Current conventional guidelines, updated from one source.
Four cards and three tables carry every figure a conventional file turns on, drawn from one source built on the agencies’ published guides: down payment, credit, mortgage insurance, ratios, then the leverage by occupancy, the seller-contribution caps, and the waiting periods after a credit event.
First-time buyer; 5% standard; 97% loan-to-value at the top
3% down is the first-time buyer’s entry point and 5% the standard one, both on a one-unit principal residence; second homes, two- to four-unit homes, and investment properties carry their own leverage limits, listed in the table below.
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
Above 80% loan-to-value the loan carries private mortgage insurance; at or below it, none. The insurance cancels on request at 80% of the original value and automatically at 78%, which is the single largest structural difference from FHA, whose premium at full leverage lasts for the term.
With an automated approval; 36% to 45% on a manual file
Total debt against gross income, 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 1, 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.
This page describes program parameters, not an offer. The down payment minimums, the credit floor, the insurance thresholds, and the ratios are agency guidelines and lender overlays, subject to change without notice and to full underwriting; the appraisal, the credit report, the property, the occupancy, and the conforming limit decide every file. Lendmire is a broker, not a lender. Licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages. NMLS #2371349.
What a conventional loan is — and how the file is qualified.
The difference between a conventional loan and a government loan is who stands behind it. No agency insures a conforming loan; a private insurer covers the top slice above the threshold, and the agencies buy the loan on their rules. That structure explains each of the four pieces below for a Texas buyer.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s conventional loan program; for the mortgage insurance cancellation rules, see the CFPB.
Leverage by occupancy and buyer
The down payment a Texas buyer needs depends on three things: whether the home is a principal residence, a second home, or a rental; whether it is one unit or several; and whether the buyer counts as a first-time buyer. The snapshot table gives the answer for every combination the program allows.
Credit scores and automated underwriting
A derogatory event does not end eligibility; it starts a clock. Bankruptcies, foreclosures, short sales, and deed-in-lieu transfers each carry a waiting period in the agencies’ guides, shortened by documented extenuating circumstances, and the snapshot shows each one for a Texas buyer planning the timing.
Mortgage insurance that cancels
Insurance structures vary: borrower-paid monthly is the default, and lender-paid, single-premium, and split-premium versions exist, each built into the loan differently. The published typical range in the snapshot is Fannie Mae’s, and the actual premium for a Texas file comes from the insurer at lock, never from this page.
Ratios, reserves, and the DU finding
Reserves are measured in months of the total housing payment and set by the finding, the occupancy, and the number of financed properties; a Texas second-home or investment file carries more than a principal residence. Income needs a two-year history and a reasonable expectation of continuing.
A lender runs the same math on a Texas 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 Texas buyers borrow — and how a conforming loan fits.
Three statewide numbers frame a Texas conventional file: how many households own, what a typical home is worth on the latest estimate, and what households earn. They describe the market; they decide nothing about any one borrower.
Statewide figures provide general market context, not an appraisal or an income calculation. Two buyers at the same score can see different files here: one buys at the median and sits well inside the ratio, another stretches above it and needs reserves and a stronger finding. The market sets the spread.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Where Texas’ buyers borrow — market by market.
These Texas markets hold the largest owner-household pools in the state’s footprint, and each has a city guide of its own. The leverage table, the insurance thresholds, and the ratio ceiling do not change between them; the prices, the conforming limits, and the typical files do.
Houston
Near 391,519 Houston households own (42% of the total), and most of them borrowed conventionally: in a metropolitan market this size the conforming loan is the default instrument for purchase, refinance, and cash-out. Census context: median value near $277,800, median household income near $64,813, population near 2.33M.
San Antonio
With owner households around 289,380, about 52% of households, San Antonio is a metropolitan market where the conventional loan does most of the work, from first purchases at the low down payment to second homes and investment property. Census context: median value near $235,700, median household income near $65,056, population near 1.48M.
Dallas
Near 226,615 Dallas households own (42% of the total), and most of them borrowed conventionally: in a metropolitan market this size the conforming loan is the default instrument for purchase, refinance, and cash-out. Census context: median value near $320,700, median household income near $70,518, population near 1.31M.
Austin
Near 198,180 Austin households own (43% of the total), and most of them borrowed conventionally: in a metropolitan market this size the conforming loan is the default instrument for purchase, refinance, and cash-out. Census context: median value near $555,300, median household income near $93,658, population near 980K.
Fort Worth
Near 195,072 Fort Worth households own (57% of the total), and most of them borrowed conventionally: in a metropolitan market this size the conforming loan is the default instrument for purchase, refinance, and cash-out. Census context: median value near $303,000, median household income near $79,507, population near 963K.
El Paso
El Paso carries one of the largest owner-household counts in Lendmire’s Texas footprint, near 149,169, about 61% of households; in a metropolitan market of that depth, conforming loans finance the bulk of purchases and refinances. Census context: median value near $184,500, median household income near $59,745, population near 680K.
