The lender who actually answers - and gets it closed. From first-time buyers to refinances across the Capital Region, Brian Marchand makes the mortgage the easy part.
“Two houses on the same street in Albany can finance completely differently. The program you choose decides which one closes.”
Brian MarchandSr. Loan Consultant · NMLS #481563
Program guidelines on this page last verified . Guidelines, limits and program terms change — verified figures are current as of that date, not a commitment to lend.
Licensed mortgage lending through New American Funding.
Home sales Brian closed as a Realtor before he ever wrote a mortgage.
Started in Capital Region real estate in 1993, so he knows this market cold.
A five-star average from clients across Google, Zillow, Facebook and Experience.com.
Offers don't wait for business hours, so Brian doesn't either. Call or text.
New American Funding, LLC · NMLS #6606. Serving Albany and the Capital Region.
Buying or refinancing a home in Albany shouldn't mean chasing down a lender who never calls back. Brian Marchand has spent years helping buyers across the Capital Region - from first-time buyers near Washington Park to homeowners refinancing in the suburbs.
What Albany clients say again and again is simple: he answers. Text him on a Saturday, call him after hours, ask the "silly" first-timer question - you'll get a real answer, quickly, in plain English.
And when a file is tricky, that's exactly when Brian does his best work. Second opinions welcome.
New York's capital and the economic heart of the region, a walkable city of historic brownstones, tree-lined parkways and a state-government job base that holds steady through national swings. Buyers range from young professionals near downtown to families in the quieter western neighborhoods. Housing stock skews older than the suburbs, which matters more for financing than most people expect.
Neighborhoods & areas: Pine Hills · Center Square · Buckingham Lake · Delaware Ave · New Scotland
Population is a U.S. Census / ACS estimate. Median list price and median days to contract reflect third-party aggregated Albany data for July 2026. For general reference only.
The school districts, the programs that can shrink your out-of-pocket, and the details worth handling before you make an offer.
Albany is served primarily by the City School District of Albany, and the school line is typically 60% to 70% of the total bill. Districts across Albany County vary in rate by 30% to 50%, so the exact lines get confirmed for a specific address before an offer goes out.
Brian works with 3% & 5%-down conventional, FHA (3.5% down), zero-down VA, plus USDA in the rural stretches of Albany County, and SONYMA first-time-buyer loans with down-payment assistance. First-time buyer? See every Albany first-time buyer program, including local help that stacks with SONYMA.
There's no single best loan in Albany. The one that fits comes down to the property, your credit and how much you're putting down. Here's how the programs Brian runs every week actually play out in this market.
Best for stronger credit and older homes
Conventional financing is the most forgiving on a home's condition, which matters a lot on Albany's older housing stock. If you're eyeing a Pine Hills rowhouse or a Center Square place that needs a little love, this program often clears an appraisal that a government loan would flag.
See conventional details →Best for lower down payment or thinner credit
FHA opens the door with less down and more flexible credit. The trade is minimum property standards, so on a pre-1978 Albany home an appraiser can flag peeling paint, an aging roof or a safety item as a condition of closing. Knowing that before you write the offer keeps it from becoming a surprise.
See FHA details →Best for veterans and active service members
If you've earned it, VA is one of the strongest loans out there: no down payment and no monthly mortgage insurance. It follows property standards like FHA does, so the same condition notes apply on older Capital Region homes. Worth structuring early so your offer stays competitive.
See VA details →Best for the rural edges of the county
USDA offers zero down, but the geography is the catch. It's available in the rural stretches of Albany County, not inside the city itself. If you're looking out toward the county's edges, it's worth checking your address against the map before you rule it out.
See USDA details →Best when the down payment is the hurdle
New York's own first-time-buyer program pairs a competitive loan with down payment assistance, and New American Funding is a participating lender. At Albany's price point, that assistance can be the difference between watching from the sidelines and getting into your first home this year.
See SONYMA details →Best for a home that needs work before it's right
This is Brian's wheelhouse. FHA 203k and HomeStyle renovation loans let you roll the repairs into the mortgage, so a dated kitchen or a fixer on a great Albany block becomes possible instead of impossible. On a two-to-four family, a portion of the rent can often help you qualify too.
See renovation details →If you've never done this before, the process can feel like a black box. It isn't. Here's the whole path, and the few spots where Albany specifically trips people up.
Before you tour a single home, we figure out what you can actually buy - often same day or next.
Albany homes go to contract in a median of about 23 days, so you want to move fast and clean. Because Brian was a Realtor first, we match the loan to the house up front instead of fighting the appraisal later.
Once you're under contract, we turn the pre-approval into a full application. If it's a two-to-four family, this is where we build in the rent schedule so a portion of the market rent can help you qualify.
The lender orders the appraisal to confirm value and, on government loans, condition. This is the step Albany's older housing stock can complicate, so if a pre-1978 home flags peeling paint or a safety item, we've usually seen it coming.
Tough files are where experience earns its keep, so if something's complicated we sort it here rather than at the closing table.
Once you're cleared to close, we walk through the final numbers together, you sign, and the home is yours. No surprises at the table, because we handled the surprises weeks earlier.
One city, very different neighborhoods — and the loan that works in Pine Hills is not always the one that works in Helderberg.
Pine Hills, the Mansion District, Helderberg, New Scotland Avenue and the West End differ in housing type, condition and price far more than the city-wide numbers suggest. Two-family stock is concentrated in some neighborhoods and nearly absent in others, and that changes which qualifying strategy is even available to you.
Proximity to UAlbany, Saint Rose and the medical college supports a real rental market, which means investor purchases come up constantly here. An investment property is a different underwrite: more down, different pricing, and either personal-income qualifying or a DSCR approach where the property's rent covers its own payment instead of your tax returns.
Albany's assessment and exemption picture is its own conversation, and the seller's exemptions never transfer to you. A listing's tax figure that reflected a senior, veterans or clergy exemption will be higher for you. Register your STAR credit with New York State after closing — nothing happens automatically.
Much of the city's housing is pre-1978, and on FHA or VA that means peeling paint, aging roofs and health-and-safety items become repair conditions. A block with recent investment and a block without can produce very different repair lists on similar houses. Conventional is more forgiving, and renovation financing can fold the work into the purchase.
Everyone was so friendly, helpful, and professional! We really appreciated the fast and clear communication. The entire process went smoothly from the beginning to the end.
From pre-approval to finalizing our mortgage, Brian consistently made us feel like a priority. Every time we reached out he got back to us in less than two days.
As a first-time buyer I was clueless about the process, and it was especially tough during the pandemic. Brian was extremely helpful to me as a newbie.
I highly recommend Brian. He consistently provides a five-star mortgage experience for my clients - quick response time, strong communication, and in-depth knowledge.
Brian pre-qualified me and my wife for our new home after helping us three years ago for our first. A must-use in the Capital District.
Brian was responsive and kept me in the loop throughout. I'm really glad I had such a great experience.
Verified reviews from Google, Zillow, Facebook & Experience.com · See all 169 reviews →
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More answers: 500+ questions on buying in the Capital Region →
Brian Marchand · Sr. Loan Consultant, New American Funding · NMLS #481563
Works on mortgages for buyers and homeowners in Albany and the Capital Region. Licensed in New York State. New American Funding, NMLS #6606 · 18 Computer Dr E, Suite 103, Albany, NY 12205.