Mortgage Broker in Brighton, MA
Brighton is mostly condominiums, and the City taxes only a third of them as owner-occupied. Who owns the rest of your building changes what a lender does with your file. We shop many lenders and read the association first.
Free Quick Chat
Tell us what you're buying or refinancing. A licensed loan officer calls you back. No credit pull to start.
We can pre-qualify you and show you options from several lenders. GoldCoast is a mortgage broker, not a lender.Thank you
Your request is in. A licensed loan officer will call you back, usually the same day. If it’s urgent, call 978-922-4446.
City of Boston fiscal 2026 assessment file, ZIP 02135, read October 22, 2026. Assessed values aren’t sale prices.
Brighton Mortgages in 2026
Well Under Jumbo
A jumbo loan is bigger than the conforming limit for its county and unit count. Suffolk County’s 2026 limits climb with the units.
| One unit | $962,550 |
|---|---|
| Two units | $1,232,250 |
| Three units | $1,489,500 |
| Four units | $1,851,100 |
The median Brighton condo is assessed at $421,700, well under the one-unit line.
Exemption Changes Escrow
Boston’s residential exemption took up to $4,353.74 off a fiscal 2026 owner-occupier’s bill, and only a third of Brighton condos have it. On the rest, the listing’s tax figure is the full bill.
| Residential rate, fiscal 2026 | $12.40 per $1,000 |
|---|---|
| Owner-occupier exemption | Up to $4,353.74 |
We’ll quote your escrow both ways. Ask us for both numbers
What Affects a Brighton Loan
One Owner's Share
Fannie Mae won’t take a loan where one entity owns more than 20 percent of a project.
How a Brighton building trips that
The cap is tighter on a small building, where one entity may own no more than two units in a project of five to twenty, and leased units count. Nine in ten Brighton condo units are in an association of five units or more, and 31 percent are in one of 100 units or more. So a landlord holding three units in a small association puts the whole project over the line, which has nothing to do with your unit. We ask the management company for the ownership breakdown before anyone orders an appraisal.
Reserves and Unpaid Fees
A lender reads the association’s reserve budget and how many owners are behind on their fees.
Why that bites in a rented building
On a full project review the association has to budget at least 10 percent for replacement reserves, with no more than 15 percent of units 60 days or more behind on common expense assessments. Two thirds of Brighton’s condos aren’t taxed as owner-occupied, and a building with a thin reserve or a run of unpaid fees can stop a clean loan. Ask the trustees for the budget, the reserve balance and the delinquency figure early. We’ll read all three with you.
Master Policy Deductible
A lender accepts a master deductible as high as 5 percent of the policy’s coverage. Where the policy stops at your walls, you carry your own unit policy.
What the lender asks you for
The per-unit alternative is a $50,000 deductible, which also passes. Your lender wants the master certificate, the deductible and evidence of your own unit policy if the master one leaves the inside of the unit out. In a 200-unit Brighton association that certificate comes from a management company rather than from the seller, so it takes a few days. We request it with the rest of the condo documents.
Brighton Flood Zones
is the high-risk label FEMA draws over Chandler Pond and the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, and it crosses onto Kenrick Street and Chestnut Hill Avenue.
Every point we queried along the Charles read minimal hazard, as did Brighton Center and Oak Square. Zone A has no published base flood elevation, so an insurer needs an elevation certificate before it can price a policy.
Check an address with usLive FEMA flood layer. Official determinations: FEMA's Map Service Center.
Brighton Loan Details
Nothing to Inspect
Brighton draws water and sewer from the Boston Water and Sewer Commission, which buys both from the MWRA. No well test, no Title 5 septic inspection.
Ten Business Days
Massachusetts condo law gives the association ten business days to issue the 6(d) statement of what the seller owes. Unpaid fees outrank a first mortgage for up to six months of assessments.
The CPA Surcharge
Boston voters adopted the Community Preservation Act in November 2016. The surcharge is 1 percent of your tax, after the first $100,000 of value comes off.
| Flood zones | Zone A over Chandler Pond and the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. Map above. |
|---|---|
| Property tax | $12.40 per $1,000 for fiscal 2026, before the owner-occupier exemption. |
| Commute downtown | Green Line B from Boston College, 45 scheduled minutes to Park Street. Boston Landing commuter rail, 18 to South Station. |
| Deeds recorded at | Suffolk Registry of Deeds |
Run Your Closing Costs
Enter a Brighton condo price. It uses Boston's rate and Suffolk's recording charges.
What will closing cost in Boston?
Start from Boston's median price or type your own. Every line below is an estimate you can adjust.
Prefilled with the Boston median. Change it to the house you are actually looking at.
Changes the loan amount, which moves several buyer line items.
| Line item | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Total | $0 |
The property tax, the deed excise and the recording fees above use Boston's own figures: its current tax rate, its median sale price and the fees charged at its registry of deeds.
Talk to GoldCoast about your home ownership planAn estimate, not a quote. GoldCoast Mortgage Service is an independent mortgage brokerage, so we shop your loan across lenders rather than selling one bank's product. We can pre-qualify you and put real numbers against the house you are actually looking at.
An estimate, not a quote. Your Loan Estimate from the lender is the real number.
From Renting in Brighton to Owning
Two numbers settle it: the payment your rent would cover, and the cash to close. The calculator above covers the cash. These cover the rest.
Why a Local Broker
- We shop your loan across many lenders. A bank can only offer its own.
- A Brighton loan turns on the association, so we read its ownership, budget and insurance first.
- A licensed loan officer picks up, not a call center.
Loan officers John Donlon, owner (NMLS #4931), Jeff Rolke (NMLS #1217216) and Matthew Teeter (NMLS #20485).
"John Donlon and his team at GoldCoast Mortgage are amazing to work with and made the whole process incredibly easy!!"Fred Berg, Google review
- A 15-minute quick chatNo credit pull to start.
- Your pre-qualificationWhat each loan type would cost on this home.
- We shop the lendersYou choose the loan and terms that fit.
Brighton Mortgage Questions
Most units in my building are rented. Does that matter?
It can. A lender looks at how much of the project one owner controls, what the budget puts into reserves, and how many units are behind on their fees. A heavily rented Brighton building can trip one of those while your own unit is fine, so we check the project first and your file second.
Can I buy a two-family and rent the other half?
Yes, and if you live in one unit the rent usually helps you qualify, though how much of it counts depends on the program and on how the leases are written. The City's assessment file shows 1,908 two-families and 581 three-families in Brighton, so there are plenty of both. Bring the current leases to the quick chat.
How long does a Brighton condo closing take?
Plan on the condo documents setting the pace. The association has ten business days to issue the 6(d) statement. The master insurance certificate comes from a management company, and in a large Brighton association neither one arrives the same afternoon. We ask for all of it the week your purchase and sale is signed.
Start with the Association
Give us the address and the association's name. We'll tell you what a lender does with the project before you make an offer.
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GoldCoast Mortgage Service, Inc., 100 Cummings Center, Suite 544H, Beverly, MA 01915. 978-922-4446.
NMLS #1841. Massachusetts Division of Banks Mortgage Broker License #MB1841. GoldCoast is a mortgage broker, not a lender. Loan approval, rates and terms are set by the lender.