What decides a Texas conventional file does not vary by city: the score and what it costs, the leverage for the occupancy, the insurance and its exit, the ratio and the reserves the finding requires, and the seasoning after a credit event. The county limit changes yearly and is confirmed by a loan officer rather than printed here.
Four ways Texas buyers put a conforming loan to work.
Texas borrowers use conforming loans for reasons that repeat: the first purchase at the first-time-buyer minimum, the purchase with twenty percent down and no insurance, the second home or rental no government program will finance, and the refinance or cash-out on a home with equity.
Buy a condominium in a warrantable project
Condominiums are a common first purchase in Texas, and a warrantable project is financed like a house with the dues in the ratio; a project that fails the review is outside the conforming program and goes to a portfolio lender instead.
Buy an investment property
The rental purchase is inside the conventional program at a lower leverage than a principal residence: a Texas buyer uses the agencies’ rules for counting rental income, shows reserves for every property financed, and accepts loan-level adjustments that reflect the occupancy.
Buy with twenty percent down and no insurance
Twenty percent down removes the insurance line from the payment on any conventional purchase in Texas; between the minimum and twenty percent, the insurance applies for a while and then ends, and the calculator shows both payments.
Buy a first home at the first-time-buyer minimum
For a Texas first purchase, the conventional route pairs the agencies’ lowest down payment with insurance that cancels and no upfront premium; the file is qualified on the score, the ratio, the reserves, and the automated finding, and a family gift may fund the whole down payment.
Estimate the payment on a Texas price before requesting a quote.
Before you ask for a quote, size the payment yourself: the Texas price, the down payment, the term, the benchmark rate, the insurance estimate, and the escrows go in, and the thresholds and the ratio ceiling come from the same guideline source as the block above. The result is an estimate, the rate is a published market average, and the insurance figure is an editable estimate inside Fannie Mae’s published range.
Texas conventional payment estimate
Seeded at Texas’ median value with the first-time buyer’s minimum down; every field updates the result as you type.
Editable benchmark: 7.03% as of September 24, 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 $285,000 price near Texas’ 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 Texas (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.
Choosing among conventional, FHA, and VA in Texas is really choosing an insurance structure and a credit standard at the same time. Each is laid out below with the buyer it fits.
Conventional, FHA, or VA.
The program’s strengths are the cancellable insurance, the breadth of occupancies, and a cost structure that rewards a strong score; its weakness is the same structure applied to a weak one. A Texas buyer with a strong score usually pays less each month here than on FHA.
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 ratio ladder’s room; it rarely wins for a Texas buyer with strong credit and a down payment above the minimum. See Lendmire’s FHA loan program.
A Texas buyer with VA eligibility and full entitlement rarely needs a conventional loan for a principal residence: nothing down, no insurance, and residual-income underwriting. Conventional is the route for that same veteran’s second home or investment property, which VA does not finance. See Lendmire’s VA loan program.
Where each one fits: conventional for the solid score, the move-up buyer, the second home, and the rental; FHA for the modest score and the small investment; VA for the eligible borrower buying a principal residence. Above the conforming limit, see the jumbo loan program.
What to prepare for a Texas 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 Texas 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.
A handful of details decide whether a Texas conventional file closes as planned, closes at a different cost, or stalls. These are the ones that come up most.
Use these checks to keep the Texas file clean and fundable.
Three things to settle before a Texas review: how the mortgage insurance will be structured and when it ends, where the decision score lands and what it prices, and whether the property has any agency question attached.
- Plan the insurance: twenty percent down carries no insurance at all.
- Confirm the score: the lender’s report sets the decision score; multiple borrowers use the average of the median scores.
- Count the properties: second homes and rentals carry lower leverage than a principal residence.
Mortgage insurance: how much, and until when
The premium on a Texas loan can be paid monthly, by the lender in exchange for a different price, as a single premium at closing, or split; the monthly structure cancels under the federal rules, and the others are priced by the lender. The calculator shows the monthly structure and the month the thresholds arrive on scheduled payments.
The score sets the cost
The decision score is read from the lender’s report, and with more than one borrower the automated system uses the average of the median scores. On a Texas conventional file the score rarely ends eligibility, but it sets the loan-level adjustments and the insurance premium, so a difference of a few points can change the monthly cost.
Second homes, rentals, and financed-property limits
Buying a second home or a rental in Texas on a conventional loan means qualifying on the full payments of every property owned, documenting the rents the agencies allow, and showing reserves for each. The leverage table gives the down payment for each occupancy.
Ratios, reserves, and the finding
The automated finding decides how much of the ratio ceiling a Texas file actually gets: a strong score and reserves earn the room, a thin profile earns less. The reserves are measured in months of the total housing payment and must be documented, not promised.
