home-loan-advisors

Latest Florida Housing Market Updates for Today's Buyers

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 09:32:20 GMT

Get the latest Florida housing market updates for 2026, including prices, inventory, mortgage rates, and regional trends to help you buy smarter.

How to Qualify for 100 Mortgages for First Time Buyers

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 03:24:40 GMT

Learn how 100 mortgages for first time buyers work in 2026, eligibility, costs, and zero-deposit options to qualify for a home loan.

Buying a Vacation Home with 15-Year Fixed Rates

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 10:44:55 GMT

Compare 15 year second home mortgage rates vs 30-year terms, plus qualification tips, down payment tiers, and tax rules for your vacation home purchase.

The Ultimate Guide to Local and Recommended Mortgage Advisors

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 10:19:32 GMT

Find trusted mortgage financial advisors near me to guide your home buying, refinancing, and wealth planning.

Use a Tampa Mortgage Calculator to Plan Your Buying Power

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 08:52:21 GMT

Use a Tampa mortgage calculator to estimate PITI and see if you can afford a median-priced home in today's market.

Assisted Mortgages 101 and How to Unlock Down Payment Help

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 07:15:35 GMT

Learn how an assisted mortgage first time buyers program unlocks down payment help, eligibility rules, and repayment terms to start your homeownership journey.

Finding top local mortgage brokers in your area step by step

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 07:12:49 GMT

Find top local mortgage brokers near me with our step-by-step guide to vetting, comparing rates, and getting pre-approved.

Get Mort-Gaged Right with the Best Mortgage Advisory Service

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 08:22:37 GMT

Find the right mortgage advisory service for your needs. Get expert guidance on mortgages, pre-approval, and tailored financing from whole of market brokers.

Brokers and Advisors Demystified to Save Your Wallet

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 06:04:09 GMT

Learn the advisor vs broker difference to save thousands in fees and find the right financial partner for your goals.

Is a 15-Year Home Mortgage Worth the Higher Monthly Payment?

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 09:48:28 GMT

Compare 15 year home interest rates vs. 30-year loans to see if the higher payment is worth the savings. Get expert strategies for the best rate.

Navigating Jumbo Loans in Tampa Bay: High End Mortgage Brokers Guide

Mon, 24 Aug 2026 09:50:17 GMT

Work with Home Loan Advisors in Tampa Bay to navigate jumbo loans and bespoke financing with expert high end mortgage brokers tailored to your needs.

What Credit Score Do You Need for a Mortgage? | Josh Jampedro

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 19:01:15 GMT

What Credit Score Do You Need for a Mortgage in Florida?

By: Josh Jampedro, Home Loan Advisors

Video Transcript: What credit score do I need for a good loan program?

[00:00 - 00:08]

On-screen Text: What credit score do I need for a good loan program?

Josh: So, there are a variety of different loan programs, each of which have their own credit score requirements. So, for most loan programs, you need to have at least a 620 credit score.

[00:08 - 00:22]

There are a couple of different ways to look at your credit. So, Credit Karma, they use a different scoring algorithm—something called VantageScore—which is a little bit different than mortgage lenders use. So, if you're looking on there to figure out what your credit score needs to be, you probably want to stick closer to about a 650.

[00:22 - 00:35]

There are loan options that will allow you to go all the way down to 500, but those are typically going to be a little bit more difficult to qualify for. So, for a quality loan program with an affordable mortgage payment, generally speaking, you want to be at least 620 or above.

Executive Summary

Direct answer: Most loan programs require at least a 620 credit score. Options exist down to a 500, but those are harder to qualify for and typically come with a less affordable payment. If you're checking your score on Credit Karma, aim closer to 650, since it uses a different scoring model than mortgage lenders use.

What's the Minimum Credit Score for a Mortgage?

For most loan programs, you need at least a 620 credit score. There are a variety of loan programs available, and each one has its own credit requirements — 620 is the general baseline for a quality program with an affordable mortgage payment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can You Get a Mortgage With a Credit Score Below 620?

Yes — some loan options go as low as a 500 credit score, but they're typically more difficult to qualify for. These lower-score programs exist, but they generally come with more friction in the qualification process and less favorable terms than a program available at 620 or above.

Why Does Your Credit Karma Score Look Different From Your Mortgage Score?

