About Clearly Mortgage

Clearly Mortgage is a small reference site about mortgage terminology. It exists because the vocabulary of home lending — conforming, jumbo, points, APR, government-backed — is a real barrier for first-time buyers, and most explanations of it come from companies with a loan to sell.

This site sells nothing and quotes no one's rates. Its pages explain what the standard terms mean, how the common loan categories differ, and where the official numbers actually come from: HUD for FHA and homebuying programs, the FHFA for conforming loan limits, Freddie Mac's weekly rate survey for the benchmark everyone's headlines are based on, the VA for VA-backed loans, and the IRS for how mortgage interest is treated at tax time.

An honest note on what this site is not: it is reviewed reference material, not professional advice. Nothing here tells you which loan to take, whether you qualify, or what anything will cost you personally. Those answers depend on your finances and your market, and they belong with a licensed loan officer, a HUD-approved housing counselor, or a tax professional — this site's job is to make sure you understand the words they use.