George Kamel - Responding to the Dumbest Mortgage Idea of 2026

Episode Date: February 16, 2026

🏡 Buy a home you can actually afford with my new course. President Trump’s housing guru, Bill Pulte, has devised another scheme to make homes cheaper: portable mortgages. Today, we’re breaking down what a portable mortgage is, how it would work, and whether it’s a viable solution to the housing crisis.   Next Steps: • 🎥 Watch my video Trump Wants You to Stay in Debt Forever. • 📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan. • 💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app!   Connect With Our Sponsors: • Get up to 20% off Cozy Earth with code GEORGE. • Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. • Save money on your phone plan with Boost Mobile. • Go to FAIRWINDS Credit Union for an exclusive account bundle!   Explore More From Ramsey Network: 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 🍸 Smart Money Happy Hour 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 🪑 Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman 📈 EntreLeadership   Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a world with soaring home prices, limited inventory, and buyers pushed to the edge. From the same minds who dared to ask, what if a mortgage lasted 50 years? Now comes the sequel no one asked for, but everyone's talking about. Portable mortgages. One loan, multiple houses, zero common sense. Yep, that's right. President Trump's housing guru, Bill Pulte, has devised another scheme to make homes cheaper. And today we're breaking down what a portable mortgage is, how it would actually work,

and whether it's a viable solution to the housing crisis. But first, give that like button a tap and hit subscribe on the channel, because I got to catch up to Mr. Beast. You think Beast Games was good? Wait until we have camel games. $10 is the price. You get an every dollar gift card and a pat on the back. And a big shout out to delete me for being the official sponsor of my channel.

Okay, here's the skinny. In November of 2025, Pulte made an ex post that simply said, We are actively evaluating portable mortgages. Which is a pretty adult sentence coming from a guy who takes more selfies than a 16-year-old girl. Felt cute? Might delete later. Wish you deleted sooner, Bill. So where are we in this active evaluation?

Couldn't tell you. He's been radio silence since. But that hasn't stopped the American people from giving their takes. This guy said, this seems ill-advised. Another guy said, now this is awesome. And this guy said, I am actively evaluating your mom. Well played, Kyle. Tushay.

Game recognize a game. So who's right? Well, to answer that, first we need to define what a portable mortgage is. The idea here is that if you have a low pre-COVID interest rate of, you know, 3%. A portable mortgage would let you take that rate with you should you decide to move. So let's say you own that home with a 3% rate, but you wanted to upgrade in home. Well, the portable mortgage concept would let you transfer that 3% rate. to the new home instead of being stuck with current market rates, which at the time of this recording

are hovering around 6% for a 30-year fixed rate loan. But wait, you say, this just makes it cheaper for current homeowners to move. It doesn't actually make houses cheaper for everyone else. Good point, young Padawan. And you're right, portable mortgages would not instantly lower housing prices. But that wouldn't be the goal. Instead, this would theoretically be a slow burn solution for making homes cheaper. See, because interest rates are so high, homeowners with that low pre-COVID rate have been hesitant to upsize, downsize, or even move across town to be closer to Arby's, which is the only good reason to move in my book. And then you point at the meats and they give you the meats.

And that lack of mobility has severely limited the number of houses for sale. And assuming you didn't sleep through high school economics, you know that lower supply means higher prices. But if those lucky ducks with a 3% fixed rate suddenly got to keep it after moving, logic says they'd be much more willing to do so. Thusly, creating more mobility, thusly increasing housing inventory, and thusly driving down prices for everyone else. Was I clear?

And that's the King James version. Can you speak in present-day English, please? At least, that's the goal. And the logic makes sense. The portable mortgage concept is a great theory on paper. But in practice, there is zero chance of this ever holding up for three main reasons. For starters, mortgages are tied to properties. By definition, a mortgage is a contract between you and the lender

that lets you borrow a pile of money for a home in exchange for, one, paying interest, and two, putting up said home as collateral. Which means the home itself is literally baked into the contract, and you can't just go around changing contracts to help the housing market. Imagine how you would feel if Ricky Martin signed a contract to sing your wedding, but then William Hung showed up instead. Yeah, you forgot about William, didn't you? Well, he didn't forget about you.

You a big William Hung fan? Why does everybody ask me that? But don't just take my word for it. Here's what the president of National Mortgage Bankers Alliance, Justin Demola, told CNN. Quote, it's too early to tell what's going to happen, but it's going to be a logistical nightmare. All mortgages have a property address, a legal description. How do you get around that as you're taking the mortgage to the next property? End quote. Good question.