Credit Karma uses VantageScore, which is a different scoring model than the one mortgage lenders use. That means the number you see on Credit Karma won't line up exactly with what a lender pulls. If you're using Credit Karma to gauge where you stand, aim for closer to 650 to account for that gap, rather than relying on the 620 mortgage-lender benchmark.

Mortgages are complex, so let me give you the tools you need to make the right decisions.

Should You Wait to Buy a Home in Florida? | Josh Jampedro

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 17:41:37 GMT

Should You Wait to Buy a Home in Florida?

By: Josh Jampedro, Home Loan Advisors

Video Transcript: Waiting to buy a home in Florida

00:00:05:01 - 00:00:21:21

The waiting game. When you're waiting to buy a home, people don't know why I don't. I don't think they have any reason for it or any logic behind it. Like, sometimes that's a great idea. Like if it fits your lifestyle. Wait. I when I moved to Tampa, I didn't buy a home right away. I was waiting to buy, but I had a reason for it.

00:00:21:21 - 00:00:41:26

I didn't know where I wanted to live yet, so that's a pretty good reason. But I think a lot of people say they're waiting to buy because they're waiting for like some crash. So everybody's waiting for the housing market to crash, and home values are going to be so much cheaper because they're expensive currently. And then the information that they're getting comes from people like myself.

00:00:41:26 - 00:01:04:01

Who benefits from you not waiting to buy in real estate agents who obviously benefit from you not waiting to buy, even though we're actually the experts. So what happens sometimes is like, sure, mortgage lender and real estate agent, you want me to buy a house because then you benefit. So it's always a good time to buy. And so that clouds sometimes the fact that the information is still true, and the fact that it is a good time to buy.

00:01:04:01 - 00:01:24:02

And then why is it a good time to buy? Here's why. So people think that the housing market reacts like the stock market. So oftentimes every few years stocks get overbought. And then there's a correction. And then they go down. And people somehow think that the housing market is akin to the stock market. But in reality the housing market is more of a commodity.

00:01:24:02 - 00:01:44:22

It's closer to the price of eggs than it is the price of a stock. Because you live in a home, you don't live in a stock. That's number one. Number two, we printed a lot of money. So when there are more dollars in the market, that doesn't necessarily mean that you're able that someday there's going to be less dollars and that home values are going to drop.

00:01:44:24 - 00:02:03:21

What happens is you're you're buying power is just lower. Your dollars are just worthless. They're not gonna suddenly be worth more. So homes aren't more expensive as much as your dollars. Buy less of them, if that makes sense. So like the reason I say it's similar to a price of eggs is if you're waiting for eggs to go back to a dollar a dozen, that's probably not going to happen.

00:02:03:21 - 00:02:23:13

In the same way that housing prices aren't just suddenly going to be cheaper. Now there is an added element of this, which is supply and demand, obviously. So in some markets, you should definitely be very careful in the way that people have overbuilt. And now they think that like take Austin, Texas for example, values and oxygen of Texas have gone down because they built like a million houses.

00:02:23:14 - 00:02:40:02

Like all at once. You could just keep building in Austin, Texas, out further and further and further till you just have this massive city. Well, other areas aren't like that. So take Tampa, the Tampa market, or Saint Pete, for example. It's a peninsula you can't just build out. There's nowhere to build. So you have a fixed amount of inventory.

00:02:40:03 - 00:02:57:01

People are like, well, I think the values are going to drop and they will correct and they'll go down and up slightly. But I think that a lot of people would just wait because they literally think that that house that's 500,000 could easily be 300,000 in like six months. And that's that's not going to happen. Like they're not just going to crash down to zero.

00:02:57:03 - 00:03:14:16

There can be corrections. But then what ends up happening is if if that's your mentality, well I think housing prices are going to crash. Good luck trying to time the market. So like 96 out of the past 100 years home values have gone up. You're basically saying I'm going to wait until they go down. And then if they go down, you're going to hurry up and buy.

00:03:14:24 - 00:03:30:06

So is everybody else, by the way, which drives home values up. But you're going to be able to time the market in a way that trumps the three years it takes, while home values keep increasing while you're waiting, and then they drop, and then you think you're going to be able to buy there. And it just doesn't make logical sense when you look at it from that standpoint.

