St. Louis, MO
Your first St. Louis home, within reach.
Your St. Louis purchase, financed on your terms — down-payment-assistance, FHA, first-time-buyer — with the St. Louis legwork handled from Soulard on out.
Can Choice Home Mortgage help me buy a home in St. Louis, MO?
Yes. Choice Home Mortgage helps St. Louis buyers and homeowners through licensed partner brokers who handle the Missouri licensing, while we coordinate the St. Louis file and compare many lenders for it. We are a family-owned broker licensed in California (NMLS #2629064), and owner Esther Buede coordinates your loan from the first call to closing.
For St. Louis, FHFA's 2026 one-unit limit is $832,750 (the St. Louis area), which is where a loan stops being conforming and becomes jumbo. Everything from the first call to closing runs by phone and online.
What it costs to buy in St. Louis — and how to finance it.
St. Louis is among the most structurally affordable major US cities, with prices well below the national average and neighborhoods ranging from restored 19th-century brick row homes to leafy park-adjacent districts.
That’s the St. Louis backdrop the loan has to fit. 2026 gives St. Louis buyers a $832,750 conforming cap on one-unit homes — the St. Louis area sits at the national baseline. Most St. Louis purchases sit comfortably under that $832,750 line, keeping conventional, FHA, and down-payment-assistance open for St. Louis buyers. St. Louis itself prices entry-level. FHFA 2026 figures; your scenario gets verified before anything else.
2026 loan limits checked against FHFA’s county file; this page was last updated October 13, 2026.
From Soulard over to Tower Grove, St. Louis’s 318,000-plus residents sit within minutes of Florissant and St. Charles. We can talk St. Louis down to the blocks around the Gateway Arch. Soulard, Central West End, Lafayette Square, and Tower Grove — we finance homes in each of them, and everywhere else St. Louis reaches. “Mortgage broker near me” in St. Louis usually means the closest office — we skip the office and bring St. Louis-level help by phone and online instead. We work 16 cities across Missouri; St. Louis gets the same discipline as all of them — verify the St. Louis numbers, then shop the loan.
What working with us looks like.
Local St. Louis insight
From the Gateway Arch across Soulard, Central West End, Lafayette Square, we keep tabs on what St. Louis homes actually go for and which programs carry them.
Down-payment friendly
St. Louis budgets get the full toolkit — down-payment-assistance, FHA, first-time-buyer — plus every assistance program a St. Louis file can claim.
We shop; you choose
As a broker we put many lenders in competition for your St. Louis file — not one bank's St. Louis shelf.
The owner, coordinating
Your St. Louis file is coordinated by owner Esther Buede herself, and in St. Louis or Florissant hers is the name buyers recognize from our reviews.
St. Louis's file, coordinated by the owner.
Owner Esther Buede (individual NMLS #2003644) personally coordinates each St. Louis file, Central West End or any St. Louis address, first call to keys. Meet the family behind CHM →
“She was sincere. Got me processed and funded in 20 days. I felt taken care of every step of the way.”
Financing built around the St. Louis home you want.
Demand around the Gateway Arch keeps down-payment-assistance activity steady in St. Louis. Most St. Louis files start at down-payment-assistance, FHA, first-time-buyer (via our licensed partner-broker network) and branch from there — every option gets a look: FHA loans, non-QM, conventional, and VA. Start where it suits you: buying, exploring a refinance, or testing the numbers — begin online or call (949) 522-7310.
Expect FHA, first-time-buyer, down-payment-assistance to carry most St. Louis files.
Not every St. Louis file fits a W-2 box — self-employed borrowers can qualify on 1099 income, and St. Louis investors can lean on DSCR investor loans.
And around St. Louis: Florissant, St. Charles, Chesterfield are all in reach. Every Missouri city we cover →
Choice Home Mortgage (California-licensed, NMLS #2629064) serves St. Louis, MO buyers through licensed partner brokers. Equal Housing Opportunity. We serve St. Louis remotely; there is no local St. Louis office.
St. Louis mortgage questions, answered.
Is there a loan limit for St. Louis purchases in 2026?
Yes. A conforming loan on a one-unit St. Louis home can go up to $832,750 in 2026, which is FHFA's limit for the independent city of St. Louis. The independent city of St. Louis uses the $832,750 national baseline, so a larger loan is a jumbo loan, which each lender prices and underwrites under its own rules.
How do first-time buyers usually finance a St. Louis home?
First-time buyers in St. Louis usually finance with FHA and conventional loans. FHA loans allow 3.5% down with a credit score of 580 or higher, under HUD's rules. Some conventional programs accept 3% down from first-time buyers. Licensed partner brokers originate the loan, and Choice Home Mortgage compares quotes from many lenders on your file.
What parts of St. Louis do you work in?
Every part of St. Louis, including Soulard, Central West End, Lafayette Square and Tower Grove. The neighborhood affects the appraisal, which compares recent nearby sales, but the loan terms come from your credit, income and down payment. Licensed partner brokers originate loans across Soulard and Tower Grove, and we coordinate them by phone and online.
Do you work with St. Louis, MO buyers?
Yes. We work with St. Louis buyers through licensed partner brokers who hold the Missouri license, and we coordinate each file. Our own license is California's (NMLS #2629064); we keep no local office, and the file runs by phone and online. Owner Esther Buede coordinates the file, and many lenders compete for it.
Do you serve areas near St. Louis?
Yes. Besides St. Louis, we also arrange loans in Florissant, St. Charles and Chesterfield through licensed partner brokers. Loan limits are set county by county, so the limit is re-checked for whichever town the home is in. Licensed partner brokers originate those loans and Choice Home Mortgage coordinates them, the same way as a St. Louis file.
Do I ever need to visit an office for my St. Louis loan?
No. A St. Louis loan runs by phone and online, and Choice Home Mortgage has no local office to visit. Licensed partner brokers cover the Missouri licensing, while Choice Home Mortgage (California NMLS #2629064) coordinates the file and the lender shopping. Owner Esther Buede is your point of contact from the first call to closing.
Make the St. Louis move.
Tell us about the St. Louis home you want — we'll match the program and make lenders compete for your St. Louis loan.