1Day 1
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20 minutes, phone or videoThe house you want, the money you have, the timeline you're on. English or Spanish.
The Black Belt Lender · Dave Bazan · NMLS #2063296
Mortgage expertise.Earned, not given.
VA, Conventional, FHA, down-payment assistance and Non-QM financing for homebuyers, military families, investors, self-employed borrowers and foreign nationals, with deep local expertise in Las Vegas and San Antonio. English & Español.
Las Vegas, NVNellis · Creech · Henderson · Summerlin
San Antonio, TXJBSA · New Braunfels · Boerne · Schertz
Se habla españolFull service in both languages
3rd-degree black belt, Brazilian Jiu-JitsuDiscipline, patience and dedication over decades on the mat. The same meticulous strategy goes into structuring your loan.
Black Belt Market Pulse
Mortgage rates are set by the bond market, not by a bank's mood. Four numbers that matter today, each with its source and how fresh it is. Nothing here is a rate quote.
Dave's take
With the spread between the 30-year fixed and the 10-year Treasury this tight, mortgage rates are moving nearly one-for-one with the bond market. If you close inside 30 days, we lock. Past that, we watch the 10-year and I call you.
View Market Intelligence →What are you trying to accomplish?
Nobody wakes up wanting a bank-statement Non-QM loan. They wake up self-employed with tax returns that don't show their real cash flow. Start from your situation; I'll match the program.
Path 01
Buying a home
First home or next one. Conventional, FHA, and the assistance programs that cut your cash to close.
The six-move process → Path 02Military / VA
Zero down, no monthly mortgage insurance, PCS timelines, VA new construction, and IRRRLs later.
VA loans → Path 03Real estate investor
Qualify on the property's rent, not your tax returns. Close in an LLC. Scale a portfolio in two markets.
DSCR loans → Path 04Self-employed
Twelve or twenty-four months of deposits instead of returns full of write-offs.
Bank statement loans → Path 05Foreign national / ITIN
No U.S. credit or Social Security number required on the right program. Files worked in Spanish when that's easier.
Foreign national & ITIN →Loan programs, explained across the table
Every program I originate has its own page: who it fits, how qualification works, what I look at before it reaches underwriting, and what usually complicates a file. All programs →
Conventional
3% down for first-time buyers, PMI that cancels, the most flexible product for primary, second and investment homes.
Conventional →FHA
3.5% down with a 580 score, generous seller credits, shorter waits after credit events. A bridge, not a life sentence.
FHA →VA
The strongest purchase program in the country, and the primary loan in both of my markets.
VA →Down payment assistance
Nevada Home Is Possible, Texas TSAHC and TDHCA, San Antonio HIP. Live Nevada rate board, refreshed daily.
DPA →Non-QM
DSCR, bank statement, foreign national, ITIN, 1099 and asset depletion. For borrowers standard guidelines don't fit.
Non-QM hub →What clients and agents say
Real reviews, with permission. Read all of them on Google →
Three genuine reviews go here: a traditional buyer, a complex or self-employed borrower, and a Realtor or referral partner. This block renders nothing until they're supplied, so no placeholder ever masquerades as a review.
The mortgage process, in six moves
Most stress in a home purchase comes from not knowing what happens next. Here's the sequence; the full version, with documents and timing for each step, is on its own page.
The full six-move process2Days 1–3
Pre-approval
Documents in, letter outA letter agents take seriously because it reflects a real underwriting read.
3Shopping
Offer and contract
Your pacePayment and cash-to-close on every serious house, including seller credits and builder incentives.
4Week 1 of contract
Lock, disclose, order
First week under contractLock or float, decided together against where mortgage bonds are trading.
5Days 7–21
Underwriting and conditions
The quiet middleYou hear from me at every milestone, so silence never means trouble.
6Days 21–30
Closing
KeysClosing Disclosure three business days early, reviewed line by line together.