00:03:30:06 - 00:03:46:12

So really what you have to do is figure out if it fits your lifestyle, not if it fits some type of like future financial dream or that you think the market's going to crash in some way that strategically benefits only you and everybody else is kind of screwed. So that's really what you have to look at is like, do I want to own a home?

00:03:46:12 - 00:03:59:27

Do I want to do I see myself living in an area for a long period of time? Is this something that I want for my family? If the answer to that is no, then don't buy a house. But if the answer to that is yes, and you're waiting for like interest rates or values to crash, you're never going to be able to time the market.

00:03:59:27 - 00:04:04:09

You're not going to be able to figure that out. Just try to figure out what fits your lifestyle and go from there.

Executive Summary

Direct answer: Waiting only makes sense if it's tied to your actual lifestyle — not a bet that the housing market is about to crash. Housing behaves more like a commodity than a stock: it doesn't correct the way the stock market does, and in supply-constrained markets like Tampa and St. Pete , there's no room to overbuild your way into a crash. The real question isn't when prices will drop — it's whether owning a home fits your life right now.

Is It Ever a Good Idea to Wait to Buy a Home?

Yes — waiting can be a smart decision when it's based on a real, specific reason tied to your life. When Josh moved to Tampa, he didn't buy a home right away, because he didn't yet know where he wanted to live. That's a legitimate reason to wait.

What's not a good reason is waiting for a market crash that isn't coming. A lot of people delay buying because they're expecting home values to fall dramatically, assuming the market they're currently priced out of will suddenly become affordable.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Housing Market Behave Like the Stock Market?

No — the housing market is closer to a commodity, like the price of eggs, than it is to a stock. Stocks get overbought every few years and correct downward. Homes don't follow that pattern, because a home is something you actually live in — not an asset you're trading.

"It's closer to the price of eggs than it is the price of a stock." — Josh Jampedro

A big driver of this is the amount of money in the market, not a temporary bubble. When more dollars are in circulation, your buying power goes down — your dollars simply buy less. Home values aren't dropping back to where they were any more than eggs are going back to a dollar a dozen.

Why Don't Housing Prices Crash the Way People Expect?

Supply and demand still matter, and some markets are genuinely more vulnerable than others. Cities that can keep expanding outward — like Austin, Texas — have seen values and rents drop because they overbuilt all at once.

Tampa and St. Pete don't have that same risk, because they're geographically limited. As a peninsula, there's nowhere to build out further, which keeps inventory fixed. Corrections can still happen and values can move up or down slightly, but that's a different scenario from a home going from $500,000 to $300,000 in six months — which isn't realistic.

What Happens If You Try to Time the Housing Market?

Timing the market rarely works, because home values have gone up in roughly 96 of the last 100 years. If your strategy is to wait for a drop and then buy, you're competing with everyone else who has the exact same plan — which itself drives prices back up.

Meanwhile, values typically keep climbing during the years you spend waiting. By the time any dip arrives, you're trying to time an entry point that the rest of the market is chasing at the same moment. It doesn't hold up logically once you look at the actual pattern.

How Should You Actually Decide Whether to Buy?

Base the decision on your lifestyle, not a market prediction. Ask yourself:

Do you want to own a home?
Can you see yourself living in this area for a long period of time?
Is this something you want for your family?

If the answer is no, don't buy. But if the answer is yes and the only thing holding you back is a belief that rates or prices are about to crash, that's not a strategy you can reliably execute. Timing the market isn't something you can figure out in advance — the better approach is deciding what fits your life and moving from there.

Mortgages are complex, so let me give you the tools you need to make the right decisions.

Trouble Getting Pre-Approved? | Home Loan Advisors

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:00:46 GMT

What Do You Do If You're Having Trouble Getting Pre-Approved in Florida?

By: Josh Jampedro, Home Loan Advisors

Video Transcript: Getting pre-approved for a mortgage in Florida

00:00:04:02 - 00:00:26:22

If you're having trouble getting pre-approved, the first thing that you need to look at is how do we create a roadmap for a pre-approval? Every single buyer has a roadmap. For some people, that road is really long. Unfortunately, you know, if you have a 450 credit score and we look at your credit and see that you haven't paid, Verizon, sprint, T-Mobile and sprint gave you a second phone, you didn't pay for that one.

