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
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
The wholesale programs behind these pages start at a 620 decision score. The agencies themselves set no minimum for an automated approval and ask for 620 on a manually underwritten fixed-rate loan and 640 on an adjustable; the score prices the loan and the insurance more than it gates them.
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
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.
For informational purposes only. This is not a commitment to lend or extend credit, an offer, or a quote. Program parameters shown are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines and wholesale lender overlays, are subject to change without notice, and every figure depends on the borrower, the property, the occupancy, the automated underwriting finding, and full underwriting. Mortgage insurance figures are published typical ranges and editable estimates, not premium quotes. Conforming loan limits apply by county. Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender. Licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages. NMLS #2371349.
What a conventional loan is — and how the file is qualified.
Four rules shape a Tracy conventional file: leverage by occupancy and buyer, credit scoring that prices rather than gates, mortgage insurance that cancels, and ratios set by the underwriting path. Each is explained below with the reason behind it.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s conventional loan program, or the statewide guide at Conventional Loans in California; for the mortgage insurance cancellation rules, see the CFPB.
Leverage by occupancy and buyer
Leverage on a Tracy conventional loan is a table rather than a single number: purchase against refinance, principal residence against second home against rental, one unit against several. Each cell has its own maximum, a cash-out refinance sits below the purchase ceiling for the same occupancy, and the snapshot shows the whole table.
Credit scores and automated underwriting
What the score does on a Tracy conventional file is set the cost. A lower score raises the loan-level adjustments and the insurance premium; a higher score lowers both. Manual underwriting, used when the automated system cannot approve the file, carries its own minimum score and tighter ratios.
Mortgage insurance that cancels
Twenty percent down means no mortgage insurance at all, and anything less means insurance for a while. The calculator on this page shows the Tracy payment with the estimated premium and the payment after it ends, along with the month on the amortization schedule when the request and automatic thresholds arrive.
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 Tracy underwriter then verifies what the finding assumed.
None of this is a decision. The appraisal can come in under the price, the rate is set at lock, the premium is set by the insurer, and the automated finding sets the reserves. What stays fixed is the structure the calculator reproduces: price, down payment, leverage, insurance, payment.
Where Tracy buyers borrow — and how a conforming loan fits.
These numbers are Tracy’s, not any one borrower’s: owner households, median home value, and household income from the U.S. Census Bureau. They give the scale of a typical purchase here; the score, the appraisal, and the household’s own income give the loan.
These are context figures, not underwriting inputs. 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 Tracy neighborhoods, distinct conventional files.
No single conventional file describes Tracy. The submarkets below differ in housing stock, price, occupancy mix, and the appraisal questions they raise, and each one shapes how a conforming loan is put together.
Two-to-four-unit homes
Owner occupancy of one unit sets the leverage on a Tracy multi-unit conventional loan; without it, the property is an investment purchase at the lower investment leverage. The appraisal reads every unit and the rents. About 35% of Tracy’s households rent — roughly 10,134 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Higher-value homes
On Tracy’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. Tracy is home to about 97K people.
Investor and second-home purchases
A second home in Tracy, 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. The median owner-occupied home value in Tracy runs near $699,000 on the latest Census estimate.
Newer infill and recent construction
New rows and recent infill in Tracy 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. Median household income in Tracy sits near $121,119 on the latest Census estimate.
Established close-in neighborhoods
Renovated and unrenovated homes sit side by side in Tracy’s established neighborhoods, and the appraisal values each on comparable sales. The leverage, the insurance, and the ratio do not change with the age of the house. On a one-unit principal residence at Tracy’s median value, the first-time buyer’s minimum down payment comes to about $21,000 and the standard minimum to about $35,000 — 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
Townhomes in Tracy finance like houses when they are fee simple and like condominiums when they are organized as one; the lender settles which before the appraisal, and the leverage follows the occupancy either way. Roughly 18,786 Tracy households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 65% of all households, the pool a conventional purchase joins.
Each Tracy submarket has its own property story, and the appraisal and the project review are where that story is told. The leverage limits, the cancellation rules, and the automated finding are the constants.
Four ways Tracy buyers put a conforming loan to work.
Tracy 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 an investment property
A Tracy investor buying one to four units on a conventional loan puts down what the leverage table shows for investment property, documents agency-allowed rent toward qualifying, and holds reserves the finding requires per financed property. It is an individual agency loan under investment-property rules, not an investor DSCR loan.
Buy a first home at the first-time-buyer minimum
The first purchase on a conventional loan starts at the first-time buyer’s minimum in the snapshot, with the whole amount allowed as a family gift. A Tracy buyer with a solid score may pay less each month than on FHA because the insurance is priced on the score and ends; the comparison is run on the actual numbers.
Buy with twenty percent down and no insurance
The move-up Tracy buyer selling one home and bringing twenty percent to the next usually lands here: no mortgage insurance, the strongest cost tier the score earns, and a loan the automated system reviews with the equity brought forward counted in the file.
Refinance or take cash out
A Tracy 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 Tracy price before requesting a quote.
This is what a Tracy conventional purchase costs each month at the leverage you choose, with the insurance shown as a separate line and then removed: the calculator finds the month on the schedule when the balance reaches the request threshold and the month it reaches the automatic threshold, and shows the payment on each side. The rate shown is the weekly Freddie Mac average, editable, and not a quote.
Tracy conventional payment estimate
Use the Tracy defaults as a starting point and change the price, the down payment, the buyer type, the term, the insurance estimate, and the escrows to fit.
