Greg Payne - CrossCountry Mortgage

09/16/2026

The Fee raised rates! Time to panic? NO!!

Hot take: higher rates are more of a problem for the seller.

Here’s why:
1. In my 10 years as a mortgage lender, THIS is the best “buyer’s market” I’ve seen.

2. In fact, Redfin says this is the best “buyer’s market” since they started tracking it in 2013.
In fact, it’s the second best “buyer’s market” ever. 2009 was the best one. Would you like to travel back in time to 2009 and buy several houses? I know I would.

3. In a higher rate/buyer’s market environment, sellers almost have to offer concessions just to sell the house. What does that mean for the buyer? Rate buydowns and closing cost credits will be offered more and more.

4. Sellers can no longer have buyers compete for their home. Now they are competing with other sellers.

Make sure you have a lender who knows how to find you the best use of these credits.

Now is the time to buy, Buy, BUY!

09/15/2026

Oh no!! Rates are going up! Should I panic? Not if you have a creative lender.

09/14/2026

🚨 Mortgage Market Update: This week could get interesting.

The Fed meets this week, and markets are increasingly expecting a 25-basis-point rate hike because inflation remains stubbornly high.

But here’s what every homebuyer and Realtor needs to remember:

The Fed does NOT directly set mortgage rates. In fact, mortgage rates are forward looking and have already re-priced based on the belief that The Fed will raise its rate.

Mortgage rates are driven primarily by the bond market, inflation expectations, and where investors think the economy is headed.

So if the Fed raises rates Wednesday, that doesn't automatically mean mortgage rates jump 0.25%.

Meanwhile, mortgage rates are already back in the high-6% range, inventory is increasing, and existing-home sales just hit a 14-month low.

Bottom line: This is a market where understanding how to structure a loan can be just as important as the rate itself.

That's where having the right lender can make a BIG difference. 🏠📈

Send a message to learn more

09/10/2026

🚨 YOU’RE UNDER CONTRACT. CONGRATULATIONS!

You can finally breathe, right?

The rate is locked.
The paperwork is moving.
The house is almost yours.

What could possibly go wrong?

Oh…if you only knew. 😳

Here’s the reality: getting under contract doesn’t mean the hard part is over. In many cases, that’s when the loan process really gets put to the test.

Problems that should have been identified on Day 1 sometimes don't surface until the file is nearing the finish line.

And when they do?

Now there’s no time to fix them the easy way.

That’s why your lender matters just as much as your rate.

A low rate means absolutely nothing if the loan can’t close.

What matters is having a lender who:

✅ Identifies potential problems early
✅ Communicates clearly and consistently
✅ Knows the guidelines inside and out
✅ Thinks creatively when something doesn't go according to plan
✅ Has more than one way to solve a problem

The best mortgage experience isn't necessarily the one that starts with the lowest rate.

It's the one that gets you to the closing table with confidence and without surprises.

Because when you're buying a home, you don't just need a lender who can quote a rate.

You need a lender who knows how to get the loan across the finish line.

That’s what I mean when I say I’m reinventing the mortgage experience.

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09/08/2026

There's a lot of talk about the Chattanooga area housing market being a "buyer's market" now...

But what does that mean?

Here you go: Monica and Chandler have found their dream home right here in Chattanooga and it recently had a 'price improvement' from $600k to $575k. Obviously, Monica and Chandler are excited about this 'savings' of $25k on their dream home. They both have credit scores over 780 and can pay 20% down.

NOT SO FAST, MY FRIEND...

Their awesome realtor, Phoebe, in conjunction with her creative loan officer, Greg (duh...of course I'm the hero in the story) get together to show Monica and Chandler a couple of their many options.