00:00:26:22 - 00:00:53:04

And your credit is terrible. That roadmap is going to be really long, unfortunately, but for I would say 90% or 95% even of home buyers, percent of home buyers, the roadmap isn't that hard. It's usually trying to figure out how to balance their finances in a meaningful way. So that is a combination of figuring out how do we snowball paying down debt so that you're able to get ahead a little bit faster without having to spend a bunch of money all at once, or hit the lottery or something like that?

00:00:53:06 - 00:01:17:16

How do we increase your credit score? If that's a concern, which typically goes in line with paying down debt? So both of those things are typically tend to correlate. How can we add more income so that you are able to, over the course of a period of time, move your purchasing power up higher? Or if you already have enough income, how do we get you into a place where you can find a house that supports a payment, generally with the income that you already have?

00:01:17:18 - 00:01:38:20

So we want to try to figure out what are your expectations. If you want to live in Hyde Park in downtown Tampa and you're making $5,000 a month and the homes are $1 million. We kind of have to adjust our expectations and figure out, is there a lifestyle that you could see yourself living that isn't in that exact location?

00:01:38:21 - 00:01:57:04

Could we maybe move north or south or east or west? 5 or 10 miles? Can we put you into a position where you're still in a nice, safe neighborhood, but you're not spending tons of money on your mortgage? So a lot of times it comes down to those factors trying to adjust the budget, looking at your financing, and then also adjusting expectations until we get both of those ends to meet.

Executive Summary

Direct answer: Build a roadmap. Every buyer has one — the question is how long it is. For roughly 90-95% of homebuyers, the roadmap isn't difficult; it usually comes down to balancing finances in a meaningful way: paying down debt, improving credit, increasing income, or adjusting expectations about where and what you buy.

Why Does a Pre-Approval Roadmap Matter?

Every single buyer has a roadmap to pre-approval — for some people it's short, for others it's long. If your credit score is around 450 and your report shows unpaid balances with Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint, that roadmap is going to be long. But that's not the typical case. For the large majority of buyers, the path to pre-approval is a matter of adjusting a few specific things, not overcoming a credit disaster.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Pay Down Debt Without a Big Lump Sum?

Snowballing debt is the way to make progress without spending a large amount of money all at once. The goal is to get ahead a little bit faster over time rather than needing a windfall — as Josh puts it, "without having to spend a bunch of money all at once, or hit the lottery or something like that."

How Are Credit Score and Debt Paydown Connected?

Increasing your credit score typically goes hand in hand with paying down debt — the two tend to correlate. Working on one usually moves the other in the right direction at the same time, which is part of why debt paydown is often the first lever to pull.

Can Increasing Your Income Help You Get Pre-Approved?

Yes — adding income is one of the direct ways to increase your purchasing power over time. If you already have enough income to support what you want to buy, the roadmap shifts: instead of increasing income, the focus becomes finding a home that fits the payment your current income already supports

What If Your Expectations Don't Match Your Budget?

Sometimes the roadmap isn't about your finances at all — it's about adjusting your expectations. If you want to live in Hyde Park in downtown Tampa on $5,000 a month and homes there are $1 million, the numbers don't reconcile. In that situation, the real question becomes whether there's a different lifestyle or location you could see yourself living in.

Moving 5 or 10 miles north, south, east, or west can put you in a nice, safe neighborhood without stretching your mortgage payment. This is often the fastest lever available — no debt paydown, no waiting to build credit, just a shift in location.

How to Find the Right Loan Officer | Home Loan Advisors

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 20:50:55 GMT

How Do I Find the Right Loan Officer in Florida?

By: Josh Jampedro, Home Loan Advisors

Video Transcript: Finding the right loan officer in Florida

00:00:03:20 - 00:00:22:03

So with the internet, there are so many different options that it becomes confusing on what you should be searching for, or how you should go about looking for the right loan officer. Really, what you want to focus on first is what your goals are. You want to figure out what kind of home you want to buy. You want to make sure that you understand where you want to by.

00:00:22:03 - 00:00:43:28

And then based on that search criteria, you want to start to look for top producing loan officers that are in that area. The reason why top producing loan officers are a fit that you want, it's not because of the volume they do, it's because of the amount of repetitions that they have. So in most industries, the most important thing that people look for are years of experience.

