Conventional
Loans 

A conventional mortgage loan is not directly insured by the government, but most conventional loans are "conforming" loans, which means that they meet the requirements of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government-sponsored enterprises that purchase mortgages from lenders and sell them to investors. This frees up lenders' funds so they can make more loans to qualified borrowers.

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Conventional mortgages are available with a variety of term options, with most borrowers choosing between 15-year and 30-year terms.

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Because there are several different sets of guidelines for conventional loans, there is no single set of requirements for borrowers. However, in general, conventional loans have stricter credit requirements than government-backed loans like Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans.