Editorial Standards & Methodology

Our editorial principles

Every page on HomeWise is written to four standing principles:

• Educational only. We explain how home-finance products work. We do not recommend specific products, lenders, rates, or actions. We do not provide financial, legal, or tax advice.
• Source-first. Every factual claim is tied to a primary, authoritative source — government agencies, regulators, official program documentation, or named expert publishers.
• Plain English. Jargon is defined the first time it appears, and our glossary expands on every key term.
• No commercial bleed. We do not link to or promote any specific lender, broker, mortgage company, or financial services provider, even where doing so would be permitted.

How we research a topic

Before drafting, we identify the authoritative sources for that subject. For mortgage program rules, that's the issuing or guaranteeing agency. For consumer protection topics, it's the regulator. For market data, it's the original publisher. We do not cite blogs, lender marketing pages, or secondary aggregators as evidence for factual claims.

Our standing source list includes:

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — disclosure rules, mortgage rights, complaint data
• U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) — FHA program rules, HECM, counseling
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs — VA loan eligibility, funding fee, COE process
• Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) — conforming loan limits, GSE rules
• Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) — weekly average rates
• Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — mortgage interest deduction and tax treatment
• Florida Housing Finance Corporation — Florida-specific assistance programs
• Florida Office of Insurance Regulation — homeowners and flood insurance rules in Florida
• My Safe Florida Home program — state hardening-grant rules and eligibility
• AnnualCreditReport.com — the only federally authorized free credit report source

How we write a page

Every educational guide on HomeWise follows the same structure:

• Lede — what the reader is about to learn, in plain language, with the core question answered up front.
• Sections — concrete, cited explanations of each subtopic, with examples wherever helpful.
• Comparison or math — where multiple options exist, we show them side by side, including total cost (not just monthly cost).
• Local context — where Florida-specific rules, taxes, programs, or risks change the picture, we call that out separately.
• FAQ — common reader questions, answered with sources.
• Disclaimer — the standing reminder that HomeWise is educational only and is not a lender.

How often we review content

Every guide carries a visible Last reviewed date in the byline. Our review cadence is:

• Quarterly content review — every guide is checked against current source documents at least every 90 days. Loan-limit pages and rate-context pages may be reviewed more frequently.
• Same-day fix for material errors. If we learn a factual statement on the site is wrong, we correct it the same business day and bump the Last reviewed date.
• Annual structural review. Once a year we re-examine the topic list itself — what's missing, what needs rewriting, what's grown stale.

When we make a substantive correction, the page's dateModified is updated in both the visible byline and the page's schema.org Article metadata, so search engines and readers see a consistent freshness signal.

Corrections and reader feedback

If you see something on HomeWise that's wrong, outdated, or unclear, email info@homewise-edu.com with a link to the page and what's off. We read every message and correct verified errors quickly. We do not credit individual readers by name on a page unless they specifically request it, but every correction is reflected in the Last reviewed date.

Separation of education and business activity

HomeWise is not a lender, mortgage broker, servicer, lead broker, or financial advisor. We do not originate loans, accept applications, run credit, verify income, broker referrals, or accept advertising from lenders. We do not share or sell contact information collected through this site. Opted-in contact information is used only by HomeWise to send educational updates.

Our writers and editors operate under standing rules that prohibit naming or recommending specific lenders, brokers, or financial services providers in our educational content, and prohibit using HomeWise as a channel for any outside commercial activity. If we ever change that posture, it will be disclosed prominently on this page before any such content is published.

Our position on AI-assisted drafting

We use AI tools to help research, outline, and draft educational content. Every page is reviewed by a human editor against the primary sources cited before publication, and no page is published solely from AI output. Where AI assistance is used in drafting, the editorial review process — research check, source verification, fact check, plain-language edit, compliance pass — is the same standard we'd apply to any draft.