Rickelle Stockton NMLS 1729345

Rickelle Stockton NMLS 1729345 Loan Officer Maciel Mortgage 300305 / A Division of AP Mortgage Corporation Equal Housing Opportunity

I got a call last year from a guy who had been told by another lender that he needed to wait. His credit wasn't where it...
06/11/2026

I got a call last year from a guy who had been told by another lender that he needed to wait. His credit wasn't where it needed to be. Come back in six months. Maybe a year.

He called me almost apologetically, like he was wasting my time.

I am happy to say I was able to pre-approve him that day and he is now in his new home.

Here's what most people don't know about VA loans and credit. The VA itself does not set a minimum credit score requirement. Individual lenders set their own overlays, their own internal minimums, and those vary from lender to lender.

Which means "your credit isn't good enough" from one lender doesn't mean "your credit isn't good enough" full stop.

I'm not going to tell you credit doesn't matter because it does. It affects your rate and your options. But I'm also not going to turn someone away without actually looking at their full picture first.

Income, credit, assets, service history, it all factors in together. One number doesn't tell the whole story.

If you've been told to wait, get a second opinion first. Message me. Let's actually look at it. If I can’t help you, I might be able to point you to a lender friend who can.

May is almost done and summer inventory is starting to move.If you've been thinking "I'll probably buy sometime this yea...
05/30/2026

May is almost done and summer inventory is starting to move.

If you've been thinking "I'll probably buy sometime this year" this is your nudge.

Summer is the most active buying season in this market. More listings, yes, but also more buyers competing for them. The people who win in a competitive market are the ones who already have their pre-approval done, already know their budget, and can move when the right house shows up.

That process takes almost no time if you start now. A phone call. A few documents. Done.

By the time June listings start hitting Realtor, you could already be ready to write an offer.

I work with active duty, veterans, military families, and civilians in the Kings County area and I specialize specifically in VA loans, not as one product among many, but as the thing I do every single day.

If you want to be a summer buyer and not a summer watcher let's talk this week.

đź“ž Message me or call me directly. Let's get you ready.

I already used my VA loan so I can't use it again."I hear this constantly. It is almost never true.Here's how it really ...
05/27/2026

I already used my VA loan so I can't use it again."

I hear this constantly. It is almost never true.

Here's how it really works.

Your VA loan benefit comes with something called entitlement, basically the amount the VA will guarantee on your behalf. When you sell your home and pay off your VA loan, your entitlement is restored. You can use it again on your next purchase.

Here is where it gets interesting…

Even if you still have a VA loan on a property, say you bought a house then PCS'd and kept it as a rental, you may still have remaining entitlement available to use on a second property. This is called bonus entitlement or Tier 2 entitlement and it gets into some math, but the short version is: two VA loans at the same time is possible in the right situation.

I've helped clients do exactly this. Buy at one duty station, PCS, buy again. Both VA loans. I have even helped them do it in the same town.

If you've used your benefit before and assumed that chapter was closed just call me. Let's actually look at your Certificate of Eligibility and see what you're working with.

It might not be as closed as you think.

I want to tell you how I actually work because it's different from what you might expect.I don't send you a link to an a...
05/26/2026

I want to tell you how I actually work because it's different from what you might expect.

I don't send you a link to an application and wait.

When someone reaches out to me, the first thing I do is get on the phone. Not to pitch you. Not to run your credit. Just to talk.

Where are you in the process? What are you trying to accomplish? What have you heard or tried before? What's making you hesitate?

Because a VA loan isn't one-size-fits-all. Your timeline matters. Your service history matters. Whether your spouse has served matters. Whether you have a rating matters. Whether you're PCSing or putting down roots matters.

I can't give you useful information without understanding your situation first. And I won't pretend I can.

What I can tell you is that most of those calls end with people feeling less confused than when we started even if we're months away from actually buying anything.

That call costs you nothing. It might be worth a lot.

If you're in the Kings County area, active duty at NAS Lemoore, or a veteran in the Central Valley thinking about buying my number is in my profile. Call or message me. Let's just talk.

Today isn't about VA loans or home buying or interest rates.Today is about the ones who didn't come home.To the families...
05/25/2026

Today isn't about VA loans or home buying or interest rates.

Today is about the ones who didn't come home.

To the families in our military community who are carrying that loss, the Gold Star families, the parents, the spouses, the kids who grew up without a parent, I see you today.

Memorial Day gets busy with sales and cookouts and I get it, that's not wrong. But I didn't want to let this day pass without just saying:

We remember, we’re grateful, and the sacrifice that was made is not something any of us should scroll past without stopping for a second.

To the veterans and active duty families I'm lucky enough to work with, thank you for what you carry so the rest of us don't have to.

I want to tell you about a conversation I have more than you'd think.Client calls me. We go through the loan details. I ...
05/24/2026

I want to tell you about a conversation I have more than you'd think.

Client calls me. We go through the loan details. I ask about disability rating.

Pause.

"I have a rating but I didn't think that mattered for the loan."

It matters. A lot.

If you have a service-connected disability rating from the VA, even a partial one, you are exempt from the VA funding fee. On a $350,000 purchase that's potentially $5,000-$8,000 you don't owe. Gone.

Here's the one that really gets me though.

If you recently separated, don't have a rating yet, but have a pending disability claim, you may still be eligible for an exemption. And if we close before that rating is confirmed and it comes through afterward, you could be entitled to a refund of the fee you already paid.

I advise every recently separated client to file that claim before we close if at all possible. Not because I'm a VA benefits counselor because that I am definitely not. But because I've seen it save people real money and I'm not going to let that slip through the cracks on my watch.

When did you last talk to a lender who brought this up without you asking?

If the answer is never… hi, I'm Rickelle. Let's talk. 👋

I get asked pretty regularly whether VA or conventional is the better loan. Here's my honest answer. For most of the mil...
05/23/2026

I get asked pretty regularly whether VA or conventional is the better loan. Here's my honest answer.

For most of the military clients I work with VA wins 99% of the time. And it's not even close.

Here's the comparison that matters:
On a $350,000 home: Conventional with 5% down: you're bringing $17,500 to the table plus PMI every month until you hit 20% equity.

VA with zero down: you're bringing significantly less out of pocket, no monthly PMI, ever

The funding fee factors in, yes. But when you run the actual math on monthly payment, cash needed to close, and long-term cost, VA comes out ahead in most scenarios.

Now, are there situations where conventional makes sense? Sure. If you have a large down payment and a specific situation, we'd look at it. I'm not dogmatic about it. We would just compare apples to apples.

But if someone is steering you away from your VA benefit without showing you the actual numbers side by side, ask why.

I'll run both scenarios for you. No pressure, no pitch. Just the math. Message me.

PCS season is officially here and I want to talk to anyone who has orders coming… or thinks they might.Buying a home on ...
05/22/2026

PCS season is officially here and I want to talk to anyone who has orders coming… or thinks they might.

Buying a home on a military timeline is not the same as a regular home purchase. The window is tighter. Sometimes you're buying a home you've only seen on video. Sometimes your spouse is handling the entire transaction while you're still at your current duty station.

I've helped clients close while deployed. I've done remote signings. I've worked with buyers who had 15 days from the time they called me to the time they needed keys.

It's doable. But the one thing that kills a PCS purchase is waiting too long to start.
If you have orders to NAS Lemoore (or you're already here and expecting to move on) let's talk now. Not when the orders are in hand. Now.

Pre-approval takes almost no time. Having it in place means when the right house hits the market, you're not scrambling.

Message me or call me directly. This is literally what I do.

The VA appraisal has a reputation it doesn't totally deserve.I hear it from agents sometimes, "oh the VA appraisal is go...
05/22/2026

The VA appraisal has a reputation it doesn't totally deserve.

I hear it from agents sometimes, "oh the VA appraisal is going to be a problem." And I get it, there's a history there. But let me give you the actual picture.

The VA appraisal does two things:

Confirms the value of the home so you're not borrowing more than it's worth

Checks that the property meets the VA's Minimum Property Requirements- basic safety and habitability stuff

It is not designed to nitpick every cosmetic issue. Peeling paint on an older home can flag, exposed wiring can flag, safety hazards can flag. A scuff on the wall? No.

I've been through enough of these to know how to prepare buyers and work with agents ahead of time so we're not caught off guard. The appraisal isn't the enemy. An UNPREPARED LENDER IS.

Questions about a specific property? Message me.

This one is for the military spouses.I want to make sure you know something because I run into this gap constantly.If yo...
05/13/2026

This one is for the military spouses.

I want to make sure you know something because I run into this gap constantly.

If you are the surviving spouse of a veteran who died in service or from a service-connected disability, you may have VA loan eligibility in your own right.

I also make it a habit to ask every client I talk to: has anyone else in your household served? Both spouses. Every time. Without fail.

I once caught eligibility for a wife whose husband was assumed to be the only veteran, and she was exempt from her funding fee. This saved them over $10k in fees on their loan. They almost left that on the table entirely.

Message me. Especially if you're not sure.

Address

1560 W Lacey Boulevard Suite 105
Hanford, CA
93230

Telephone

+15595725554

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