Loan programs for Chester County, from a lot in Honey Brook to a jumbo in Berwyn

A resale in Exton, a new build already standing in a Downingtown development, a first house with the county's $40,000 program behind it. USDA belongs here for the south and west of the county; jumbo for anything over $832,750 on the western Main Line.

1. 01

   USDA loans

   Zero down inside USDA's eligible areas, the address check that has to come first, and what the site rule says about acreage, wells and septic.

2. 02

   Jumbo loans

   Where the jumbo line falls in 2026, the towns that straddle it, and why every down payment and score figure you read is a lender's policy.

3. 03

   Conventional loans

   The $832,750 conforming limit against July 2026 sold medians in Exton, Downingtown, Malvern and Berwyn, the 3% down programs and their income rule, and how private mortgage insurance ends.

4. 04

   FHA loans

   The 2026 FHA limit for the Philadelphia MSA, 3.5% down, how long the mortgage insurance lasts, what the appraiser flags on pre-1940 borough stock, and the well and septic rules the county enforces.

5. 05

   VA loans

   Nothing down with full entitlement, no monthly mortgage insurance, how the funding fee is set, the property standards the appraiser applies, and what a well and septic add on acreage.

6. 06

   First-time home buyers

   The county program's $40,000 at 0%, the 20% down payment ceiling and the reserve tests, PHFA's July 2026 Chester County limits, K-FIT, and the order the pieces have to go in.

A lot on its own, a construction loan that pays the builder in draws, a construction-to-permanent loan that becomes the mortgage when the certificate of occupancy arrives, and renovation loans for the farmhouse that needs a kitchen. Count the draws before you sign.

1. 01

   Construction-to-permanent loans

   The sequence: one closing before the build, funds into escrow, draws paid against inspections, and the conversion to permanent financing.

2. 02

   One-time-close construction loans (FHA, VA, conventional)

   FHA, VA and conventional single-close compared, what each one asks the builder to produce, and the clocks that run on the build.

3. 03

   Lot and land loans

   Why land is its own product, the perc test and Act 537 questions that decide the file, and how a lot loan bridges into construction financing.

4. 04

   Financing a new-construction home

   Deposits, the builder's affiliated lender, appraisals written on plans and specs, and why the certificate of occupancy sets your closing date.

5. 05

   Renovation loans: 203(k), HomeStyle, CHOICERenovation

   The caps, the consultants and the completion deadlines on 203(k) Limited and Standard, HomeStyle and CHOICEReno eXPress.

A lower payment, a shorter term, or cash out for the addition. No realty transfer tax attaches to a refinance in Pennsylvania, which takes a line most people brace for straight off the settlement sheet.

1. 01

   Refinance

   The three shapes a refinance takes, what the appraisal sets, streamline options on government loans, why the county assessment does not move, and what the whole thing costs.

2. 02

   Cash-out refinance

   How far a lender will go against value on conventional, FHA and VA cash-out, what the appraisal decides, what the money goes into around here, and the liens that come due.

Self-employed with two years of returns, and a farmette an ordinary appraiser has never seen. Somebody lends on each of these, and the sequence matters.

1. 01

   Self-employed mortgages

   What two years of returns have to show, which non-cash items get added back, the rest of the paperwork, and where bank-statement programs sit.