Blog

First-Time Homebuyer Podcast

According to NAR, the median age of a first-time homebuyer has reached a record high of 40. We want to help change that. Join us May 21 at 1:00 PM Arizona time on the Counsel Mortgage YouTube channel for our live first-time homebuyer podcast. We’ll cover the steps to get a mortgage, the different types of mortgage loans, and practical tips to help lower your monthly payment. If you miss it live, you can watch later on YouTube or Spotify. See you there!

CRE Capital Markets React to the War

Today’s post is written by Michael Green, Senior Commercial Loan Originator with Counsel Mortgage Group, LLC.  Mike writes monthly on the commercial mortgage market.  Check back each month for his commentary.    The war in Iran, over 60 days old, has begun to ripple more forcefully through financial markets raising concerns about borrowing costs just as CRE (commercial real estate) was hoping for some rate relief. A new risk is emerging:  the potential for base financing rate increases tied to ongoing geopolitical uncertainty. While movements in U.S. Treasury yields had been relatively modest in March, they’ve become more elevated the...

Reverse Mortgages:  Strategies

Join us this Wednesday, April 15th at 1:00 pm (MST) Arizona time as we take a deep dive into one of the most misunderstood tools in real estate finance.   In this episode of the Counsel Mortgage Roundtable Podcast, we’ll cover:   Watch LIVE here:   https://www.youtube.com/@mortgagecounselor/streams Miss the live broadcast?  Watch anytime:   YouTube Podcast:  https://www.youtube.com/@mortgagecounselor/podcasts Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/0W0W4aXHNRsjLvBtSEa2Od 👉 If you own a home or are planning for retirement, this is a conversation you don’t want to miss.

ANOTHER GULF WAR – WHAT ABOUT INTEREST RATES

Today’s post is written by Michael Green, Senior Commercial Loan Originator with Counsel Mortgage Group, LLC.  Mike writes monthly on the commercial mortgage market.  Check back each month for his commentary.   The graph immediately below is from 3-13-26, 2 weeks into the Iran War. In January, forecasters, economists, etc. were fairly unified in forecasting a 10 yr. bond range of 4-4.5% for the year.  Forecasts were also clustered around the Fed reducing fed funds by 50 basis points, likely in the last ½ year. Fed funds are now 3.50 bid, 3.75 ask. (Yes, there’s a bid/ask structure to fed funds,...

ANOTHER GULF WAR – WHAT ABOUT OIL

Today’s post is written by Michael Green, Senior Commercial Loan Originator with Counsel Mortgage Group, LLC.  Mike writes monthly on the commercial mortgage market.  Check back each month for his commentary.   As a commercial real estate broker, I specialized in the gas station sub-segment of retail for about 25 years.  During that period, I had adequate time to learn about the upstream and midstream economics of oil, and energy in general.  In this continuation of the “information age” we are fed a continuous feed of blow-by-blow activities in the Middle East, and a variety of opinions on the economic and...

DO YOU WANT TO GET INTO THE REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT GAME?

Are you considering investing in real estate, but you don’t know how to get started?  You may be asking how much down payment is required?  What kind of credit score do I need?  How much income do I need to make?  Or, you already have investment properties and are considering acquiring more?  We’ll answer these, and other questions, in this month’s Roundtable Podcast, live on the Counsel Mortgage YouTube channel on March 23rd at 1 pm AZ time.  We’ll also go over how you may be able to purchase an investment property for as little as 3.5% down.   If you...

COUNSEL MORTGAGE ROUNDTABLE PODCAST ROUNDUP – FEBRUARY 2026

We covered a lot of info in this month’s podcast.  Above is an excerpt from the podcast.  You can view the podcast here:  https://youtube.com/live/eqwWuBMgFek Here are the highlights: Subscribe to our YouTube channel and our podcasts on YouTube and Spotify to stay up-to-date on these and other issues in the mortgage marketplace.   If you are considering purchasing a home, or refinancing, either residential or commercial, give us a call. This is what we do everyday, and can help find the right loan for you.

COUNSEL MORTGAGE PODCAST

Our monthly Roundtable is now available as a podcast.  You can check it out on Spotify and YouTube.  Here are the links:   YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@mortgagecounselor/streams Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/0W0W4aXHNRsjLvBtSEa2Od If you want to check it out live, tune in Tuesday afternoon, Feb 24th at 1 pm AZ time.  We will be covering the following topics:   If you have a topic you’d like our panel to discuss, let me know.  Hope to see you there!   Subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay informed and follow us on social media.   If you are considering purchasing a home, or refinancing, either residential or commercial,...

FORGET THE UMBRELLA, HEAD FOR THE LIFEBOATS

Today’s post is written by Michael Green, Senior Commercial Loan Originator with Counsel Mortgage Group, LLC.  Mike writes monthly on the commercial mortgage market.  Check back each month for his commentary.   Unless you live in a cave, you’re aware of gold’s incredible run in the wake of the declining dollar (USD), and recently, the inevitable “correction” … down about 11%.  The catalyst:  the nomination of Kevin Warsh to serve as the next chair of the Fed.  Without getting into the weeds reviewing Warsh’s qualifications & philosophy of interest rate management, his previous criticisms of current Fed chief Powell imply...

JANUARY ROUNDTABLE ROUNDUP

Click here to watch the Roundtable on the Counsel Mortgage YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/live/JDZ5TakychU  Subscribe to our channel to stay up-to-date on mortgage topics.  Here is a summary of what we discussed: 1.  Intro – the panelists are all associated with Counsel Mortgage. They introduced themselves and provided a little background of what they do. 2.  Market update – the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey shows the average purchase mortgage rate at 6.09% on a 30-year fixed mortgage.  This average may include points. We compared the US 10-year Treasury Note to the Freddie Mac rate showing the similarities in the...