More than half of Americans with a mortgage are locked in under 4%, freezing nearly two million home sales. JD Cobb has spent two decades closing loans in Texas, and his advice runs against the wait-and-see instinct: buy at today's price, refinance later. He takes Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave Conley through the whole machine — the four Cs, who really owns your note, the pay option ARMs he watched build the 2008 collapse, and the occupancy fraud no computer catches. He explains why self-employed borrowers get squeezed by their own write-offs and how insurance now kills approvals outright. He closes with the twelve assistance programs in one county and calls twenty percent down "the biggest myth ever."

Timestamps:

• (01:07) JD's first closing – a cash-out refi, not a purchase
• (05:43) The four Cs – what lenders actually check
• (08:07) Who owns your loan – servicing gets sold, you keep paying
• (11:16) Pay option ARMs – balances grew when you paid
• (17:43) Starter homes are gone – the average buyer is now 38
• (25:44) Self-employed problem – write-offs make you unlendable
• (30:21) "Fast and Easy" – Countrywide's no-verification program
• (34:29) Insurance kills deals – wind, flood, and AI drawing lines
• (39:17) A dozen programs – the money nobody asks about
• (49:54) Lightning round – twenty percent down is the biggest myth
• (52:28) It's energy – JD's call on what moves rates next

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There are twelve down payment assistance programs in Austin and Travis County alone, and JD Cobb says almost nobody asks. He names TSAC and TDHCA, which cover three to five percent down, plus a mortgage credit certificate he can count as monthly income. He tells Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave Conley that a soft credit pull costs the buyer nothing and that he'll pay to rescore a client's credit himself. He calls out new-build "incentives" as money rolled straight back into the loan. In the lightning round he names the biggest myth his clients believe — that they need twenty percent down — and says the real lever on rates is energy.

Timestamps:

• (00:12) A dozen programs – the money buyers never think to ask about
• (00:37) TSAC and TDHCA – three to five percent, handed to you
• (02:50) The builder "incentive" – it's just rolled into your loan
• (04:23) Soft pull, no charge – what talking to a lender really costs
• (06:33) One lever – JD's pick if Congress could pull it
• (10:49) Lightning round – the myth every client walks in with
• (13:23) It's energy – why JD says that sets your rate

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• JD Cobb – Website | Instagram | Email

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The average American buyer is now 38 years old — Dave Conley bought his first home in his twenties and had to borrow the down payment from friends. Dave and Jerremy Alexander Newsome press JD Cobb on where the starter home went, and JD is blunt: Gen Z is skipping steps, and his own first house cost $187,000. He explains what happens when a self-employed file hits an underwriter's desk, why writing off most of your income makes you unlendable, and the one thing a computer can't catch — occupancy fraud. Then insurance: a file that died on flood costs, and AI drawing block-by-block lines around what can't be covered at all.

Timestamps:

• (00:12) Borrowed the down payment – how Dave bought in the '90s
• (05:15) Starter homes are gone – JD's first house cost $187,000
• (08:15) Self-employed problem – your write-offs are killing your loan
• (11:30) The fraud computers miss – lying about who lives there
• (12:50) "Fast and Easy" – the Countrywide program with no verification
• (16:58) Texas wind insurance – $6,000 a year and climbing
• (20:02) AI draws the line – block by block, who gets covered

Connect:

• JD Cobb – Website | Instagram | Email

🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web