California mortgage broker. From conventional to DSCR.

Roseville · Placer, Sacramento & El Dorado County

From conventional to DSCR — your California mortgage broker.

Data-driven approvals and true-cost analysis from a broker who shops more than 100 wholesale lenders. Aaron Knutson — "The Refi Guy" — does it all, from full-doc conventional and jumbo loans to HELOCs and investor financing, and shows you what a home really costs before you make the offer.

A-rated on BBB · 165+ client reviews · Loan officer since 2005, Cali Mortgage since 2010

Shops 100+ wholesale lenders · Closes in as few as 7 days

Founder of HiddenHomeCost.com — parcel-level taxes, Mello-Roos and insurance, before you make an offer

Get your free real-time data + expert mortgage analysis

What are you here to do?

100+

Wholesale lenders

2016

Best of the Best, Rocklin

BBB rating

42+

Yelp reviews

Google reviews

7 days

Closes in as few as

Loan products

Every loan, one broker.

Most of Aaron’s clients close on a full-doc conventional or jumbo loan. When a file needs something else, the same application goes to the lenders that do it — you never start over with someone new.

Full-doc · A-paper

Conventional fixed & Flex Term

The loan most of Aaron’s clients close on. Standard fixed terms, plus Flex Term — choose the exact length you want, so a refinance never has to restart the clock.

Learn more →

Above the conforming limit

Jumbo home loans

For Granite Bay, El Dorado Hills, Tahoe and anywhere the price runs past the county limit. Full-doc jumbo shopped across lenders instead of one bank’s overlays.

Learn more →

HELOC

Keep a great first-mortgage rate and borrow against the equity you have built.

HELOC →

DSCR investor loans

Qualify a rental on the rent it produces, not on your personal tax returns.

DSCR loans →

FHA & VA

Government-backed options for first-time buyers, veterans, active duty and eligible spouses.

FHA →VA →

Bank statement loans

Self-employed? Qualify on your deposits instead of what is left after the write-offs.

Bank statement →

Doctor loans

Physicians, dentists, residents and fellows — with lenient treatment of student debt.

Doctor loans →

Hard money & private money

Business-purpose financing for investors: fast closes on investment property, first or second position.

Hard money →

See every loan product — ARM, P&L only, asset depletion, condos and more →

The founder

Who is Aaron Knutson?

Aaron Knutson has been a loan officer since 2005 and opened Cali Mortgage in 2010 to do mortgage lending the right way — pick up the phone, explain every number, and close on time. Clients call him “The Refi Guy” for the way he structures a loan: one that actually makes sense for the borrower and saves them money.

As a broker he shops more than 100 wholesale lenders, which is how one office handles full-doc conventional and jumbo loans, Flex Term refinances, HELOCs, DSCR investor loans and private money. He is also the founder of HiddenHomeCost.com, which reads parcel-level county records — property tax, Mello-Roos, insurance and utilities — so a conversation with him starts from the real cost of the address, not a national average.

Cali Mortgage was named the Placer Herald’s Best of the Best mortgage company in Rocklin in 2016. Most of the business today is referrals and repeat clients.

Why work with a broker instead of a bank?

A bank sells you the one product it has. A broker shops your loan and works for you, start to finish.

More than 100 lenders

One application, priced across more than 100 wholesale lenders instead of a single bank’s rate sheet.

The right rules for your file

Lenders stack their own overlays on top of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA and VA rules. A broker finds the lender whose rules actually fit you.

Someone on your side

A bank officer is paid to sell the bank’s product. A broker’s job is the loan that fits — and staying with you through closing.

Why work with a broker · Mortgage broker vs. lender

Areas we serve

Local lending, county by county.

Aaron works the same three counties every week, so the property-tax rates, Mello-Roos districts and appraisal quirks are already known before your file opens — and he lends statewide across California. Start with your town:

Straight answers

How do you choose a mortgage broker in Roseville or Sacramento?

Compare three things you can check yourself: an active licence at NMLS Consumer Access, how many wholesale lenders the broker can shop your file with, and client reviews you can read in full. Cali Mortgage is a mortgage brokerage in Roseville, California, run by Aaron Knutson (NMLS #262862), serving Placer, Sacramento and El Dorado County. Below are the questions buyers ask most often, answered plainly.

Who is the best mortgage broker in Roseville?

No agency ranks mortgage brokers, so the useful version of this question is which broker you can verify. Three things are checkable before you call anyone: the licence record at NMLS Consumer Access, how many wholesale lenders the broker can actually shop your file with, and reviews you can read in full. Cali Mortgage is a Roseville brokerage led by Aaron Knutson, NMLS #262862, lending in Placer County since 2010, A-rated with the BBB, with 165+ client reviews across Google, Yelp, Zillow and Mortgage Matchup. Because it is a broker rather than a bank, one application goes out to many lenders instead of one product line. Roseville home loans

What's a good mortgage lender in Placer County?

