Colorado home loans for first-time, self-employed, and move-up buyers.
Colorado-licensed lending from a Cornerstone branch that closes the complex files: CHFA down payment help in Denver and Aurora, jumbo in Boulder and Vail, DSCR for Colorado Springs rentals. Real numbers, built around your Colorado scenario.
CHFA and Colorado county-limit figures verified July 2026, details change; confirm your scenario with us.
We run CHFA FirstStep, SmartStep, and Preferred, plus Metro DPA and Denver Advantage. The Colorado menu, not a generic national list.
Real numbers on Denver-metro prices and CHFA income caps. No salesy script. We tell you when a CHFA grant isn't the right move for your Colorado purchase.
First-time buyers in Aurora, self-employed borrowers in Fort Collins, jumbo in Boulder, investors in Colorado Springs. We cover the full Colorado toolbox.
Mike and his team of Colorado-licensed loan officers handle every file directly, from Larimer County to Pueblo. No handoffs. You always know where your Colorado loan stands.
Pick the Colorado path that fits your situation.
Each path below has its own in-depth guide. A lot of Colorado buyers start with our first-time home buyer options: FHA, USDA, Conventional 97, and CHFA down payment help, with the 2026 loan limits broken out from the $832,750 baseline up to $1,249,125 in Eagle County.
Each guide goes deep on one type of Colorado buyer, from Denver first-timers to Vail jumbo borrowers. Land directly on the CHFA, jumbo, or DSCR answers that matter to you.
Down Payment Assistance
CHFA SmartStep, CHFA Preferred/DPA Grant, Metro DPA/Denver Advantage, plus Chenoa, Arrive, and Essex. The full CHFA and Metro Denver DPA menu, explained simply.
See Colorado DPA details →Buy Before You Sell
Bridge financing that removes the contingency from your offer in tight Denver-metro and Boulder markets. Buy your next Colorado home before your current one sells. Denver-metro listing agents call this the deal-saver.
See BBYS details →Self-Employed Loans
Bank statement, 1099, and asset-qualifier paths for Colorado's self-employed, common around Denver's RiNo and Fort Collins small-business scenes. Qualify on what your business actually makes, not what your Schedule C shows after deductions.
See Self-Employed details →Jumbo & Doctor Loans
Full doc, alt doc, super jumbo for Boulder, Vail, and Aspen price points, plus the Medical Professionals program for doctors at UCHealth and Children's Hospital Colorado: up to 100% LTV, no PMI, FICO 680.
See Jumbo / Doctor details →Investor & DSCR Loans
DSCR loans that finance below a 1.0 ratio; sub-1.0 programs are on our investor menu. Short-term-rental and standard rental options built for Colorado STR markets like Summit County, Vail, and Colorado Springs.
See Investor / DSCR details →First-Time Home Buyer Loans
FHA, USDA, and Conventional 97 with low down payment, paired with CHFA's $25,000 grant or 4% second and metroDPA's 3-year-forgivable help. Designed for the Aurora or Greeley buyer with real-life income and credit, not perfect-paper applicants.
See First-Time Buyer details →A Denver-based, Colorado-licensed loan officer, not a call-center voice.
Mike Certo is a Branch Manager at Cornerstone First Mortgage, Colorado-licensed. He leads a team of seasoned Colorado-licensed loan officers and works directly with the buyer and the agent through closing, whether the file is a Denver CHFA purchase or a Pitkin County jumbo. No junior LO running the file behind the scenes. No handoffs in the middle of escrow.
What you get when you work with Mike:
- Direct line. Real cell phone, real return calls within hours from a Front Range LO, not days.
- Real numbers. Honest math on which Colorado programs fit your scenario, including when a CHFA grant costs more than it saves.
- Files that close. Mike specializes in the hard Colorado files: complex income docs, contingency removal in Boulder bidding wars, jumbo with student debt, Colorado Springs investors at scale.
Common questions.
Why does CO Loan Experts have multiple websites?
Each Colorado lending niche has its own questions and audience. We built dedicated guides for CHFA down payment assistance, buy-before-you-sell in Denver-metro bidding wars, self-employed loans, Boulder and Vail jumbo, DSCR investor, and first-time-buyer paths so each set of Colorado buyers can land directly on the answers that matter to them. CO Loan Experts is the brand parent linking them all.
What kind of borrowers do you typically work with?
First-time Colorado buyers using CHFA down payment assistance, self-employed borrowers around Denver and Fort Collins who need bank-statement or 1099 loans, jumbo borrowers including doctors at UCHealth and Children's Hospital Colorado, investors using DSCR for Colorado Springs and Summit County rentals, and move-up buyers who need bridge financing to remove the contingency from their offers.
Do you work with real estate agents?
Yes, complex Colorado files are our specialty. Listing agents across Denver, Boulder, and Colorado Springs bring us their CCBS files (contract contingent on buyer sale) so we can provide bridge financing that removes the contingency. Buyer agents bring us self-employed Fort Collins buyers, complex-doc files, and unusual mountain-property scenarios in Summit and Eagle counties. Visit the For Agents page for the full referral playbook.
What's the fastest way to find out if you can help me?
Call (480) 296-6513 and ask for Mike, or send your Colorado scenario through the contact form. Our team calls you back shortly. Pre-approval on a Colorado purchase typically takes 24-48 hours after credit and income docs are in.
Ready when you are, Colorado.
Get pre-approved in 24-48 hours, or talk to Mike first to figure out which Colorado path fits, from a CHFA-paired FHA loan to a Vail jumbo.