Ryan Cox Mortgage Team

10/22/2026

These Are The Toughest Questions🏠

Here's one first-time homebuyer question I wish people would stop being embarrassed to ask a lender...

"Ryan, I don't have a huge pile of money in my bank account. Can I even buy a house?"

Here's the part people get wrong: you don't need to start the conversation by telling yourself you don't have enough money so there's no point.

No, there are different loan programs, different down payment options and there's many different ways that we structure loans for buyers to get into a home.

So the first step isn't getting it figured out about how much you need.

The first step is figuring out what applies to you and more importantly, what doesn't.

So don't forget your cash to close isn't necessarily just your down payment. . here's more to it.

There's going to be closing costs, prepaids, inspections, deposits, and probably other things that are going to come up.

So anyone that's telling you it's just a down payment is wrong.

I never want to put a client in a house when there's more to the story.

And if you don't have a lot saved today, listen.

That's going to be okay as well.

The conversation with a lender can help you understand what your current situation is, what your options are, and what's going to maybe work for you that can put you in a direction to buy a house.

So don't walk into the lender's office thinking that you already know everything. There's that's our job.

It's our job to help you understand the numbers.

So if you're sitting there thinking "I don't have enough saved or I'm embarrassed" let's figure out the actual numbers.

Let's decide together before you decide you can't buy a house.

Glad to Platinum Preapprove™️ someone you care about that could use my help or a second opinion🏠🙌

Contact me to see what your unique scenario would look like👀

Just a couple things we do really well…

💥 Veterans - entitlement calculations are critical to avoid getting caught up in VA underwriting, we make it a breeze.

💥 1st Time Homebuyers - we hand-hold clients through the process when necessary and provide Roadmaps to Qualification so that our answer is never “No” sometimes its just “Not right now, but let us show you the way.”
--
p.s. - Can I count on you to introduce me when your friends are looking to make moves in real estate or refinancing?

10/19/2026

10/14/2026

Lower Price or Lower Payment?🏠

I'd rather have the seller help lower my cash to close or monthly payment savings than just lower the purchase price.

Most homebuyers don't realize they may have that option. Here's how...

When a seller is willing to negotiate, most buyers go straight for a price cut. I get it. It feels like the win.

But savings from a lower purchase price only gets realized over 30 years or at resale. And it might save you less money each month than you'd expect.

There may be a smarter place to put those seller dollars: towards your cash to close, your monthly mortgage payment, or BOTH.

Imagine realizing your savings upfront at closing and/or even greater savings on your monthly payment.

Seller concessions can help fund your cash to close and/or a rate buydown, which lowers your interest rate and your monthly payment.

That changes the negotiation from "How much will the seller take off?" to "How can we use the seller's money to make MY numbers work?"

This why its recommended to look at more than the rate.

Reducing your monthly payment upfront instead of simply reducing the purchase price can give you breathing room either for the life of the loan OR for just the first few years while you settle into your new home, whichever works better for you.

Every buyer's situation is different. That's why we run the numbers before you make the offer on a house, not after.

Want to see what this could look like for you?

Glad to Platinum Preapprove™️ someone you care about that could use my help or a second opinion🏠🙌

Contact me to see what your unique scenario would look like👀

Just a couple things we do really well…

💥Elite Purchase Program allows borrowers to get no increase (surcharge) on their interest rate for being jumbo or second home buyers.

💥Medical Professionals Program - Up to $2M, 100% financing, No PMI, Favorable student loan debt tolerance, Max 10% down. Dentists, Pharmacists, Veterinarians, CRNAs, Medical residents, Fellows or Interns with degrees are potentially eligible.

--
p.s. - Can I count on you to introduce me when your friends are looking to make moves in real estate or refinancing?

10/05/2026

This Is The Wrong Question🏠

Often potential homebuyers ask me the wrong question in regards to buying a home.

A client this week who has “bought a couple of homes” was explaining to me why it isn’t a good time to buy.

Well, is now a good time to buy a home?

That's the wrong question.

The better question might be is it a good time FOR YOU to buy.

Do you have a stable job?

Do you plan to stay in the area for at least a few years?

Is the monthly payment one you're comfortable with, not just one you qualify for?

If the answer is yes then the market headlines matter a lot less, in my opinion, than your own situation.

Nobody can time this market perfectly.

But you can know your own numbers, and if you're serious about buying here are the two things I'd do first...

1) Get a real preapproval not an online estimate.
A real one is when they run your credit, look at your assets, look at your income, they look at everything.

This allows you to work towards a decision about the monthly payment and cash to close that's best for you, that way you can start shopping when you're ready.

2) Save for more than just the down payment.
You'll need money for closing costs, for inspections, potentially insurance and moving costs.

And it's smart to have some savings left even after after you close in case any surprises come up on the house. Don't want to put you in a tough spot.

👆Do those two things and you won't need the headlines to tell you when it's a good time because your numbers will be your headline.