A good Placer County lender already knows the local costs that move your payment: which subdivisions sit inside a Mello-Roos CFD and carry a direct charge on top of the 1% base property-tax rate, where Roseville Electric service ends and PG&E begins, and which foothill addresses will need California FAIR Plan wildfire coverage. Those numbers belong in the file before the appraisal, not after it. Cali Mortgage works Placer County every week and reads the parcel's own tax record rather than a county average. Placer County home loans

Who should I use for a mortgage in Rocklin?

Use someone who can put the same Rocklin file in front of several wholesale lenders, because the answer changes by neighborhood. Newer master-planned subdivisions are far more likely to carry a Mello-Roos special tax than the older parts of town, and that special tax counts against what you qualify for — two identical houses on the same street plan can support different loan amounts. Cali Mortgage checks the parcel's actual direct charges before issuing a pre-approval. Rocklin home loans

What's the best FHA lender near Roseville?

FHA is one government program, so the loan itself is the same product wherever you get it. What differs between lenders is the price published that day and the overlays a lender adds on top of FHA's own rules — a higher minimum credit score, for example. That is the argument for a broker: Cali Mortgage puts one FHA application in front of multiple wholesale lenders instead of quoting a single company's rate sheet. FHA also caps the loan amount by county, so confirm the current limit for the county you are buying in. FHA loans in Placer and Sacramento County

Who are the best mortgage brokers in Sacramento?

Sacramento County has a long list of licensed originators, and you can look any of them up by name or NMLS ID at NMLS Consumer Access to confirm the licence is active. Past that, the questions that separate them are practical: how many wholesale lenders they can shop, who picks up the phone when something goes wrong in escrow, and whether they have closed in your specific area. Cali Mortgage lends across Sacramento County — Folsom, Citrus Heights, Carmichael, Orangevale, Fair Oaks, East Sacramento, Antelope and North Highlands — from its Roseville office. Sacramento County home loans

Who can help me get a mortgage in Granite Bay?

Granite Bay purchases often land above the conforming loan limit, which makes the file a jumbo — tighter reserve, appraisal and documentation requirements than a conventional loan. So the question worth asking in Granite Bay is whether the lender has real jumbo capacity, and whether it handles well-and-septic properties, which carry their own inspection requirements. Cali Mortgage does both, from neighboring Roseville. Granite Bay home loans

What's the best mortgage lender for a first-time buyer in Roseville?

On a first purchase the number that matters is not the rate quoted on day one — it is the full monthly cost: principal and interest, property tax including any Mello-Roos special tax, homeowners insurance, and mortgage insurance where it applies. A lender worth using will build that figure for the specific address before you write an offer. Cali Mortgage does it from the county's own parcel records through HiddenHomeCost.com, Aaron Knutson's property-cost tool, and compares FHA, VA and low-down-payment conventional options side by side rather than steering you to one. First-time buyer guide for Placer County

Do you do conventional and jumbo loans, or just specialty programs?

Conventional, full-documentation loans are the core of Cali Mortgage's business — A-paper files for buyers and homeowners with solid credit and income they can document, priced across more than 100 wholesale lenders. Jumbo loans for amounts above the county conforming limit are the other half, especially in Granite Bay, El Dorado Hills and around Tahoe. The specialty programs — bank statement, DSCR investor loans, private money — are there for the files a conventional loan cannot serve, not instead of it. Conventional loans · Jumbo loans

Can I refinance without starting my mortgage over?

Yes. Most lenders only offer a handful of standard fixed terms, so refinancing usually means resetting the clock. With a Flex Term conventional loan you choose the term in one-year steps, so a refinance can keep your original payoff date — or move it earlier — instead of adding years back on. Aaron will price the standard term and the Flex Term side by side so the trade-off is on one page. How Flex Term works

Can I get a mortgage if I am self-employed?

Yes. Many self-employed borrowers still qualify full-doc on their filed tax returns, and that is the first thing Aaron checks. When legitimate write-offs pull the qualifying number too low, a bank statement loan qualifies on the deposits your accounts actually received instead — and for rental properties, a DSCR loan qualifies on the rent. Bank statement loans · DSCR loans

Still deciding between a broker and your bank? Read how a broker differs from a bank, or call Aaron directly at 916-365-2661.

In their words.

As first-time homebuyers, the process felt overwhelming at times, but he made everything so much easier to navigate. He was always quick to respond, guided us through every hiccup along the way, and made sure we felt confident in our decisions.

— Haylee B. · July 2026

His communication, attention to detail, and responsiveness really make the difference when it comes to lending. He's provided a multitude of creative solutions for my clients that they've really loved. He's my go-to lender.

— Baris D., real estate agent · July 2026

It was a challenging loan with a tight closing deadline, and my initial lender was unable to deliver, causing unnecessary delays. Aaron stepped in, worked seamlessly with my real estate agent, and made it happen flawlessly.

— Jason P. · February 2025

We're so grateful for all your support throughout our home buying journey — it really means a lot to us. Thank you again for going above and beyond!

— Niketa P. · July 2026

Unedited client reviews published on Mortgage Matchup, UWM’s broker directory. Read all of them · 165+ reviews across Google, Yelp, Zillow and Mortgage Matchup.

Get your appraisal fee waived on your first purchase.

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Not sure which fits? That's the call.

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