Notes from Tony Fitzgerald's desk on how Florida mortgages actually work — the escrow resets, the homestead deadlines, and the details nobody mentions at the closing table. Written for Sarasota, Bradenton, and the Gulf Coast.
Most agent videos die on take nine. One take means one recording session, not one flawless run. Flub the line, keep rolling, then delete the mistake off the transcript and the video cuts itself. Here is how I teach it.
Lead costs went up twelve percent in 2026 and the conversion rate did not budge. A working mortgage broker on why buying strangers keeps getting more expensive, what the cheaper lead actually is, and the honest tradeoff nobody mentions.
Nobody thinks about real estate until a life event forces the question, and in that moment people call whoever they already recognize. A working mortgage broker on why reach is the wrong goal and how to build the memory instead.
Tony Fitzgerald · NMLS #1284924 · 1st Response Mortgage · powered by Mpire Financial Group LLC · NMLS #2108504 · Florida License #MLD2467 · Mortgage Broker · Sarasota, FL · (941) 941-5150