Tell me where to send it and read the whole thing right now — no credit pull, no spam.
By submitting you agree to receive email from Chance Stevens. Unsubscribe anytime. Informational only — not a commitment to lend. Privacy Policy
Plug in your real numbers: income, debts, savings, credit, and target home price. Get back a personal 6, 12, or 18 month plan with the exact monthly moves to qualify. No credit pull. No application. Lives in your browser.
Mint, YNAB, and Rocket Money are great for tracking spending. But none of them know what it actually takes to qualify for a $700K mortgage in Santa Clarita. They tell you to "save more" and "spend less" without telling you which dollar matters most for the goal you actually have.
Mortgage readiness has four levers: income, debt-to-income ratio, credit score, and cash on hand. Each one moves the needle differently, and the right move at month 1 is often the wrong move at month 9. This coach builds the plan around the order that actually works.
Most people pay off their car or student loan first because the balance is biggest. For mortgage readiness, that's usually wrong. The right order is: high-utilization credit cards first (because they hammer your score), then revolving debts with high minimums (because they kill your DTI), then installment loans (because they barely move the needle).
This coach calculates the right order for you specifically, based on which lever is your actual bottleneck.
A 30-point credit score lift can save you 0.5-1.0% on your interest rate. On a $600K loan that's $200-$400/month for 30 years. Free if you do it right.
You're either under your loan's max DTI threshold or you're not. Paying off a $250/mo car payment can unlock $50K of purchase power overnight, same household income.
People save for the down payment and forget closing costs and reserves. The real number is typically 1.4-1.6x the down payment alone. This coach calculates both.
You can't fast-track raises. But you can document side income that's already happening, gig, 1099, rental, and turn it into qualifying income with the right product. Don't wait on a promotion.
All math runs in your browser. Nothing gets sent anywhere. Adjust any input and the plan updates live. When you're done, hit "Email my plan to Chance" to get a real conversation started, but you don't have to.
Round numbers are fine. The plan adjusts as you tweak.
As you change your inputs, your readiness score and personal action plan update live below.
Informational only — not a pre-qualification, credit pull, or commitment to lend.
Each lever has a different cost, timeline, and impact. The coach above weights them automatically, but if you want to know why your plan looks the way it does, here are the four levers explained.
The single biggest input. Underwriters take your gross monthly income and compare your total debt payments (including the new mortgage) to it. That ratio, back-end DTI, has a hard cap depending on your loan product.
Score doesn't determine if you qualify, it determines what you pay. Going from 660 to 720 can drop your rate by 0.5-1.0%, which on a $600K loan is $200-$400 per month for 30 years. The single highest-ROI 90-day move you can make.
Down payment plus closing costs. Closing costs in California typically run 2.0-2.5% of the purchase price, lender, title, escrow, appraisal, prepaid taxes and insurance. Most buyers underestimate this and arrive short on closing day.
The cash left in your account after you close. Underwriters want to see 2-6 months of housing payments still in reserve. If closing wipes out your savings, the loan can technically still die at the underwriter's desk, even with a clean approval otherwise.
A few real situations and how the coach typically maps them. Scan these to find the closest match to yours, then go play with the inputs above.
I'm a licensed mortgage loan officer based in Santa Clarita. I've watched too many smart, capable people sit on the sidelines for years because nobody actually told them what they needed to do, just that they "weren't quite ready."
This coach is the back-of-napkin math I run for prospective buyers in our first call, made interactive. It's not a replacement for that conversation. It's a head-start.
The coach gives you the plan. Working with me turns it into the loan. Here's what that path looks like.
Right above this section. Spend 5 minutes adjusting inputs until the readiness score reflects your actual situation. Hit "Email my plan to Chance" or screenshot your output.
We'll get on a quick call. I'll pressure-test the plan against your real situation, programs you fit, products that match, what 90-day moves actually unlock the most for YOU.
You execute the plan. I check in monthly. No application yet, no credit pull. Just guidance and accountability while you build the position you need.