00:00:43:28 - 00:01:02:21

So if you're a pilot and you have 30 years of experience, that means that we can expect that every day. You've been flying planes for 30 years, so you have a ton of situational awareness and a ton of experience in flying aircraft. But in the real estate and mortgage industry, that's not the case. What matters most is the amount of repetitions, not the number of years.

00:01:02:21 - 00:01:35:22

So somebody can spend five years in the business and complete a thousand transactions and ultimately have more experience, have solved more problems than somebody that's been doing it for 30 years, but they only do two deals a year. So really what you're looking for is somebody that's in that top 10% that applies to both real estate agents and loan officers, because that's where you're going to have the highest, the highest likelihood of success, that those people have a really good understanding of what they're doing, that they know the market, that they've seen, the problems that they're able to solve them efficiently, and also that they have a team or a support staff because they're funding

00:01:35:22 - 00:01:52:15

enough volume that they can pay for that support. So if it's a Saturday and you need an updated pre-approval letter, but your loan officer only does five transactions a year, he's probably not working on Saturday. That may be why he only does five transactions a year, whereas somebody that's doing 75 or 100, they've got a team of people there to help you.

00:01:52:15 - 00:02:13:21

So you're working with that loan officer and their staff, not necessarily just an individual. So really trying to search for people that are in that top 10%. So you look for reviews. That's the easiest way to go about doing it. So you search the names. You look at top Tampa Bay real estate agents or top Tampa Bay loan officers, and then you find reviews that you can use as support.

00:02:13:21 - 00:02:28:04

So if somebody has 75 reviews or 100 reviews or 200 reviews, that means that they have a lot of transactions under their belt. Whereas if you're looking for people and you can't find them digitally, chances are you're not going to be able to find them when you need them. And so usually it's best to search for somebody else.

Executive Summary

Direct answer: Start with your goals, not a search engine. Figure out what kind of home you want and where you want to buy first — then search for top producing loan officers in that specific area. The reason top producers are the right fit isn't volume for its own sake; it's repetitions. More completed transactions means more problems already solved, which is a better predictor of success than years in the business.

Does Experience Matter More Than Years in the Business?

No — in mortgage and real estate, repetitions matter more than years. In most industries, years of experience is the standard measure. A pilot with 30 years of experience has been flying planes every day for three decades, so that number means something.

Mortgage and real estate don't work the same way. Someone with five years in the business who's completed 1,000 transactions has solved more problems and built more real experience than someone who's been licensed for 30 years but only closes two deals a year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Look for a Top Producing Loan Officer or Agent?

Top producing loan officers and real estate agents — generally those in the top 10% of their market — give you the highest likelihood of a smooth transaction. That top 10% benchmark applies to both loan officers and real estate agents. People at that level tend to know the market, have already seen the problems that come up, and know how to solve them efficiently.

A high-volume loan officer also means you're getting a team, not just one person. Funding that much volume requires support staff — underwriters, processors, people who can actually help you. If your loan officer only closes five transactions a year, they likely don't have that support system, and they're probably not available on a Saturday when you need an updated pre-approval letter. Someone closing 75 or 100 transactions a year has a team behind them specifically because the volume supports it.

How Do You Actually Search for a Top Loan Officer?

Reviews are the easiest way to verify this. Search terms like "top Tampa Bay loan officers" or "top Tampa Bay real estate agents," then use review counts as your evidence.

"If somebody has 75 reviews or 100 reviews or 200 reviews, that means that they have a lot of transactions under their belt." — Josh Jampedro

A high review count is a proxy for real transaction volume. On the flip side, if you search for someone and can't find them digitally at all, that's a signal too — chances are you won't be able to find them when you actually need them during your transaction. In that case, it's usually best to keep looking.

Quick Checklist for Choosing a Mortgage Lender or Loan Officer

Know your goals first: what you want to buy and where
Search for top producing loan officers in that specific area
Prioritize transaction volume (repetitions) over years licensed
Look for loan officers in the top 10% of their market
Check review counts as evidence of real transaction volume
Confirm they have a support team, not just themselves
If you can't find them online, search for someone else

Mortgages are complex, so let me give you the tools you need to make the right decisions.

When to Lock Your Mortgage Rate | Home Loan Advisors

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 16:13:51 GMT

When Should You Lock Your Interest Rate When Buying a Home in Florida?

