John Herndon - NMLS# 346112

09/04/2026

09/04/2026

We at NEXA Lending wish you and your family a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend.

We will be closed on Labor Day, Sept. 7th, and return to the office Tuesday, Sept. 8th.

08/12/2026

Sitting on Home Equity?
Here’s When Cashing Out Actually Makes Sense
By Rhea Lobo
Mortgage Strategy
Aug 8, 2026

US homeowners are sitting on a mountain of housing wealth, and more are starting to cash it out. The average homeowner now has nearly $300K in equity, while cash-out refinancings are up 13% year-over-year and could make up more than 40% of all refinancings in 2026.

The pitch is simple: turn home equity into cash at rates well below most credit cards. But that cheaper debt comes with a tradeoff, because the house itself is on the line.
What you can actually pull out
The math starts with your home's appraised value. Lenders typically cap the new loan at 80% of that value, which means you must leave 20% of your equity untouched.

On a $600K home with a $300K remaining balance, that works out to a maximum cash withdrawal of $180K (before closing costs).
Closing costs run 2% to 6% of the loan amount, or roughly $6K to $15K on a $300K loan. You can roll them into the new loan instead of paying at closing, but that means paying interest on those costs for the life of the loan.

Rates on cash-out refis also run slightly higher than standard refinances, typically a quarter to half a percentage point more. The average 30-year fixed cash-out rate as of early August was 6.91%, versus 12.41% for a personal loan.
Call me to discuss...Godspeed!!

08/07/2026

Almost Like Clockwork
By: Matthew Graham
Mortgage News Daily
Thu, Aug 6 2026, 3:05 PM

Almost like clockwork, after several days spent mostly rallying on a headline-driven drop in oil prices, bonds reversed course as the tone of the headlines changed and oil prices bounced. That said, oil didn't bounce too much today. The rest of the drama for bonds came courtesy of a big corporate bond announcement before the open. Yields remain safely under supportive ceilings for now, but weekend-adjacent days have been prime candidates for war headline volatility. And as always, the jobs report can never be ruled out as a source of inspiration for better or worse.

Econ Data / Events
Jobless claims
199k vs 202k f'cast, 198k prev
Market Movement Recap
09:18 AM
Moderately weaker overnight on a combo of oil and corporate bond issuance. MBS down 5 ticks (.16) and 10yr up 2.4bps at 4.637

11:46 AM
MBS Down 7 ticks (.22) and 10yr up 4.5bps at 4.658

12:23 PM
MBS now down 10 ticks (.31) and 10yr up 5.9bps at 4.673

02:20 PM
Sideways at weakest levels. MBS down 9 ticks (.28) and 10yr up 5.9bps at 4.672

Here comes Friday!! 8)

07/29/2026

"Pause" Ends in Iran, But Probably Not For The Fed
By: Matthew Graham
Mortgage News Daily

The big news over the weekend was that the U.S. and Iran paused hostilities--something that led to 2 solid days of gains in the bond market. But in the overnight session, the pause ended as multiple attacks were reported on both sides. Oil rose predictably and bond yields did the same. One "pause" that's less likely to change is the Fed's abstention from hiking or cutting in 2026--at least not today. That may seem like a strong claim given futures pricing showing a 36% chance of a hike today. While a hike is in the realm of possibility, it's not in the 1 in 3 realm. That number represents an uncertainty premium compounded by the new forward guidance regime and the highly fluid nature of fuel price implications for additional inflation. Nonetheless, the fact that a third of the futures market is positioned for a hike means there's higher odds of volatility at this meeting compared to a normal July Fed meeting (usually pretty sleepy, so it's not necessarily a high bar).

As a reminder, there is no dot plot with any July Fed meeting. We don't yet know if the Warsh Fed will phase out the dot plot or modify it.

07/21/2026

USDA Loans...all day long! Need one? Call me!!