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 $700,000 price near Tracy’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 California (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 score, the down payment available, VA eligibility, and the expected length of the loan decide which program wins. Here are the three, one next to the other.
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 Tracy buyer with a strong score usually pays less each month here than on FHA.
FHA’s leverage is high and its credit standard is forgiving, but its insurance is priced by schedule rather than by score and does not cancel on a full-leverage thirty-year loan. A Tracy buyer comparing the two sees the premium line stay on FHA and disappear on conventional. 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 Tracy 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 Tracy 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 Tracy 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 Tracy 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.
When a Tracy conventional file surprises someone, the cause is usually one of these: a premium higher than expected, a score that priced differently than hoped, an appraisal under the price, a project that failed review, or a loan amount over the conforming limit.
Use these checks to keep the Tracy file clean and fundable.
A Tracy file that is ready to review has already answered three questions: what leverage and therefore what insurance, what score and therefore what price, and whether the home is inside the agencies’ rules.
- 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.
- Mind the ratios: the total ratio includes the insurance while it applies.
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 Tracy 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 score does two jobs on a Tracy file: it feeds the automated assessment alongside the rest of the credit file, and it sets the cost of the loan and the insurance. A buyer close to a cost tier sometimes gains more from a short wait and a paid-down balance than from any other change.
Ratios, reserves, and the finding
The total ratio counts the full housing payment, insurance included, plus every other obligation, against gross income, up to the automated ceiling in the snapshot; a manual file is held to the lower pair. The finding also sets the reserves, and a Tracy buyer with other financed properties carries more of them.
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 Tracy file inside a waiting period is written later, not now.
Second homes, rentals, and financed-property limits
A Tracy household can hold several conventional loans at once, but each financed property adds reserves to the next file and the agencies cap the number of financed properties a borrower may have. Second homes and rentals are leveraged lower than a principal residence and priced for the occupancy.
From a Tracy pre-approval to keys in hand.
Four steps: the pre-approval, the appraisal, the underwriting, and the closing. The Tracy version of each follows.
Pre-approval
A Tracy 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
The Tracy contract sets the price and the contributions; the appraisal, or the system’s value acceptance, sets the value. Both feed the loan amount, and the lender confirms the project review and the conforming limit before underwriting begins.
Underwriting
The underwriter verifies what the automated finding assumed: income, assets and reserves, credit and any seasoning, occupancy, and the property. A manual file follows the lower ratio pair instead. Conditions are issued, documented, and cleared before final approval.
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 Tracy buyer takes the keys, and the lender delivers the loan to the agency it was written for.
A brokerage that prices the whole market.
Lendmire is a mortgage brokerage licensed for consumer lending in sixteen states, and on a conventional loan that buys three things: the file priced across several wholesale programs rather than one, the insurance structure and its exit explained before an offer is written, and the terms in writing from a licensed loan officer.
Several programs, one set of numbers
Before any recommendation, the Tracy 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 Tracy 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 Tracy 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.
Tracy conventional loan FAQs
What a conventional loan is, how much it takes to buy, what score it needs, how the mortgage insurance works and ends, and how the conforming limit works, answered for Tracy buyers.
What is a conventional loan, and who is it for?
A conventional loan is the mortgage a Tracy buyer with good credit should compare first: a low down payment for the first-time buyer, insurance that cancels, no upfront premium, and the breadth to finance a second home or a rental under the same rules.
How much do I need to put down on a conventional loan in Tracy?
The first-time buyer’s minimum down payment is in the snapshot on this page, for a one-unit principal residence with a fixed rate. A first-time buyer is anyone without an ownership interest in a home during the prior three years. Everyone else pays the standard minimum. Second homes, multi-unit homes, and investment property need more, 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 Tracy 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?
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 Tracy?
There is a county limit, revised annually, and some counties carry a high-balance range above the standard figure. The loan officer confirms the current limit at pre-approval; above it, the jumbo program takes the file.
Can I buy a second home with a conventional loan?
Yes, at the second-home leverage in the snapshot table. The home must be occupied by the owner part of the year and not operated as a rental business; a property rented full time is an investment property under the program.
What does the appraisal check on a conventional loan?
The value and the general condition. A conventional appraisal is lighter on condition than a government appraisal, and a short value re-sizes the loan on a Tracy file; the buyer brings the difference, renegotiates, or releases the contract under its contingency.
Is a conventional loan assumable?
Conventional loans are generally not assumable because of the due-on-sale clause. The exception is a subset of adjustable-rate loans, and the loan documents govern.
Can I buy a rental property with a conventional loan?
Yes, one to four units, at the investment leverage in the snapshot table, with the rental income counted toward qualifying under the agencies’ rules and reserves required for each financed property. The agencies also cap the number of financed properties one borrower may hold, and the loan is written under their investment-property rules rather than as an investor DSCR loan.
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 Tracy file gets based on the score, the reserves, and the rest of the profile. Manual files are read at the lower pair.
A Tracy conventional loan sized to the price, the score, and the leverage.
Ask for a Tracy scenario review to confirm the leverage, the insurance and its exit, and the loan the program supports. Lendmire is a broker licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages and is never the lender.
This guide covers Tracy — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see Conventional Loans in California, part of Lendmire’s conventional loan program.
Nearby markets in California: Manteca · Livermore · Stockton · Brentwood · Pleasanton · Dublin · Modesto · Antioch
Related programs: FHA Loans · Jumbo Loans · Refinance Loans