Dallas County

Irving Mortgage Broker: Condo, Townhome and Relocation Loans

Irving has more attached housing than almost any comparable Texas city, and that single fact changes how a mortgage here gets underwritten.

In a single-family purchase, the lender underwrites you and the house. In a condo purchase, the lender also underwrites the homeowners association — its budget, its reserves, its litigation, and how much of the building is owner-occupied. Buyers routinely sail through their own approval and then get stopped by a project they had no control over.

That is the Irving conversation worth having up front.

Condo warrantability, and what actually kills a deal

A condominium project is warrantable when it meets the agency guidelines that let Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac buy the loan. Not warrantable, and conventional financing is off the table — which means portfolio lending, different pricing, and usually more down.

The review looks at the project, not the unit — reserve funding, delinquency, single-entity ownership, litigation and commercial share. We set out that criteria list in detail on the Dallas condominium section, and it applies identically here.

What is worth adding for Irving specifically is the part nobody explains: the timing, and two conditions that have become far more decisive since 2021.

Deferred maintenance and special assessments. Agency scrutiny of structural and safety condition tightened significantly after the Surfside collapse. An association carrying a known unfunded repair — the garage deck, the building envelope, the elevators — can be ineligible until it is resolved or funded, even when every other metric passes. This is now among the most common reasons a previously financeable Las Colinas building stops being financeable.

FHA and VA keep separate approved-project lists. A building can be conventionally warrantable and not FHA-approved, or the reverse. Checking one tells you nothing about the other.

The timing problem

The association questionnaire is completed by the management company, not by you, not by your lender, and not on your schedule. Turnaround of two to three weeks is normal, and some managers charge a fee and take longer.

Your option period is typically shorter than that.

So the sequence that actually protects you is: request the questionnaire, the budget and the reserve study on day one of the contract, not after your own approval clears. A borrower approval takes days. A project review can outlast the window in which you could still walk away and keep your earnest money.

When the project will not qualify

There is still a path. Portfolio lenders hold the loan rather than selling it, so they set their own condo rules — and many will lend on a non-warrantable project with a larger down payment. It is a real product, not a consolation prize, and it is worth pricing rather than walking.

Get the condo questionnaire and the association's budget early. The answer is knowable during your option period. Finding out in underwriting wastes the option period you already paid for.

Townhomes are usually not condos

This confuses buyers constantly, and it has real consequences.

If you own the land and the structure and the association maintains common areas, that is typically a planned unit development, and it finances like a single-family home. No project review of the kind above.

If you own the airspace and the association owns the structure, that is a condominium regime regardless of whether it looks like a row of townhouses.

The deed and the recorded declaration settle it, not the architecture. Irving has both, sometimes on the same street, and the financing consequences are completely different.

The corporate corridor, briefly

Las Colinas and the Urban Center carry headquarters and major operations for Caterpillar, McKesson, Kimberly-Clark, Fluor, Vistra, Celanese and Christus Health, with DFW International Airport on the city's western edge. A lot of buyers here are mid-relocation and need a mortgage before their first Texas pay stub.

That is a solvable problem — offer letters generally work as income documentation when the start date is close enough, and relocation packages need reading carefully because not every component counts as income. We cover the mechanics in full on the Plano relocation page, and the same rules apply in Irving.

The airport, and the noise question

DFW International Airport sits partly inside Irving's city limits, and aircraft noise contours cover a meaningful slice of the north and west of the city.

What that does to a loan: an appraiser is required to note conditions that affect marketability, and proximity to an airport is one of them. It rarely blocks financing, but it can produce a value adjustment, and some buyers find the disclosure changes their offer. Check the airport's published noise contour map for the specific address rather than guessing from the flight path overhead.

Three school districts, one city

Irving addresses do not all feed Irving ISD. Parts of the city sit in Coppell ISD and parts in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, and the boundaries do not follow the city limits.

Because the school district is the largest line on a Texas tax bill, two comparable homes in the same city can carry different monthly costs for that reason alone. Verify the attendance zone by address with the district directly — never from a listing.

Taxes

Combined rates in Irving generally run in the 2.2% to 2.6% range: City of Irving, Dallas County, Dallas County Community College, Parkland Hospital District, and your school district.

Verify the parcel with the Dallas Central Appraisal District. A sale resets the appraised value and the seller's exemptions end at closing, so the first bill after purchase frequently exceeds what the listing advertised. File your homestead exemption the year you buy.

Where people buy

Las Colinas holds the mid-rise and high-rise inventory around Lake Carolyn and the canals, plus the Urban Center office core — the densest attached housing in the city.

Valley Ranch north of SH-114 is 1980s and 1990s planned development, a mix of single-family, townhomes and condominiums.

Hackberry Creek is a gated single-family enclave inside Las Colinas.

South Irving near the original townsite holds the older stock — 1950s and 1960s brick ranch homes on larger established lots, and the most straightforward financing in the city.

Los Colinas' western edge and the Campión Trail corridor follow the Elm Fork of the Trinity through the city.

The city

Irving was laid out in 1903 along the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway, and stayed a small town until DFW Airport opened in 1974 and the Las Colinas development began transforming the north side.

The Mustangs of Las Colinas at Williams Square — nine bronze horses at roughly one and a half life size, running through a granite stream — is among the largest equestrian sculptures in the world.

The Toyota Music Factory anchors the entertainment district, and the Irving Arts Center runs four galleries and two theaters. The University of Dallas campus sits on a hill in the city's south, and the Campión Trail gives about 22 miles of paved path along the Elm Fork and West Fork of the Trinity River.

Not sure which fits? Compare every loan program we place.

Frequently asked questions

What makes a condo non-warrantable? Common causes are reserves funded below roughly 10% of annual income, pending construction defect or structural litigation, known deferred maintenance or an unfunded special assessment, a low owner-occupancy ratio for non-primary purchases, one entity owning too many units, or too much commercial square footage.

Can I still buy a non-warrantable condo in Las Colinas? Yes. Portfolio lenders hold the loan rather than selling it to an agency, so they set their own condo rules. Expect a larger down payment and different pricing, but it is a real financing path worth comparing.

Is a townhome financed like a condo? Only if it is legally a condominium regime. If you own the land and the structure it is usually a planned unit development and finances like a single-family home. The recorded declaration decides it, not the appearance.

What are property taxes in Irving, TX? Combined rates generally run about 2.2% to 2.6%, varying with school district. Verify the parcel with the Dallas Central Appraisal District.

Is my Irving address in Irving ISD? Not necessarily. Parts of Irving are in Coppell ISD and Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. The boundaries do not follow city limits — verify by address with the district.

Can I buy in Irving before my job transfer starts? Usually yes. Most programs accept a non-contingent offer letter when the start date is within about 60 to 90 days of closing. Reserves may be required to cover the gap before your first paycheck.

Does airport noise affect the loan? It can affect the appraisal rather than the approval. Appraisers note conditions affecting marketability, and aircraft noise is one. Check the published noise contour for the specific address.

Get the association reviewed before your option period ends

The Irving deals that fall apart are almost never about the borrower. They are about a project that could not pass review, discovered too late to do anything about it.

Send us the address and the association's contact and we will get the questionnaire moving while you still have time to walk.

Start your application · Run the numbers · Call 737-347-1314

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