By: Josh Jampedro, Home Loan Advisors

Video Transcript: When to Lock Your Interest Rate

[00:00 - 00:05]

On-screen Text: When should you lock your interest rate when buying a home in Florida?

Josh: So, first, you need to understand what that means.

[00:06 - 00:27]

When you go to a lender, you're going to get an initial interest rate on a house. That interest rate can change based on supply and demand, and most mortgages are transferred in the secondary market. So, that lender has to give you two options: you can lock it in up front, or you can float it.

[00:27 - 00:48]

What ends up happening if you float is you're sort of gambling with the market. As you're under contract and you inch closer to closing, if rates go up, your interest rate is going up on the loan disclosures that you've signed. So your rate is changing and fluctuating with the market; you could end up with a higher payment, or you could also end up with a lower payment if rates drop.

[00:48 - 01:09]

So that takes a little bit more, you know, risk. That's kind of gambling in that sense in a lot of ways. Alternatively, you can lock your rate up front for a set period of time. That fixes the rate. If rates go up, yours stays the same. If rates go down, yours doesn't go down.

[01:09 - 01:26]

The reason why yours doesn't go down when rates go down after you've locked is because the lender is guaranteeing an interest rate to you that might not be available to them at the time you buy the house.

[01:26 - 01:45]

So keep in mind, if you're set to close in 30 days, they're guaranteeing a rate to you, and then when they go to transfer that loan in the secondary market, if rates have skyrocketed, they will lose a ton of money on that. That's called their hedge—basically an insurance policy that protects them against market movements.

[01:45 - 02:03]

What that means for you is, once you lock your interest rate, you can't unlock it and relock it. With most lenders, there are certain nuances to that, but that's because the lender can't give you lower rates when they drop, but not give higher rates to other people when they go up. Their rate is fixed because it costs them money for their hedge on the secondary market.

[02:03 - 02:24]

So, the best thing to do for most people is lock your interest rate up front when you go under contract. Because having the peace of mind of knowing that what you talked about is set in stone beats maybe getting a little lower rate with the risk of it going up an eighth or a quarter, especially in this market.

[02:24 - 02:30]

Over the course of 30 days, rates may go up a half a point and back down. For most people, it's just not worth the stress of seeing your rate change every day and your loan costs change. So I suggest locking everybody up front for the most part because it just makes the most sense. Guaranteeing something now is always going to be better than guessing.

Executive Summary

Direct answer: For most homebuyers, the best move is to lock your interest rate up front as soon as you go under contract. Locking fixes your rate for a set period so it can't move against you before closing — floating leaves your rate exposed to daily market swings, which means you could end up with a lower payment, but you could just as easily end up with a higher one.

Before you can decide whether to lock or float, you need to understand what those two words actually mean — because most people don't.

What Does It Mean to "Lock" or "Float" a Mortgage Rate in Florida?

Every mortgage lender gives you two options once you have an initial interest rate: lock it in, or let it float. That's because most mortgages get sold on the secondary market, and rates move with supply and demand between the day you apply and the day you close.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Doesn't Your Rate Drop If You've Already Locked It?

Once you lock, the lender is guaranteeing you a rate that might not even be available to them by the time your loan actually closes. If you're set to close in 30 days, the lender is promising you today's rate for a transaction that won't fund for a month. When they go to sell that loan on the secondary market, if rates have jumped in the meantime, they absorb that cost — not you.

This protection is called a hedge — essentially an insurance policy the lender buys to protect themselves against market movement between your lock date and your closing date.

Can You Unlock and Relock Your Rate Later?

No — once you lock, most lenders won't let you unlock and relock, with some minor nuances depending on the lender. The math only works one way: a lender can't give every borrower the lower rate whenever rates drop but stick everyone else with the higher rate whenever rates rise. Their hedge is fixed because it costs them real money on the secondary market, so your locked rate has to be fixed too.

So Should You Lock or Float?

Lock it. For the vast majority of buyers, locking up front the moment you go under contract is the right call. Here's the actual trade-off: over a 30-day window, rates might move up half a point and come back down — or they might not. Floating means living with that uncertainty every single day between contract and closing, watching your projected payment shift.

"Guaranteeing something now is always going to be better than guessing." — Josh Jampedro

The peace of mind of knowing your rate — and your loan costs — are set in stone almost always beats the small chance of shaving an eighth or a quarter off your rate by floating. That's especially true in a market where rates can swing meaningfully in either direction over the course of a month.

