Anthony C Bennett NMLS #252047

Anthony C Bennett NMLS #252047 With over 30 years in the industry, Anthony "Tony" Bennett is a local Mortgage Professional serving Oregon residents exclusively.

Anthony is a true Oregon native, born and raised. He has been involved in the industry ever since he was big enough to carry his father's tools for the family’s residential and commercial real estate business. Early physical labor led to occasional office work and eventually he started assisting his mother with open houses for the family real estate developments. These developments were located al

l throughout the Portland area and surrounding suburbs. His early years in the real estate industry led Anthony to formulate an understanding about the complexities that are behind every aspect of buying and selling a home. After high school Anthony shifted his focus towards marketing and production while attending Portland State University. During his studies Anthony started working in a marketing department with a local mortgage company. He began as an assistant and eventually worked his way up to become the marketing coordinator. The marketing department was responsible for producing and distributing all advertising materials, while enhancing techniques for continued business production. This department also oversaw recruiting and training. During these training seminars, Anthony learned the fundamentals of loan origination and decided to shift his focus towards becoming a Mortgage Loan Consultant. For several years, Anthony built up his clientele and networked with other real estate professionals throughout the greater Northwest. He also expanded his experience by working on coordinating and financing commercial real estate. For years, Anthony worked with housing developments, strip malls, multipurpose business facilities, resorts, golf courses, apartments and condominium developments. He soon found, however, that his passion was in residential mortgage lending where he could assist individuals and families secure a new home and meet their financial goals. In 2024 Anthony joined the team at Guardian Mortgage. He brought with him over 28 years of experience and the motivation to build on the reputation that VMG is known for in the primary mortgage market. Anthony has enjoyed being able to help local homeowners and potential homeowners refinance and purchase new real estate with a wide arrange of lenders to compare and the positive outcome a unique position can offer. In his spare time Anthony enjoys being with family and loved ones. As a native Oregonian, he also enjoys the great outdoors which includes skiing, snowboarding, biking, hiking, kayaking and running. Anthony also has an ever-growing love of cooking and exploring all the culinary delights of the Pacific Northwest and shares his experiences with an audience that follow his blogs.

05/29/2026

Hey everyone, Anthony here with your weekly update for May 29th, 2026, and this week I have a Portland number I bet your clients have never heard.

In February, agents in the Portland metro recorded 56,365 lockbox activations. That is actual buyers physically walking into homes. And that number was up nearly 20 percent from last year, the highest level since 2022. So when people tell you the market is sleeping, the lockboxes are telling a very different story.

Then in April, supply caught up with 3,396 new listings hitting the market, a 24 percent jump from March. Both buyers and sellers showed up at the same time, which honestly does not happen often. The lock-in effect is finally cracking. Sellers who have been holding onto their low rates are starting to list. Buyers are touring in numbers we have not seen in years. And pending sales are moving right along with it.

If you have a seller who has been waiting for the right buyer pool to show up, this is it. And if you have buyers who think they have all the time in the world, that buyer pool has friends and competition is building.

Reach out and let's talk through what this means for your specific situation right now.

05/22/2026

Big news. Kevin Warsh was just confirmed as the new Federal Reserve chair and everyone is asking the same question: what does this mean for mortgage rates?

Here is the truth most people miss. The Fed actually controls short-term lending rates between banks. Mortgage rates are driven by the long-term bond market, inflation expectations, and investor sentiment. Those are completely different levers and a new Fed chair does not flip a switch that instantly moves your mortgage rate in either direction.

Rate decisions still go through a 12-member committee regardless of who is in the chair. And with inflation currently sitting at 3.8 percent, the Fed will likely stay patient through Warsh's first few meetings rather than making dramatic moves in either direction. The good news is that industry leaders are pointing to one word to describe the outlook under new leadership: stability. And stability is exactly what buyers need to confidently plan their next move.

If you want to know where mortgage rates are actually headed, stop watching Fed headlines and start watching the bond market. That is where the real story lives.
Follow me for more on what is actually moving the market right now.