So you either think it's a good time to buy, or maybe you're not sure. Either way I should be hearing from you:)

Glad to Platinum Preapprove™️ someone you care about that could use my help or a second opinion🏠🙌

Contact me to see what your unique scenario would look like👀

Just a couple things we do really well…

💥 Self Employed Borrowers - Bank statement loans and creative ways to document income without using tax returns.

💥 DSCR Investor Loans - No income docs, as long as the subject property fair market rental value appraises then the borrower just needs minimum 20% down and 620 credit score to potentially qualify without documenting income.
--
p.s. - Can I count on you to introduce me when your friends are looking to make moves in real estate or refinancing?

09/28/2026

Could Mortgage Rates Hit 8%🏠

Could they fall back to 6%?

Everyone wants to know whether mortgage rates are going to 8% or back to 6%.

Both are possible.

Both would require something significant to change.

But I think that's the wrong question.

Because getting to either number would likely require something significant to change.

Here's what to watch...

For rates to push toward 8%, we'd probably need a pretty ugly combination: higher oil, more geopolitical pressure, a resilient economy and the 10-year Treasury moving materially higher.

Getting back toward 6% isn't necessarily the easy outcome either.

With the Fed now hiking, mortgage rates getting meaningfully lower would likely need REAL economic weakness. Slower growth. A weaker labor market. Lower oil.

That's a very different bet.

So what's the more normal range?

If geopolitical pressure eases and oil falls, industry experts' base case is roughly 6.50% to 6.75%.

Not 8%. Not 6%. Somewhere in the middle.

And this is where I think buyers are focusing on the wrong thing.

Here's what buyers should actually care about:

Higher rates obviously hurt affordability. But they also affect everyone you're competing against.

When rates stay above roughly 6.64%, housing demand tends to slow. Homes sit longer. Price cuts become more common. Inventory can build. Sellers may become more willing to negotiate. Less competition.

At 7%+, fewer buyers can compete.

That can create leverage.

Higher mortgage rates don't only change your payment. They can change the deal.

That matters too.

So instead of spending the next six months trying to correctly predict whether rates hit 6% or 8%, figure out what you can control today.

Stop building your plan around 6% or 8%.

Run the numbers where rates are TODAY.

What payment works? What can you negotiate? Could seller concessions improve the deal? Is there a financing structure that makes the numbers work?

The opportunity isn't always hiding in the mortgage rate.

Sometimes it's hiding in what that mortgage rate is doing to everyone else.

Glad to Platinum Preapprove™️ someone you care about that could use my help or a second opinion🏠🙌

Contact me to see what your unique scenario would look like👀

Just a couple things we do really well…

💥 Seller concessions can be used for buying out PMI, closing costs or interest rate buydown.

💥 Contingency Buster bridge loans are for clients looking to buy before they sell.

--
p.s. - Can I count on you to introduce me when your friends are looking to make moves in real estate or refinancing?

09/21/2026

AI Can Blow Up Your Deal🏠

So a buyer just fired their realtor for doing her job.

I've got this young couple.

Listen, they're nice people.

They're buying their first home, and they've been using AI for everything...

Their comps, negotiation strategy. What should we offer? All of it.

This week, AI told them to offer $20,000 under the asking price on a house that literally just had a price drop of $20,000 in the same week.

Their realtor, who's good at her job, said, "Hey, listen, I'm not submitting that without my lender's preapproval first.

So, what did they do? They fired her.

Meanwhile, I've been asking the same couple for their documents for two weeks, because I've got things in that file I still need to verify before I can preapprove the client.

So here's the truth nobody's saying out loud...

AI is great. It's a great research tool.

But it is not your realtor. It is not your lender.

It doesn't know your income. It doesn't know your credit.

It doesn't know what what the bank is actually going to approve you for, and it definitely doesn't know what it's supposed to do when you put an offer in on a house.

This is how deals fall apart at the closing table.

Use AI to learn. Challenge AI. Ask AI "Hey, am I wrong? If I'm wrong, tell me I'm wrong."

But use a human to protect you. That's not old school, my friends. That's just smart.

Glad to Platinum Preapprove™️ someone you care about that could use my help or a second opinion🏠🙌

Contact me to see what your unique scenario would look like👀

Just a couple things we do really well…

💥 Veterans - entitlement calculations are critical to avoid getting caught up in VA underwriting, we make it a breeze.

💥 1st Time Homebuyers - we hand-hold clients through the process when necessary and provide Roadmaps to Qualification so that our answer is never “No” sometimes its just “Not right now, but let us show you the way.”

--
p.s. - Can I count on you to introduce me when your friends are looking to make moves in real estate or refinancing?

09/14/2026

RIP Mortgage Rates in the 6's🏠

Conventional 30yr fixed mortgage rate averages just pushed above 7% nationally.

Rates in the 6’s were nice while they lasted, but moving forward here is how I pay myself to makeup the difference…

I would never buy a house in 2026 without getting a seller credit of at least 3% (depending on my loan program's allowable maximum) on my purchase price.

So if I bought a $400,000 home that would potentially mean a $12,000 seller credit.

This is very common right now unless it’s a highly desirable property that is still fielding multiple offers in this market.