Bottom line: lock your rate when you go under contract. It's not about predicting where rates go — it's about not having to.

Mortgages are complex, so let me give you the tools you need to make the right decisions.

What Is PMI on a Mortgage? | Home Loan Advisors

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 16:12:49 GMT

What Is PMI, and Do You Have to Pay It When Buying a Home in Florida?

By: Josh Jampedro, Home Loan Advisors

Video Transcript: Understanding PMI When Buying a Home in Florida

[00:00 - 00:04]

On-screen Text: What is PMI, and do I have to pay it when buying a home in Florida?

Josh Jampedro: PMI is private mortgage insurance.

[00:04 - 00:16]

So mortgage insurance is required when you put less than 20% down. You have to pay it if you don't put 20% down in most cases. There are ways to prepay your MI.

[00:16 - 00:27]

A lot of times these are marketed as "no MI." You still have MI; you just paid it up front. So the cost is there pretty much no matter what if you put less than 20% down.

[00:27 - 00:41]

But it's often way overblown. So a lot of the times mortgage insurance is $25 a month, $50 a month, $80 a month, depending on your loan amount. And people will do all of these different things to try to avoid PMI, when in reality, it's just easier to pay the PMI.

[00:41 - 00:56]

So I've had people try to take out, like, 401(k) loans and pay penalties and do all of this stuff. And then I tell them, like, you're going to save like $65 a month, and it's going to cost you, like, $4,000 to do this. And they're like, "I thought PMI was $500 a month." It's really not that expensive.

[00:56 - 01:04]

If you have bad credit, your PMI increases. So for people generally who have good credit, PMI is really not that expensive.

[01:04 - 01:18]

If you have an FHA loan, PMI is flat. It's 0.55% of your loan amount per year. So take your loan amount, multiply it by 0.0055, divide that by 12, and that's how much your mortgage insurance is. So usually with an FHA loan, it's between, like, $100 and $200 a month.

[01:18 - 01:29]

So again, it's not horrible. It's not the most ideal set of circumstances either, but if you're able to buy a house with 3.5% down instead of 20%, that 0.55% per year is kind of a small price to pay.

Executive Summary

Direct answer: PMI stands for private mortgage insurance, and it's required any time you put down less than 20% on a home in most cases. You can prepay it up front through loans marketed as "no MI," but the cost is still there either way — it's just paid differently. For most people with good credit, PMI is not nearly as expensive as they assume.

Do You Have to Pay PMI in Florida If You Put Less Than 20% Down?

Yes — in most cases, mortgage insurance is required whenever your down payment is below 20%. Some loans are marketed as "no MI" options, but that's misleading. You still have mortgage insurance in those cases; you've just prepaid it up front instead of paying it monthly. Either way, if you're putting down less than 20%, the cost of mortgage insurance exists somewhere in the transaction.

For most FHA borrowers, this works out to somewhere between $100 and $200 a month.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Much Does PMI Actually Cost?

PMI is often way overblown — for most people, it lands somewhere between $25 and $80 a month, depending on the loan amount. That's a much smaller number than what people tend to assume before they actually see it quoted.

People frequently go to expensive lengths to avoid a cost that isn't that big to begin with. One real example: a buyer took out a 401(k) loan and paid an early withdrawal penalty to avoid PMI — spending around $4,000 to save roughly $65 a month. When it was explained that PMI wasn't going to cost anywhere near what they assumed, the reaction was, "I thought PMI was $500 a month."

"It's really not that expensive." — Josh Jampedro

What Factors Increase Your PMI Cost?

Credit score is the main factor that moves your PMI cost. If your credit is on the lower end, your PMI increases. For buyers with generally good credit, PMI stays affordable and isn't a major factor in the overall cost of the loan.

How Is PMI Calculated on an FHA Loan?

On an FHA loan, mortgage insurance is a flat rate of 0.55% of your loan amount per year. See table above.

Is PMI Worth Paying to Buy a Home Sooner?

Yes, in most cases — paying PMI to buy with 3.5% down instead of waiting to save 20% is a reasonable trade-off. It's not the most ideal set of circumstances, but a flat rate of 0.55% a year is a fairly small price to pay for the ability to get into a home years earlier than waiting to hit 20% down.