Page 86 - South Mississippi Living - March, 2022

HOME & GARDEN
story by Lynn Lofton A LOAN FOR EVERY HOME
Although CMG Financial has had a South Mississippi location for only five years, the San Ramon, California, direct mortgage lender's local office closed more than $200 million in sales last year. Nationwide there are 100 offices.
The company, founded in 1993, has a sole owner and
is not publicly traded, a fact that local lender Don Blaize says gives these mortgage lenders a lot of flexibility
in closing loans. “Sometimes lenders don't know a community, but we do,” he said. “The 18 employees here are all locals.”
CMG Financial offers everything from conventional 30- year loans to VA and VHA loans, proprietary mortgages, first and second mortgages and equity lines. “There's not a loan we can't do,” Blaize said. “We love doing military loans. Proprietary mortgages are used in places around the world and are loans that allow the buyer to pay the principal first, building equity in half the time.”
In the mortgage lending business for 22 years, Blaize says the health of mortgage lending slows down as the
CMG Financial
2554 Beach Blvd., Biloxi 228.438.2002 | www.cmgfi.com
real estate market slows down, the two go hand in hand. “The Federal Reserve is talking about rates going up, and economists predict that mortgage rates will cap out at four percent,” he said. “As rates go up, home affordability will go down as buyers look at higher payments. We're also seeing a lack of housing inventory. Mix that with higher interest rates and the overall volume of sales will be down.”
However, he adds that even with rates of four-and-one- half percent, that's still a pretty good option.
Blaize's advice to potential home buyers is to sit down with a lender and have a consultation. “A good lender will customize a program and determine what's right for you as to how much you want to spend monthly and then put you in touch with sellers,” he said. “It's important to talk with mortgage lenders first.”
Blaize sums up by noting that an advantage for consumers is that CMG services their loans. “Our rates are competitive and with the bulk of loans we do, we can get better deals for buyers.”
86 | March 2022
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