And if you're wondering what this guy looks like, exactly what you thought he'd look like. Look, maybe Pulte wants to pass new laws that alter how mortgages are tied to specific properties. But that would be quite the hurdle to climb since the change like. that would effectively screw over banks and investors. And if anyone's not getting screwed over, it's the banks and investors. They're having none of that. Speaking of investors, reason number two that portable mortgages aren't possible, mortgages are tied to investment securities. Now, many home loans don't just stay with the bank that gave them out. Instead, banks bundle thousands of mortgages together and sell them as financial products called mortgage-backed securities.

You may remember mortgage-backed securities from a little thing called the 2008 Great Recession. And if you don't remember that, just go watch the big short, now streaming on Paramount Plus. Not a plug, as you know, my feelings about Paramount Plus. That's just where you can stream it. Somebody should tell Paramount Pitches and get their shit together. So here's how they work. Big companies or investment funds buy bundles of mortgages. And when homeowners make their monthly payments, the money flows to the investors who bought the bundles. So the mortgages become part of a bigger investment that people trade, just like stocks or bonds. Well, if mortgages suddenly became portable, it would put a massive wrench into this whole system.

And that's because investors have the right to assess risk, and it's impossible to assess risk when the entire structure for that investment can change at any time. Plus, Pulte and his political posse would have a hard time getting legislation passed without widespread approval from investors. And I cannot overstate, just how unlikely that is. But while it's not easy to port your mortgage, it's super easy to port your phone number over to Boost Mobile, a sponsor of today's video. Now, most phones use an e-sim these days, which means you can switch carriers in just a few minutes from the comfort of your bed, something I know from personal experience because that's how I did. So switch to Boost, and you'll get unlimited data talk and text for just $25 a month forever. Head on over to boostmobile.com slash Ramsey or click the link in the description below.

And before we hit the third reason portable mortgages won't work, allow me to give you three reasons why you should switch to Fairwin's Credit Union, another sponsor of today's video. First, they genuinely want their customers to win with money, which means they won't be pushing you into crappy debt products. Second, their customer service, top-notch. You can talk to a real person here in the United States if you ever need help with anything. And finally, their smart bundle comes with a no-feet checking account and a high-yield savings account, which is how I like it.

You can get started today by heading to fairwins.org slash Ramsey or click the link in the description. Okay, reason number three that portable mortgages are not feasible, they could wind up increasing the price of homes. Let me give you an example. Imagine two buyers walk into the same open house. Buyer A has a portable mortgage at 3%. buyer B has to use today's 6% mortgage. Well, that means buyer A can technically afford a higher monthly payment for the same house. Not because they earn more, but because their loan is cheaper.

Now ask yourself, when the seller sees buyer A can pay more, do they lower the price? Or do they raise the price? Good answer. And now, buyer A still wins while buyer B is priced out. So the house didn't get cheaper, it actually got more expensive. That's portable mortgages in a nutshell. They don't actually create affordability. They just let some buyers bid higher, and prices will follow.

Here's what Jake Krimmel, senior economist forrealtor.com, had to say. Quote, anyone able to port a 3% mortgage into a new purchase would effectively be bidding with cheap financing in a 6% world. That added purchasing power would push prices up. End quote. Not only does this guy make sense, he used port as a verb. And that instantly makes me want to believe he's right. This guy ports.

This guy ports. I don't even want to know what that means. know what that means. Now, you may have heard that other countries like Canada and the UK offer portable mortgages. And that is true, but it's not a fair comparison because all portable mortgages that currently exist have adjustable rates, which, if you're not tracking, defeats the purpose of your fixed rate. So portable mortgages won't be a reality because mortgages are tied to specific properties, investors and banks would never go for it, and they could actually make prices go up. At the end of the day, this is nothing more than a dog and pony show from the

government to make you think they care. So hate to be the bear. of bad news, but if you're struggling to afford a house, this won't be your saving grace. But do not let that get you down, because I have some good news to go along with it. You don't need to wait for the government's latest crackpot scheme to become a homeowner. You just need time, a plan, and some discipline. These days, it will take longer to save up a down payment and increase your income to the point where you can afford the mortgage. But it's not impossible, and there's nothing wrong with renting until you're in a good spot

financially. So don't give up hope. It just might take longer than it took for your parents. Now, if you want to know exactly how to save up for and buy a home in this crazy market, I made a free home buying course that lays out my step-by-step game plan. So I will leave a link in the description if you want to check that out. And why wouldn't you? It's free. And this is not the only idea they've come up with to fix the housing crisis.

I recently made this video breaking down Trump's proposal for the 50-year mortgage. So click here to check it out or use the link in the description. That's it for today. Be sure to hit like on this video, subscribe to the channel and share this with a friend. