CMS Straight Talk
The quiet parts, out loud.
Honest opinions on mortgages and the industry we work in.
One take a month, written by the two people whose names are on the door. Everything here is checkable: where we state a fact, we show the source; where we state an opinion, we say so. Agree or disagree, we want to hear it.
Issue No. 1 · August 2026
“Marry the house, date the rate” is a slogan, not a plan.
The cute line assumes refinancing later will be cheap, which nobody knows. Waiting is a bet too, with rent as the stake. Both camps are guessing.
Read the full take →Issue No. 2 · August 2026Stop shopping for the lowest rate.
Yes, a mortgage brokerage just said that. The penalty formula in the fine print matters more than the third decimal ever will.
Read the full take →Issue No. 3 · August 2026Pre-approved is not approved.
The most expensive prefix in a spring market. Nobody has approved the house yet, and the house has to qualify too.
Read the full take →The opinions are the free part.
When it is your own mortgage on the table, we do the boring version: fine print, numbers, plain answers.
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