05/15/2026

I want to share something a little different this week. Less market data, more business strategy, and this one is worth paying attention to.

NAR surveyed nearly 50,000 agents and found that while 68 percent have used AI in some form, only 17 percent say it has made a significant positive impact on their business. That gap says everything. The agents who are actually winning with AI right now are not using it for complicated things. They are using it for the time-consuming tasks that eat their day alive. 68 percent are writing listing descriptions with it, 59 percent are creating social media content, and 53 percent are drafting emails and newsletters. That is an hour or more back in your day every single day.

But here is where it gets genuinely exciting. PwC just released their Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2026 report and they are calling the next phase agentic AI, tools that plan and act with minimal prompting and run continuous processes around the clock without you being in the room. This second wave is just beginning to hit residential real estate, and the agents who figure it out now will have a real and lasting competitive edge over those who wait.

The agents winning with AI are not the most tech-savvy people in the room. They are the ones who treat it like a capable junior assistant and put it to work consistently. Follow me for more ways to grow your real estate business.

05/08/2026

Something just changed in mortgage underwriting that every real estate agent needs to know about and every buyer who has ever been told no needs to hear.

On April 22nd, HUD, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac officially rolled out VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T for mortgage underwriting. This is the biggest credit scoring update in 30 years and the implications for your buyer pool are significant.

Here is what changed. The new models now factor in on-time rent payments and 24 months of credit trends, giving lenders a much fuller and more accurate picture of a buyer's real financial habits rather than just a snapshot of their debt history. The result is that an estimated 5 million buyers who were previously turned down may now qualify for a home loan under the new guidelines.

Think about what that means for your business. Every past client who walked away disappointed. Every person who came close but could not quite get there. Every renter who has been paying on time for years but could not get credit for it in the traditional model. This update changes the conversation for all of them.

Now is the perfect time to reach back out, reconnect, and get those clients paired with a loan officer who understands these new guidelines and knows how to position their file correctly.

Follow me for more updates that help you grow your business in today's market.

05/01/2026

The buyers who feel like they finally have leverage right now are not imagining it. The data is saying the same thing and agents who understand what it means are going to have a significant edge this spring.

Redfin just reported that sellers outnumbered buyers by approximately 43% in March. That is nearly the largest gap they have tracked since 2013. By every measure buyers have more negotiating power right now than they have had in years. And here is the part that makes this moment even more interesting: purchase mortgage applications jumped 10% last week and are running 14% ahead of last year. Real buyers with real financing are showing up and they are ready to move.

So what separates the agents who are going to win this spring from the ones who are going to watch it happen? The top producers are doing two things consistently. They are coaching buyers to negotiate from a position of genuine confidence because the data supports it. And they are coaching sellers to price and present with the discipline of 2019, not the expectations of 2021, because the market will reward that approach and punish the alternative.

The agents who can communicate both sides of this story clearly to their clients are the ones who will close more business this spring than everyone else. Are you having those conversations?

04/27/2026

The biggest story in real estate right now is not rates, inventory, or prices. It is the ceasefire, and here is why it changes everything for buyers who have been sitting on the sidelines.

When the conflict in the Middle East kicked off in late February, oil prices spiked, Treasury yields jumped, and the spring market essentially froze in place. But the two-week US and Iran ceasefire announced earlier this month has already pulled the 10-year Treasury yield back down and stabilized energy markets. That matters for one significant reason: mortgage rates follow the 10-year Treasury. When that yield comes down, your rate comes down with it.

Freddie Mac's chief economist Sam Khater is already calling this a positive development for homebuyers that could spark a stronger spring market than we saw last year. The buyers who went quiet in March are watching this closely, and a more stable backdrop tends to bring fence-sitters right back into showings fast. Add to that the fact that Bright MLS is reporting a historic rise in inventory, which means more choices and more room to negotiate the moment confidence returns.