Two markets I know by gate and by builder
I lived in Las Vegas for more than thirty years and now live and lend in San Antonio. Both pages carry the things that actually move your payment in that market, not a city description.
Nevada
Las Vegas
Nellis and Creech families, tip and gaming income, SID assessments hiding under the HOA line, the 3% property-tax cap most buyers never claim, Home Is Possible.
Financing in Las Vegas → TexasSan Antonio
JBSA PCS timelines, the new-construction escrow shock, MUD and PID rates, the $140,000 homestead exemption, Texas Vet, and every builder floor in the northwest corridor.
Financing in San Antonio →Twenty-nine years on the Strip taught me what service costs. Lending inherited that standard.
Before I ever structured a loan I spent 29 years in Las Vegas hotel hospitality, where a guest's worst day becomes your problem the moment they walk up to the desk. That is the standard I brought to mortgage lending: you should never have to chase me for an answer, and you should never be surprised at the closing table.
I hold a 3rd-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. That belt took decades of showing up when it was inconvenient. A clean mortgage file takes the same thing: preparation, patience, and no shortcuts.
LicenseNMLS #2063296 · Note Mortgage, Company NMLS #2413481
SpecialtiesVA and VA new construction, Conventional, FHA, DPA, Non-QM
LanguagesEnglish and Spanish, start to finish
Background29 years in Las Vegas hotel hospitality, then mortgage lending
Market Insights
Permanent explanations of how the mortgage market actually works, written for borrowers. The daily stream of data and Dave's Take lives on the Market Intelligence page.
Why the Fed doesn't set your mortgage rate
The FOMC raised rates in September and mortgage rates barely blinked. Here's the chain that actually connects Washington to your rate sheet, and why it runs through the bond market.
Questions people ask before they call
Direct answers. Deeper ones link to the page that covers them.
Who is The Black Belt Lender?
The Black Belt Lender is Dave Bazan, a licensed mortgage loan officer (NMLS #2063296) with Note Mortgage, serving Las Vegas, Nevada and San Antonio, Texas. He is bilingual in English and Spanish, holds a 3rd-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and came to lending after 29 years in Las Vegas hotel hospitality. About Dave.
What loan programs do you offer?
VA, Conventional, FHA, Nevada and Texas down-payment assistance, and Non-QM: DSCR for investors, bank statement for the self-employed, foreign national, ITIN, 1099-only and asset depletion. Every program, explained.
What areas do you serve?
Deepest local knowledge is in the Las Vegas metro and the San Antonio metro, with military families at Nellis, Creech and Joint Base San Antonio a focus. Broader Nevada and Texas service is described on the Nevada and Texas hubs.
What documents do I need to start?
Five things: a government photo ID, your Social Security card, pay stubs for the last 30 days, your two most recent bank statements, and two years of tax returns with W-2s or 1099s, all as complete PDFs. The full checklist, and how to send them.
Can I get a mortgage if I'm self-employed or a foreign national?
Yes. Bank-statement programs qualify self-employed borrowers on 12 or 24 months of deposits. Foreign-national programs qualify buyers without U.S. credit or a Social Security number with alternative documentation and a larger down payment. Non-QM hub.
How do I book time with Dave?
Pick a slot at calendly.com/dbazan-notemortgage. Calls run by phone or Zoom, 15 to 20 minutes, in English or Spanish, Monday to Saturday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM CT.
¿Hablas español?
Sí. Todo el proceso, desde la primera llamada hasta el cierre, puede hacerse completamente en español. Ver el sitio en español.
Build your mortgage plan.
Not an application. A fifteen-minute read of your situation, what you qualify for, and what it'll cost per month, so you shop with real numbers. Then you decide.
Ready now?Start secure application
En españolSolicitud en español
Book a timePhone or Zoom, on my calendar
Call or text702-491-7804
Emaildbazan@notemortgage.com
HoursMonday to Saturday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM CT