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.
A denial is one company running your file through one rulebook on one day. Here are the five reasons it usually happens, why a second look changes the answer more often than people expect, and what to ask first.
Title insurance is the closing cost almost nobody asks about. Unlike your homeowners policy it covers the past rather than the future, protecting you from liens, missed heirs and boundary problems recorded before you saw the house.
Clear to close is the best message I send and the one most often misread. Here is exactly what it means, what still has to happen before you get keys, and the wire fraud rule that has no exceptions.
The most common reason buyers give for waiting is a Fed cut. On August 28, 2026, futures repriced from a hold toward an increase at the September 16 meeting. Here is why the Fed's rate and your mortgage were never the same lever.
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