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Here's something I say a lot: a "no" from one lender is not a "no" from the market. It just means that lender's guidelines didn't fit that buyer. And guidelines are not the same thing at every shop. That's the whole point of a broker. I'm not stuck selling one rate sheet with one set of rules. I've got 100+ wholesale lenders, and when a deal looks tough, my job is to find the one that says yes. Two wins this week prove it. Both would've died at a bank. |
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RATES THIS WEEK Flat again, holding in the mid-6s | CONVENTIONAL 30-YR ~6.5% - 6.8% | FHA 30-YR ~6.125% - 6.3% | VA 30-YR ~6.125% - 6.3% |
| Quiet week. Rates barely moved, still riding the mid-6s while the market waits on the next inflation read. These are ballpark ranges, not quotes. Where your buyer actually lands depends on their credit, down payment, and the property, and on which lender we put them with. Call me for a live number on a real scenario. | Illustrative ranges only, subject to change without notice • Mike Steele NMLS #241787 |
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SOLUTIONS, NOT ONE SET OF GUIDELINES When the Bank Says No, We Think Outside the Box |
A bank has one rulebook. If your buyer doesn't fit inside it, they hear "no" and the deal's dead. That's it. No second look, no other options. I work the opposite way. When a file is tricky, I go shopping. Different lenders have different appetites, different overlays, different programs. My job is to find the one that fits and get the best rate while I'm at it. Two real ones from this week: |
🏆 WIN #1 • Got Him Out of 12% Hard Money | The situation: A borrower was stuck in a hard money loan at 12% interest. Painful. And on paper he was a tough file, the kind of income picture that makes a bank stop reading. What we did: Went to a No Doc program. No income verified, no employment verified. We didn't try to force him through the conventional box he was never going to fit. We found the lender built for exactly this. The outcome: Slashed his interest rate way down from that 12%, AND pulled cash out at the same time. He went from bleeding money every month to a solid loan with cash in his pocket. |
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🏆 WIN #2 • A Young Veteran, Cleared to Close | The situation: A young Veteran with a few late payments over the last 12 months. Some lenders took one look at that recent history and passed. His first home was slipping away over a handful of late marks. What we did: Instead of accepting the first no, I found the lender willing to look at the full picture, not just the last 12 months. Different shop, different overlay, different answer. The outcome: Cleared to Close. This young family is buying their first home with NO money down on his VA benefit. That's the whole reason that benefit exists, and it almost didn't happen. |
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| | The takeaway for you: if you've got a buyer sitting on the sidelines because a bank told them no, or a self-employed buyer who thinks they can't document income, or someone with a couple of recent credit dings, don't let the deal die there. Send them to me first. One lender's no is just one lender's guidelines. With 100+ lenders on a single credit pull, I look for the yes, and I shop the rate while I'm at it. |
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💡 TIP OF THE WEEK | "Pre-qualified" and "cleared to close" are miles apart. A quick online pre-qual doesn't mean the deal will actually fund, especially on a tougher file. When your buyer is anything outside the perfect-credit, W-2, 20%-down box, get a real broker eyes-on early. I'd rather find the workaround at contract than have you find out at the closing table that the file falls apart. If it's a tricky one, that's exactly when to call me, not after another lender has already said no. |
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🌴 This Month in SW Florida History Late August is peak hurricane memory around here. On August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley came ashore near Punta Gorda as a Category 4, one of the most destructive storms ever to hit SW Florida up to that point. It reshaped Charlotte County and changed how this whole region builds. The stricter roof straps, impact windows, and elevation rules your buyers ask about today trace straight back to lessons like Charley. When a buyer grumbles about insurance and building codes, remind them: those codes are the reason homes here stand up now. |
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💡 Worth Knowing We're deep into hurricane season, and this is the stretch where insurance underwriting tightens up fast. Carriers slap on "binding suspensions" the moment a storm enters the box, which means no new policies and no changes until it passes. If your buyer is trying to close during a named-storm watch, they may not be able to bind homeowners insurance. And no insurance means no closing. | | The play: get insurance bound early, well before the closing date, especially August through October. Tell your buyers to lock the policy in the moment they're under contract, not the week of closing. It's a five-minute conversation that saves a blown closing date. |
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THE LOAN MENU ◆ VA & Luxury VA
◆ FHA
◆ Conventional | ◆ DSCR & Investor
◆ Bank Statement & No Doc
◆ 1099-Only |
Access to 100+ wholesale lenders. One credit pull. One point of contact. |
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Got a buyer a bank already turned down? That's my favorite kind of call. Tough file, self-employed, credit dings, hard money, whatever it is, send it my way before you write the deal off. Fast closings, multiple lenders, and your buyer works directly with me start to finish. You know I pick up, weekends included. |
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Talk soon, Mike Steele |
Mike Steele Loans Mike Steele NMLS #241787 | Edge Home Finance LLC, NMLS #891464
Equal Housing Lender. Proudly serving Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Naples, Punta Gorda & Lehigh Acres. This email is for general educational and marketing purposes only and is not a commitment to lend, financial advice, or a guarantee of loan approval. Client results described are specific to those borrowers and are not typical or guaranteed. Rate figures are illustrative national ranges, are subject to change without notice, and depend on credit, down payment, loan amount, and property. Program availability varies by borrower and lender. |
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