25 Years in Mortgages, What AI Will Never Replace | Ted Edginton

Ted Edginton has spent 25 years doing mortgages the hard way. In person, on the phone, at the closing table.

He started this business straight out of Michigan State, driving around town with paper checks for his clients' loans. One blew right out his car window on Hall Road. He turned around, got it reprinted, and still made it to the closing.

That's basically been his whole career since. He built a team with 60 years of combined experience between them, and every client still gets treated like the actual person they are, not a number moving down a pipeline. He calls it working the bookends. First time buyers figuring out how to afford housing on one side. Retirees trying to downsize without blowing their budget on the other. Both need someone willing to sit down and ask what's really going on.

Here's what we got into.

→ Why AI can quote you a rate but it can't tell you what your family actually needs

→ The real math behind why home prices keep climbing even when nobody feels ready

→ The occupancy fraud he's watching lenders push on people right now

→ Why getting treated like a commodity is costing people the house they actually want

Clients keep telling Ted the same thing after their first conversation with him. Nobody else brought this up. That's not luck. That's 25 years of listening before he ever starts talking.

Thanks to Ted for making the time to sit down and talk shop. If you're anywhere near Troy or Woodward, go find him at Rate. If you're not, email TedE@rate.com and tell him we sent you.

*Chapters*

00:00 Intro