When you're ready, we run real pre-approval and you start writing offers. Most of my coached buyers are in escrow within 60-90 days of crossing their readiness threshold.
If you have hesitation about sending your readiness score, you're not alone. These are the most common things people want to know first.
No — it's an informational estimate, no credit pull, not a commitment to lend. The coach runs a simplified model in your browser to give you a directional readiness read and a plan.
A real pre-qualification or pre-approval requires reviewing your credit, income documentation, and the specific loan product, which happens later if you choose to talk.
No. Every calculation runs in your browser locally. Nothing is transmitted, stored, or logged unless you click the "Email my plan to Chance" button, and even then, all that gets sent is the summary line you see in the email draft before you hit send.
Reload the page or close the tab and your inputs are gone. Truly private.
It's an informational estimate, not a pre-qualification. The math models the four levers underwriters actually use (DTI, credit, cash to close, reserves) with weights that match how Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, and VA prioritize them, so it tends to be a reasonable directional read for the average buyer in California.
Where it's less precise: it doesn't know about niche programs you might fit (VA, USDA), recent credit events, gift funds, or non-W2 income. That's what the call after the coach is for, to take the estimate and tune it to your actual situation.
That's actually the most useful score. It means there's clear, addressable work ahead and the coach gave you the priority order. People I've worked with starting in that range typically hit "Almost Ready" (70+) within 9-15 months when they execute the plan.
The lower-score buyers I take on early are often the ones I love working with most, by the time we close, the trust runs deep because we built it through the prep, not just the loan.
No. Running the coach, having the 15-minute call, and executing the 90-day plan create no obligation whatsoever. When you're ready for a real pre-approval, you're free to shop my offer against any other lender, and I'd recommend doing exactly that.
What I've found is that buyers who go through the coaching phase with me tend to stick around because the relationship is already built. But that's their choice, not a contract.
No. The 15-minute reality-check call is free, and so is monthly check-in coaching while you execute the plan. Loan officers are paid by the lender at close, not by you upfront, so there's no economic incentive for me to gate any of the early work.
That's normal. The score measures the math, not the emotional readiness, and they're different. The point of a real conversation isn't to push you into anything, it's to walk through what's actually behind the hesitation and figure out if it's protective intuition or just inertia.
Sometimes the right answer is "you're ready, let's go." Sometimes it's "you're ready financially but life is in flux, let's wait until Q4." Both answers are fine.
The lever framework (DTI, credit, cash, reserves) applies anywhere in the US. The specific math (Mello-Roos, LA County tax rates, SCV HOA averages) is calibrated for SCV/LA, so the all-in payment number will be a bit off if you're elsewhere, but the readiness score and plan logic still work.
I'm licensed to originate home loans in California. I lend in California. The coaching plan from this tool is portable.
No catch. I make my living closing loans, and the way I close loans is by being the LO buyers trust when they're ready. If 1 in 50 people who use the coach ends up working with me a year from now, the math works.
The other 49 walk into their first loan officer meeting with a clear plan and informed questions, which is a net win even if they end up working with someone else.
Three ways to start, none require an application or credit pull. Pick whichever feels least like a commitment.
If you ran the coach and your score was lower than you expected, you're in the right place at the right time. The buyers I respect most aren't the ones who walk in already ready. They're the ones who saw the gap and decided to close it instead of pretending it wasn't there.
Six months from now, you can be the buyer everyone in your life is asking for advice. The first move is the hardest. Email me whenever you're ready, even if "ready" is just "I have a question about something I don't understand."
ChanceNMLS# 2529600 · Santa ClaritaThe coach above runs entirely in your browser — nothing is sent unless you choose to. If you want a human read on your numbers, drop your first name and email and I’ll follow up personally. Email only.
Done. I’ll follow up by email — same-day on business days. No call unless you ask for one.
Different situation? Pick your path on the main site:
A short intro call with me. Pick any time that works.
The calendar didn’t load here.
Open it in a new tab →Booking runs on Calendly. Privacy Policy · Prefer the written route? Start the Readiness Read → · Rather text? Text “SCV ready” to (661) 284-1150