Option 1 - full price offer asking for $10k in seller concessions (it's generally easier to get seller concessions in a buyer's market):
Sales price - $575,000
Down payment (20%...because they want to 'avoid PMI') - $115,000
Loan amount - $460,000
Rate - 7.25
P&I payment only - $3,161
Cash to close (estimate) - $120,000 (the down payment plus approximately $5,000 in closing after the $10,000 is applied

Option 2 - offer the original price of $600,000 and ask for $35,000 in seller concessions
Sales price - $600,000
Down payment - (15%...because Greg's company has an amazing product called 'Bye Bye PMI' where his company will pay your PMI premium for you and you save the other 5% you were paying just to 'avoid PMI') - $90,000
Rate (here's where it gets fun...we're going to take all $35k and buy the rate down) - 5.625%
P&I payment only - $2,935
Cash to close (estimate) - $105,000 (down payment, plus closing of $15k)

In this crazy buyer's market, find you a realtor and a lender who will get creative and get you the very best deal for your money.

09/03/2026

If you own a condo and you are thinking about selling in the next year, I want you to pay attention to this one.

Most sellers assume their unit is fine because they personally would qualify for financing without any trouble. Fair credit, steady income, no red flags on their side. But when your buyer goes to get a loan on your unit, the lender is not just looking at the buyer. The lender is looking at your entire building.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac just tightened their condo project review rules. In August new rules came out where condo buildings with more than 10 units have to pass a full review before a loan can close, and that review digs into the association's budget, its reserves, its insurance, and any pending litigation. On top of that, the reserve requirement is climbing from 10% to 15% of the annual budget, with an even stricter standard coming in January of 2027.

Here is why that matters to you as a seller. If your building's reserves are underfunded, or if the association has not kept up with a reserve study, your building can fail that review. And when a building fails review, buyers using conventional financing cannot get approved to buy in it. That does not just slow down your sale. It can shrink your buyer pool overnight and leave you sitting on the market longer than you expected, sometimes with no clear explanation why offers keep falling apart.

I have started asking sellers a question most of them have never been asked before. Do you know your association's budget reserve % number? Do you know when the last reserve study was done? Most people say no, because nobody ever asked them to think about it.

If you are planning to sell your condo this year or next, this is worth a phone call before you list, not after you are already under contract and watching a deal fall through. I can help you figure out where your building stands and what buyers financing through conventional loans are going to run into when they try to buy from you.

09/01/2026

Everybody is obsessed with when rates will finally drop. That might be the wrong question to be asking.

I get it, 6%-7% feels like a hard pill to swallow, and there is a real chance rates stay right here for years or even climb higher with everything going on globally. Nobody actually knows where they are headed no matter how confident the headlines sound.

However, people get stuck when they fixate on the rate and completely lose sight of the real estate itself.

Picture getting sent back to 1995 with a chance to buy a home in Windstone for $254,000. (I researched it and yes, that was a real price then).

You'd take that deal every time, even though rates back then were near 8.5%. That home is worth almost $630,000 today. Nobody made money because of the rate. They made money because they held onto great real estate in a great location for a long time.

The real question was never: "Is now a good time to buy?"

It is: "Is there ever a bad time to own great real estate?"

Rates drop, you refinance. Rates hold, you still own a strong asset. Rates rise, you’re glad you got in before they did.

This was never about timing the market. It’s about time in the market.

Send a message to learn more

08/31/2026

I’m not a realtor…

08/30/2026

From a very successful mortgage lender friend:

There is a new appraisal framework coming from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and it is going to change the game Nov 2 and affect every comparable sale you bring to the table.
Most agents have not heard about this yet, and that is exactly the problem.

Right now we are in a buyer’s market, which means concessions are showing up constantly. I am seeing them on roughly 50% of the deals I close. And I am a huge fan of them and think they are a smart tool when used the right way. They buy down rates, cover closing costs, and put together deals that would not happen otherwise.

But once this new framework rolls out, appraisers will have to break down exactly how much a concession influenced the final sales price. A home selling for $1,000,000 dollars with $30,000 in concessions does not automatically translate into a $1,000,000 dollar comp anymore.

That means the agents who come prepared are going to be the ones who keep their deals moving. Details on improvements, permits, square footage, and comps are about to matter more than ever, and having a lender with a strong appraisal network behind you is not optional anymore.

Send a message to learn more

08/29/2026

I recently helped a first-time homebuyer client take the next step toward homeownership with the CCM Smart Start program. Yours could be next! Contact us to learn more.