Once my realtor has negotiated a seller credit on my behalf, I could use any combination of these 3 strategies:

1. Use it to eliminate mortgage insurance (aka PMI).
If I'm putting less than 20% as a down payment, rather than paying mortgage insurance monthly, I can use it for a single premium mortgage insurance policy. This could essentially eliminate mortgage insurance altogether, which actually makes it easier to qualify for the home by reducing my debt to income ratio.

2. Use it to eliminate my closing cost.
I can use that seller credit to pay all of my closing costs for me and I'm walking into the property for only the down payment.

3. Use it to reduce my monthly payment.
I would do that by either a) Pay discount points using the seller credit to cover it. That permanently reduces my rate for the life of the loan. Or b) Do a temporary rate buydown that could substantially reduce my interest rate for the first 2 to 3 years of the loan (only recommended as long as I would already be comfortable paying the permanent rate).

Glad to Platinum Preapprove™️ someone you care about that could use my help or a second opinion🏠🙌

Contact me to see what your unique scenario would look like👀

Just a couple things we do really well…

💥Elite Purchase Program allows borrowers to get no increase (surcharge) on their interest rate for being jumbo or second home buyers.

💥Medical Professionals Program - Up to $2M, 100% financing, No PMI, Favorable student loan debt tolerance, Max 10% down. Dentists, Pharmacists, Veterinarians, CRNAs, Medical residents, Fellows or Interns with degrees are potentially eligible.

--
p.s. - Can I count on you to introduce me when your friends are looking to make moves in real estate or refinancing?

09/09/2026

5 Reasons People Tell Me They Can't Buy🏠

I hear these every week.

Before you tell your lender any of these, there's something I want you to know.

"I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH SAVED."
Maybe. But you don't need 20% down payment. So first, let's calculate what you actually need and whether lower down payments, seller concessions or credits change the number.

"THE PAYMENT IS TOO HIGH."
Then let's start with the payment you CAN afford. From there, we can work backward and see what price and financing structure actually fit.

"MY CREDIT SCORE ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH."
Says who, a bank? Before spending another year trying to fix it, let's find out what your actual credit profile qualifies for today.

"I HAVE TOO MUCH DEBT."
Having debt doesn't automatically mean you can't qualify. There's a number that matters. Let's run yours before assuming the answer is no.

"I'M WAITING FOR RATES TO FALL."
Okay. What rate makes the numbers work? If you don't know that number, you're not waiting on a strategy. You're waiting on a guess.

Don't decline yourself before we run the numbers.

Maybe you can buy now. Or maybe you just can't YET.

If it's "not yet," I can show you exactly what needs to change.

Glad to Platinum Preapprove™️ someone you care about that could use my help or a second opinion🏠🙌

Contact me to see what your unique scenario would look like👀

Just a couple things we do really well…

💥 Self Employed Borrowers - Bank statement loans and creative ways to document income without using tax returns.

💥 DSCR Investor Loans - No income docs, as long as the subject property fair market rental value appraises then the borrower just needs minimum 20% down and 620 credit score to potentially qualify without documenting income.

08/31/2026

The Shift Is In Full Swing🏠

The housing market has changed faster than seller expectations.

80% of sellers expect to get their asking price or more.

Yet 62% of homes are selling below asking price.

That disconnect explains a lot about what's happening in housing.

Sellers are starting to feel it.

5.8% of U.S. listings were pulled off the market in April.

That's the highest share since March 2020, and some sellers are simply giving up.

Why are sellers giving up?

Three things have changed:
More inventory. Shifting prices. Longer days on market.

The market moved, but some seller expectations haven't.

Homes now take a median 52 days to sell, longer than every year since 2020.

So much for not listing your house for sale until you find one you like...

No desirable property is going to stay available while you take 52 days to sell your existing one.

But don't confuse a changing market with a crashing market.

National home prices are still expected to rise roughly 2.3% in 2026, and pending sales are running ahead of 2024 and 2025.

What we're seeing is a rebalancing of leverage.

And that's important if you're buying a home.

A property that has been sitting for 40 or 50 days creates a very different negotiation than one that received 12 offers its first weekend.

There may now be opportunities to negotiate:
• A lower purchase price
• Seller-paid closing costs
• Mortgage rate buydowns
• Repairs or improvements
• Better overall contract terms

The interest rate matters, and the price matters. But your ability to negotiate the deal matters too.

That's why waiting for the "perfect market" can cause buyers to overlook opportunities developing in the market they already have.

For sellers, there's an equally important lesson…

The market will ultimately determine what your home is worth regardless of what you hoped it would be worth or what your neighbor sold for two years ago.

The old playbook was simple:
List it, get multiple offers and sell fast.

That's no longer guaranteed.

Today's advantage belongs to the buyers and sellers who recognize the shift early, understand their local market, and adjust their strategy accordingly.

Glad to Platinum Preapprove™️ someone you care about that could use my help or a second opinion🏠🙌

Contact me to see what your unique scenario would look like👀

Just a couple things we do really well…

💥 Seller concessions can be used for buying out PMI, closing costs or interest rate buydown.

💥 Contingency Buster bridge loans are for clients looking to buy before they sell.