Terry Shepard Mortgage Loan Officer NMLS 147345 -Southwest Funding

09/02/2026

They do great work!

09/01/2026

🏠 “I HAVE A 3% MORTGAGE. WHY WOULD I EVER REFINANCE?”

Fair question.

But here’s another question:

What if you have a 3% mortgage… and $50,000 of credit cards, personal loans, and other debt charging you 15%, 20%, or even 25%+?

This is where a strategy sometimes called debt stacking can be worth looking at.

Instead of focusing ONLY on your mortgage rate, we look at the bigger picture:

💳 Credit cards
🚗 Other high-interest debt
🏦 Personal loans
🏠 Mortgage
💰 Total monthly payments

Then we ask:

Could using your home equity to consolidate high-interest debt improve your overall financial situation—even if the new mortgage rate is higher?

Here’s a simplified example:

You might currently have:

🏠 Mortgage payment: $1,300
💳 Credit cards: $900
🚗 Other debt: $500

Total monthly debt payments: $2,700

If a refinance pays off those high-interest balances, your new mortgage payment might be higher than $1,300…

…but your TOTAL monthly debt payments could potentially be lower than $2,700.

That could mean more breathing room every month and fewer high-interest balances working against you.

⚠️ But this is NOT automatically a good idea.

You’re converting other debt into debt secured by your home, potentially extending the repayment period, and refinancing comes with costs. And if you pay off the cards and then run the balances back up, you can end up in a worse position.

That’s why I don’t think the question should simply be:

“What’s my mortgage rate?”

The better question is:

👉 “What is all of my debt costing me?”

I have an easy calculation to show you your potential savings. Message me if you'd like to see how much you might save.

09/01/2026

Old story, but would you rather buy a nicer house with a 45-minute commute or a smaller house 15 minutes from work? The less time I'm stuck in traffic the better.

08/27/2026

Summer has been good to me — both in mortgages and comedy.

I’ve been fortunate to see my loan production increase this summer, and I also hit a personal milestone: headlining a comedy club for the first time. Apparently, ADHD is a whole lot more productive when you have two completely different careers to focus on.

Now I’d love to keep the momentum going.

If you know someone who’s thinking about buying a home — especially a first-time buyer — I’d appreciate the referral. I can also help homeowners explore ways to tap into their home equity, whether it’s for home improvements, consolidating debt, a major expense, or simply creating some financial breathing room.

A referral is one of the biggest compliments you can give me, and I’ll make sure anyone you send my way gets taken care of.

Feel free to message me or connect us directly.

08/25/2026

You might be surprised what USDA considers “rural.”

When people hear USDA home loan, they sometimes picture a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere with a tractor parked out front.

That’s not necessarily the case.

There are plenty of smaller towns and communities that may qualify for USDA financing — including areas that are still within a reasonable drive of Indianapolis.

And if the home AND the buyer qualify, USDA can be a pretty interesting option:

👉 100% financing — potentially $0 down
👉 Designed for a primary residence
👉 Household income limits apply and vary by area and household size
👉 The property has to be located in a USDA-eligible area
👉 USDA does have guarantee fees, so “zero down” doesn’t mean there are zero costs involved

You don't have to figure all of this out yourself.

If you've seen a house and wondered, “Would USDA work there?” send me the address.

08/20/2026

The buyer qualified. The house was standing. But the property still couldn’t be financed.

A REALTOR recently called me about a transaction after the appraisal uncovered an uncommon problem.

The home was located in an area currently zoned industrial. The existing single-family home had been grandfathered in, so it could continue to be used as a residence.

The problem was:

If the house were destroyed, it could not be rebuilt as a residence under the current zoning.

That issue meant the buyer could no longer purchase the property with that financing.

The REALTOR called me to ask whether my company might treat the property differently. I explained it was unlikely another lender would be able to get around the zoning of the property.

Sometimes an appraisal uncovers something much bigger than the value of the house or repairs needed.

So now their buyer is on the hunt for another home.

08/17/2026

07/31/2026

Time flies! 9 years is a long time :)

Happy to have helped so many people with their home financing in that time.