers the top slice above the leverage threshold. It fits the Charlottesville buyer with a solid score, any down payment from the program minimum up, and any occupancy the agencies allow, including second homes and rentals.
How much do I need to put down on a conventional loan in Charlottesville?
It depends on who is buying and how the home will be used. A first-time buyer starts at the lowest figure in the snapshot, a repeat buyer slightly higher, and a Charlottesville second home or rental higher still. Twenty percent down removes mortgage insurance entirely.
What credit score do I need for a conventional loan?
The wholesale programs behind these pages start at the floor shown in the snapshot. Fannie Mae itself sets no minimum score for a loan its automated system approves and a minimum only for manually underwritten loans; what the score mostly does is set the price of the loan and the mortgage insurance, so a Charlottesville buyer above the floor still benefits from every tier gained.
How does private mortgage insurance work, and when does it end?
Mortgage insurance applies when the loan runs above the leverage threshold in the snapshot and is paid monthly as part of the payment. The premium is priced by the insurer on the score and the leverage, inside the published range the snapshot shows. Under the Homeowners Protection Act the borrower may request cancellation at the request threshold on the original value, the servicer must terminate it automatically at the termination threshold, and it ends no later than the midpoint of the term.
What is the conforming loan limit in Charlottesville?
Conforming limits are set each year by the FHFA, by county and by unit count, with higher limits in high-cost areas, which is why this page does not quote a figure. A Lendmire loan officer confirms the current limit for the county where you are buying; a loan above it needs a larger down payment to fit under the limit or moves to the jumbo program.
What does the appraisal check on a conventional loan?
Value against the contract price, and condition against the lender’s standard of safe, sound, and marketable. Older Charlottesville homes draw condition notes more often; most are settled before closing.
Can the seller pay my closing costs on a conventional loan?
The seller may give up to the share of the price in the snapshot table for the combined loan-to-value. Anything above it lowers the price used to size the loan, and the seller may not fund the down payment.
What debt-to-income ratio does a conventional loan allow?
It depends on the underwriting path. The snapshot shows the automated maximum and the manual pair; enter income in the calculator to see where a Charlottesville scenario lands against the automated figure.
Should I choose a conventional loan or FHA?
Neither is better in general. Conventional insurance cancels; FHA’s does not at full leverage. FHA’s score threshold is lower; conventional’s premium is cheaper for strong credit. The loan officer compares them in writing.
Is a conventional loan assumable?
No, in almost every case. Fixed-rate conforming loans are not assumable; certain ARMs are after the fixed period. The assumable loan is one of the few advantages FHA and VA keep over conventional.
A Charlottesville conventional loan sized to the price, the score, and the leverage.
Begin with a scenario review: the price, the down payment, the score, the income, and the occupancy. A licensed Lendmire loan officer prices the file across the wholesale programs, runs it beside FHA and VA, and puts the terms in writing.
This guide covers Charlottesville — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see Conventional Loans in Virginia, part of Lendmire’s conventional loan program.
Nearby markets in Virginia: Wintergreen · Massanutten · Stuarts Draft · Staunton · Harrisonburg · Luray · Lynchburg · Richmond
Related programs: FHA Loans · Jumbo Loans · Refinance Loans