Orange County and Los Angeles County, specifically
Southern California is our home market. Every city here has its own housing stock and property assessments; lending requirements are the same everywhere in California, so pick a city to see which property conditions tend to come up. If your city is not listed, we work with homeowners throughout the state.
The Coast
Newport Beach
Waterfront, bluff-top and custom homes that AVMs can find hard to price.
Learn moreHuntington Beach
Beach-adjacent tracts with ADU conversions, plus a waterfront district with docks and seawalls.
Learn moreLaguna Beach
Canyon and hillside lots, wildfire exposure and custom homes.
Learn moreSan Clemente
Spanish colonial coastal homes, bluff-front lots and the assessed district at Talega.
Learn moreCentral Orange County
Irvine
Master-planned villages, homeowner associations and Mello-Roos districts.
Learn moreCosta Mesa
Mid-century tracts, active remodel and ADU projects, and relatively few homeowner associations.
Learn moreTustin
A historic core, a master-planned ranch and a newer assessed district.
Learn moreOrange
Old Towne’s historic core, Eichler tracts and large equestrian lots.
Learn moreSanta Ana
The county’s oldest housing: 1920s historic districts near downtown and post-war tracts with permit questions.
Learn moreGarden Grove
Mid-century single-story tracts, low association density and one of the highest ADU permit counts in the county.
Learn moreWestminster
Post-war tract housing and the property conditions that come with its age.
Learn moreNorth Orange County
Anaheim
Post-war tracts, hillside association communities and a wide mix of housing.
Learn moreFullerton
Historic districts, hillside homes in a fire zone, and the Amerige Heights Mello-Roos community.
Learn moreBrea
Hillside and tract housing reaching its replacement cycle, plus newer assessed districts.
Learn moreBuena Park
Post-war tracts with relatively few homeowner associations.
Learn moreLa Palma
A small, almost entirely residential city of 1970s housing.
Learn moreYorba Linda
Large lots, equestrian zoning and hillside properties.
Learn moreVilla Park
A small, almost entirely residential city of half-acre-plus lots.
Learn moreSouth Orange County
The property questions that come up most in Los Angeles
The property situations Los Angeles homeowners ask about first, and what each one means for the line.
Soft-story retrofit orders
About 13,500 Los Angeles buildings are under the mandatory program. Fourplexes are inside it; buildings of three or fewer units are exempt in LA, and other cities set their own thresholds.
Learn moreUnpermitted ADUs and garage conversions
What an unrecorded unit does to the valuation, and how AB 2533 changes the fix for units built before 2020.
Learn moreDuplexes, triplexes and fourplexes
Eligible to four units, owner-occupied or not. Los Angeles County has about 32,000 owner-occupied 2–4 unit properties.
Learn moreWildfire zones and FAIR Plan insurance
The zone does not make a home ineligible. The coverage you hold decides it, and the non-renewal clock sets your timing.
Learn moreCondos without project review
No warrantability test, no litigation check, no questionnaire. About 120,000 owner-occupied condos in the county.
Learn moreMello-Roos and special taxes
Rare in Los Angeles County, common across the Orange County line. How a CFD levy changes the amount, not eligibility.
Learn moreLos Angeles County
Long Beach
Eighteen historic districts, canal-front Naples, and a downtown where condos sit beside own-your-own units.
Learn moreTorrance
Mid-century tracts, the Olmsted-planned historic core, and view-protected hillside streets under an overlay.
Learn morePasadena
Twenty-three landmark districts, foothill hillside and fire overlays, and condominiums in Old Pasadena.
Learn moreDowney
Post-war ranch tracts, larger lots in North Downey, and permits on added space as the main check.
Learn moreSan Francisco, the Peninsula and South Bay
San Francisco
Victorian and Edwardian houses, row houses and condominiums, plus TIC and multi-unit buildings.
Learn moreSan Mateo
Highlands Eichlers, 1920s–30s neighborhoods and newer attached homes at Bay Meadows.
Learn morePalo Alto
Eichler neighborhoods, historic homes and custom rebuilds that are hard to value automatically.
Learn moreSan Jose
Willow Glen bungalows, Eichler tracts, hillside homes and newer townhomes.
Learn moreEast Bay
Oakland
Craftsman bungalows, Victorians and custom hillside homes in a wildfire zone.
Learn moreBerkeley
Brown-shingle and craftsman homes and hillside lots along the Hayward Fault.
Learn moreWalnut Creek
Ranch homes, larger lots and Rossmoor, where some homes are stock cooperatives.
Learn moreFremont
Hillside homes, a historic district in Niles, planned neighborhoods and newer townhomes.
Learn moreOutside these cities?
We work with homeowners anywhere in California, including Los Angeles County, San Diego, the Central Coast and the Central Valley. The requirements do not change from city to city. What changes is the property — its type, its assessments, the liens against it and how easily it can be valued.
Where is the property?
Tell us the city and rough numbers. You will hear back from Matt, not a queue.
These are the requirements for the home equity line we place. Other lenders set their own guidelines, and some are more flexible.
Service areas: questions
All of California. Our home market is Southern California — Orange County, including Irvine, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Tustin, Orange, Laguna Beach, Yorba Linda, Villa Park, San Juan Capistrano, Mission Viejo, Anaheim, Huntington Beach, Brea, Buena Park, Westminster, La Palma, San Clemente, Laguna Woods, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Fullerton, and Los Angeles County. We also cover the San Francisco Bay Area, including San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Walnut Creek, Fremont, San Mateo, Palo Alto, San Jose, and we work with homeowners anywhere in the state.
No. Credit, income, debt-to-income and property requirements are the same everywhere. What differs from place to place is the property itself: its type, assessments, liens and how easily it can be valued.
For the property, yes. Mello-Roos assessments are typically counted in debt-to-income, many Laguna Woods Village and some Rossmoor homes are co-ops rather than condos, San Francisco TIC shares aren’t an eligible property type, and Eichlers and custom hillside homes are hard for AVMs to price.
These are the requirements for the home equity line we place. Other lenders set their own guidelines, and some are more flexible.