Current conventional guidelines, updated from one source.
The block below is the conforming rulebook reduced to the figures that decide a file, read from Lendmire’s single guideline source and refreshed on this page when the agencies or the wholesale overlays change: the down payment by buyer, the credit floor, the mortgage insurance threshold and its cancellation points, and the ratio maximums.
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
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
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.
Not a commitment to lend, not an offer of credit, not a quote. The figures shown are current conforming program parameters and wholesale overlays that change without notice and apply only after full underwriting of the borrower and the property; the mortgage insurance range is Fannie Mae’s published typical range and the premium on any loan is set by the insurer. Conforming loan limits apply by county. Lendmire is a mortgage broker licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages, never the lender. NMLS #2371349.
What a conventional loan is — and how the file is qualified.
Four rules shape a Washington conventional file: leverage by occupancy and buyer, credit scoring that prices rather than gates, mortgage insurance that cancels, and ratios set by the automated finding. Each is explained below with the reason behind it.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s conventional loan program; 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
The automated system, DU on the Fannie Mae side and LPA on the Freddie Mac side, reads the whole credit file rather than a single number: the score, the depth of history, the recent events, and the seasoning after any derogatory event. The score it uses with more than one borrower is the average of the median scores.
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 Washington file comes from the insurer at lock, never from this page.
Ratios, reserves, and the DU finding
Three things decide what payment a Washington income carries: the ratio ceiling for the underwriting path, the reserves the finding requires, and the stability of the income over two years. Enter income in the calculator to see the ratio on a local price before asking for a quote.
A lender runs the same math on a Washington 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 Washington buyers borrow — and how a conforming loan fits.
The leverage limits are percentages and the market turns them into dollars, and the dollars depend on where in Washington the home sits. These Census figures describe the state as a whole and the markets Lendmire tracks within it.
Statewide figures provide general market context, not an appraisal or an income calculation. Income sets the ratio, value sets the loan and the premium, and the down payment sets the leverage. The Census describes the first two for the market; the file supplies all three for the borrower.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Where Washington’s buyers borrow — market by market.
Six Washington markets, six local guides. What stays constant is the agencies’ structure; what changes is the price a low-down-payment loan has to carry, the county limit, and the property types the appraiser sees most.
Seattle
With owner households around 158,945, about 44% of households, Seattle 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 $938,600, median household income near $123,860, population near 754K.
Spokane
With owner households around 57,325, about 59% of households, Spokane 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 $363,500, median household income near $70,064, population near 230K.
Tacoma
Tacoma carries one of the largest owner-household counts in Lendmire’s Washington footprint, near 51,893, about 56% of households; in a metropolitan market of that depth, conforming loans finance the bulk of purchases and refinances. Census context: median value near $479,600, median household income near $85,884, population near 223K.
Vancouver
Vancouver carries one of the largest owner-household counts in Lendmire’s Washington footprint, near 41,385, about 51% of households; in a metropolitan market of that depth, conforming loans finance the bulk of purchases and refinances. Census context: median value near $462,400, median household income near $81,338, population near 195K.
Bellevue
With owner households around 32,234, about 52% of households, Bellevue 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 $1,340,300, median household income near $165,576, population near 152K.
Kent
Kent carries one of the largest owner-household counts in Lendmire’s Washington footprint, near 26,961, about 57% of households; in a metropolitan market of that depth, conforming loans finance the bulk of purchases and refinances. Census context: median value near $587,800, median household income near $92,302, population near 136K.
No Washington market has its own conventional rules. The leverage by occupancy, the credit floor, the insurance thresholds and cancellation points, the ratio ceiling, the contribution caps, and the waiting periods apply identically everywhere; what differs by county is the conforming limit, which a Lendmire loan officer confirms for each file.
Four ways Washington buyers put a conforming loan to work.
Washington 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 first home at the first-time-buyer minimum
For a Washington 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.
Buy a condominium in a warrantable project
The condominium file adds the project review to the house file. Once a Washington project clears it, the first-time buyer’s minimum, the insurance rules, and the ratio ceiling are exactly what they would be on a single-family home.
Buy an investment property
Investment property on a conforming loan is a common entry point for Washington landlords: one to four units, a down payment set by the leverage table, rental income counted under the agencies’ rules, and a cap on how many financed properties one borrower may hold.
Buy a second home
A second home in Washington 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.
Estimate the payment on a Washington price before requesting a quote.
Before you ask for a quote, size the payment yourself: the Washington 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.
Washington conventional payment estimate
Seeded at Washington’s 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 $565,000 price near Washington’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 Washington (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 Washington 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.
Conventional fits the Washington buyer with a solid score: the premium is smaller than FHA’s for strong credit and it ends, there is 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 ratio ladder’s room; it rarely wins for a Washington 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 Washington household. 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 Washington scenario review.
What a lender reads on a Washington conventional loan, and what you can have ready before anyone asks.
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 Washington 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 Washington file clean and fundable.
Before asking for a quote, know three answers: how much insurance the leverage carries and for how long, what the score does to the price, and whether the property and the loan amount fit the conforming program.
- Plan the insurance: it cancels on request at the request threshold and automatically at the termination threshold.
- Confirm the score: a self-pulled score can differ from the decision score.
- Check the project: the lender reviews the questionnaire, budget, and insurance before the appraisal.
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 Washington 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 Washington 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.
Warrantable or not
Project review is the one property question that can take a Washington condominium out of the program entirely. The lender collects the association’s questionnaire, budget, and insurance before the appraisal, and a buyer under contract should ask early how the project reads.
The conforming limit
Conforming loans are capped by county and by unit count, with higher limits in high-cost areas, and the figures are reset each year by the FHFA. A Washington purchase whose loan would run above the limit either brings a larger down payment to fit under it or moves to the jumbo program; a Lendmire loan officer confirms the current limit for the county.
Second homes, rentals, and financed-property limits
Of the three programs compared on this page, the conventional loan is the one that reaches a Washington second home or rental, and it does so with conditions: lower leverage, deeper reserves, adjustments for the occupancy, and a limit on the number of financed properties one borrower may carry.
From a Washington pre-approval to keys in hand.
A conventional purchase runs in a fixed order: pre-approval through the automated system on the score, the ratio, and the reserves; contract and appraisal or value acceptance; underwriting that verifies what the finding assumed; and closing with the insurance structure set. Here is that order for a Washington buyer.
Pre-approval
A Washington 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 appraisal is a valuation first and a condition report second on a conventional file; a short value re-sizes the loan, and the Washington contract is adjusted or released under its contingency. Where the system offers value acceptance, the step collapses to the system’s figure.
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
Closing is where the structure becomes a payment: principal and interest, the insurance while the loan is above the threshold, taxes and insurance. The Washington buyer takes the keys, and the lender delivers the loan to the agency it was written for.
A brokerage that prices the whole market.
A single lender prices a conventional loan one way; a brokerage with several wholesale programs prices it several ways and shows a Washington buyer which one costs less on the same score and leverage, with the insurance quoted by the insurer rather than guessed.
Several programs, one set of numbers
Before any recommendation, the Washington 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 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 Washington buyer at the price in hand.
Licensed, consumer-purpose, in writing
What this page shows are the agencies’ parameters and the wholesale overlays; what a specific Washington 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.
Washington 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 Washington buyers.
What is a conventional loan, and who is it for?
Think of it as the mortgage without a federal guaranty or insurance: the agencies set the rules, a private insurer covers the high-leverage slice, and the score sets the price. Principal residences, second homes, and one- to four-unit rentals are all inside it.
How much do I need to put down on a conventional loan in Washington?
A small share of the price for a first-time buyer, a little more for a repeat buyer, and twenty percent to skip the insurance. On a Washington home at the median value the market section shows what the minimums come to in dollars.
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 Washington 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 Washington?
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 rental property with a conventional loan?
Rentals of one to four units are eligible. The down payment is larger than on a home the buyer lives in, the finding sets the reserves, and the rental income enters the ratio under the agencies’ rules rather than in full.
Can I use a conventional loan to buy a condominium?
In a warrantable project. A Washington buyer under contract on a condominium should have the lender start the project review early, because a project that fails is outside the conforming program and goes to a portfolio lender on other terms.
Should I choose a conventional loan or FHA?
It depends on the score, the down payment, and how long you will keep the loan. Conventional prices the insurance on the score and cancels it; FHA prices by schedule and keeps it for the term at full leverage. A strong score usually pays less on conventional; a modest score usually pays less on FHA. A Washington loan officer runs both in writing.
What does the appraisal check on a conventional loan?
Value first: the loan is sized on the lesser of the price and the appraised value. Condition second: there is no HUD or VA property standard, but the home must be safe, sound, and marketable, and findings on older homes are settled before closing. Where the automated system offers value acceptance or an appraisal waiver, no appraisal is ordered at all.
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.
Run the Washington conventional numbers, then get the terms in writing.
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 Washington — for the program overview, see Lendmire’s conventional loan program.
All Washington city guides (6): Bellevue · Kent · Seattle · Spokane · Tacoma · Vancouver
Related programs: FHA Loans · Jumbo Loans · Refinance Loans