The conforming limit
The limit caps the loan, not the price. A Texas buyer shopping above it has two choices, a larger down payment or a jumbo loan, and the better one depends on the score, the reserves, and the cost on each. These pages do not quote the limit because it changes every year.
From a Texas pre-approval to keys in hand.
Four steps: the pre-approval, the appraisal, the underwriting, and the closing. The Texas version of each follows.
Pre-approval
A Texas pre-approval is a sizing exercise run through the automated system: the score, the income, the assets, the occupancy, and the price. The finding sets the ratio room and the reserves, and the loan officer puts the pre-approval in writing for the offer.
Contract and appraisal
With the contract signed, the lender orders the appraisal, or accepts the value the automated system offers where a waiver applies. Seller contributions are checked against the cap for the leverage, and a condominium’s project documents are collected for review before the file moves on.
Underwriting
The underwriter verifies what the automated finding assumed: the income, the assets and reserves, the credit and any seasoning, the occupancy, and the property. A manual file follows the lower ratio pair instead. Conditions are issued, documented, and cleared before the approval is final.
Closing
The Texas closing applies the program’s structure: the insurance premium in the payment while it applies, the escrow account, and no upfront premium. The buyer moves in within sixty days on a principal residence, and the servicer tracks the balance toward the cancellation thresholds.
A brokerage that prices the whole market.
Lendmire never lends. It reads a Texas file against conventional, FHA, and VA, matches the program to the profile, and keeps the premium, the cost tier, and the conforming limit in front of the buyer before anything is signed.
Several programs, one set of numbers
Before any recommendation, the Texas file is priced across the wholesale programs Lendmire works with and run against FHA and VA on the same price, score, and down payment. The buyer sees the payment, the insurance line, and the cash to close for each, and the choice follows the figures.
The insurance explained before the offer
The premium and its exit are decided by the leverage and the score, and a buyer should know both before signing a contract. Lendmire states the structure for the Texas purchase, shows the payment before and after cancellation, and explains the request and automatic thresholds.
Licensed, consumer-purpose, in writing
What this page shows are the agencies’ parameters and the wholesale overlays; what a specific Texas loan gets is a written set of terms from a licensed loan officer after the review. Lendmire is a broker, never the lender.
Trusted by buyers & families alike.
Texas conventional loan FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Texas buyers ask most about conventional loans, in the order they usually ask them.
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 Texas 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 Texas?
The first-time buyer’s minimum in the snapshot on a one-unit principal residence with a fixed rate, where a first-time buyer is anyone without an ownership interest in a home during the prior three years; the standard minimum for everyone else; and more for second homes, multi-unit homes, and investment property, as the leverage table shows. A relative’s gift may fund the whole down payment on a one-unit principal residence.
What credit score do I need for a conventional loan?
The floor in the snapshot opens the program; the score above it sets the cost. With more than one borrower the automated system uses the average of the median scores, and a Texas buyer close to a cost tier may gain from a short wait and a paid-down balance.
How does private mortgage insurance work, and when does it end?
Above the threshold the insurance is part of the Texas payment; below it, there is none. Fannie Mae publishes the typical annual range shown in the snapshot, the insurer prices the actual premium, and the federal cancellation rules end it as equity arrives.
What is the conforming loan limit in Texas?
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.
Can the down payment be a gift?
It can, from an acceptable donor, for all of it on a one-unit principal residence; the donor must be a relative or similar, the letter must state no repayment is expected, and the transfer must be documented. Gifts may also fund closing costs and reserves.
What are HomeReady, Home Possible, and HomeOne?
They are the agencies’ affordable programs: the same conforming loan with the top leverage, lower insurance coverage, and in two cases an income limit. A Texas buyer who qualifies usually pays less than on the standard conventional structure at the same leverage.
What debt-to-income ratio does a conventional loan allow?
The automated ceiling in the snapshot is the most a conventional file can carry, and the finding decides how much of it a particular Texas file gets based on the score, the reserves, and the rest of the profile. Manual files are read at the lower pair.
Can I buy a rental property with a conventional loan?
Investment property is inside the conventional program at a lower leverage than a principal residence. A Texas buyer documents the rents, shows reserves for every property financed, and accepts loan-level adjustments for the occupancy.
Can I take cash out with a conventional refinance?
Yes, at the leverage in the snapshot for the occupancy, after the seasoning period. The cash-out loan carries its own loan-level adjustments, and the loan-to-value decides whether mortgage insurance applies to the new loan.
A Texas conventional loan sized to the price, the score, and the leverage.
A Texas conventional purchase starts with three questions: the score, the down payment, and the occupancy. Lendmire answers them, prices the programs, and writes up the one that fits.
This guide covers Texas — for the program overview, see Lendmire’s conventional loan program.
All Texas city guides (6): Austin · Dallas · El Paso · Fort Worth · Houston · San Antonio
Related programs: FHA Loans · Jumbo Loans · Refinance Loans