If you paused your home search this spring, now is the time to take another look. The window is opening back up and buyers who move with the right strategy right now are going to be very well positioned.

04/10/2026

Two things just happened in real estate that are worth paying close attention to right now.

First, Fannie Mae just approved crypto-backed mortgages for the first time ever. A new partnership between Better Home and Finance and Coinbase now allows borrowers to pledge Bitcoin or USDC as collateral for a loan that covers their down payment, and you keep ownership of your crypto the entire time. This is the first time a government-sponsored enterprise has ever backed a product like this, and the significance of that cannot be overstated.

According to a Redfin survey, about 13% of younger buyers have already had to sell their crypto just to fund a down payment. This changes that entirely.

Second, Realtor.com just identified the week of April 12th through April 18th as the single best time to list a home this year. Listings during that window historically get nearly 17% more views and sell about 17% faster than other weeks. Spring is when buyer activity peaks, more people are searching, more people are touring, and there is genuine urgency because families want to be settled before summer.

Whether you are buying, selling, or just watching the market, these two developments matter. Follow me for more data-driven updates on what is actually happening in real estate right now.

04/03/2026

If you have been considering buying a home outside of a major city, USDA just made a move that could seriously speed up your path to closing.

The Department of Agriculture just launched what they are calling the Rural Housing Modernization Initiative, and it changes the process in a meaningful way. Qualified lenders can now approve and close guaranteed USDA loans on their own, which means less back and forth, fewer delays, and a faster timeline from start to finish. This brings USDA in line with how VA and FHA loans already work, and if you have ever been frustrated by longer USDA timelines, that frustration is about to become a thing of the past. USDA also launched a new online portal called My RD Loan that gives borrowers with direct loans 24/7 access to their account, payments, and loan information all in one place.

Here is the best part. Nothing changed with eligibility. Same guidelines, same protections, just a smoother experience. And USDA loans are still one of the best kept secrets in home lending: zero down payment, no PMI, and now a faster process from application to closing.

If you are buying in a rural or suburban area and want to know if you qualify, send me a DM and I will check your area for free.

03/27/2026

The Fed kept rates unchanged again, and while most people hear that and think nothing happened, the real story underneath is actually pretty encouraging for buyers.

This is the second consecutive meeting with no change, and the Fed is still projecting at least one rate cut later this year. The direction is still pointing toward lower rates. They just want more clarity before making their next move. But here is what most people are completely missing while everyone watches the Fed. Affordability has been quietly improving in the background. A new Zillow analysis found that a median income household can now afford a home priced around $331,000, which is over $30,000 more in buying power compared to just a year ago. That is the strongest buying power we have seen since early 2022.

Three things are driving it at the same time: mortgage rates are down from their peak, incomes are rising, and home price growth has flattened. All three are working in favor of buyers right now.

The market does not send you a notification when it is time to move. But the data is telling a clear story. Follow along for more updates on what the Fed and the housing market mean for your homebuying plans.

03/20/2026

A lot of people are asking me right now whether this is actually a good time to buy a home. Here is exactly what I am telling them.

Yes, there is a lot happening at once. Global events are affecting energy prices, inflation data keeps shifting in both directions, and tariff related cost pressure is real. That combination is pushing some buyers and sellers to the sidelines and making everyone a little more cautious. But here is what most people are completely overlooking. The government just passed one of the biggest housing bills in a generation. It is called the ROAD Act and it passed with massive bipartisan support.

It restricts large Wall Street investors from buying up single family homes and streamlines the permitting process so that more homes can actually get built. That is a direct and meaningful win for everyday home buyers. Less competition from institutional money means a more level playing field for you and your family when you are making offers.

On top of that, low inventory continues to keep home values stable, which is excellent news whether you are buying now or already own.

The headlines may sound alarming but the opportunity underneath them is genuinely real. The buyers who move with the right strategy this spring are going to look back and be very glad they did. Reach out and let's talk about what that strategy looks like for your specific situation.

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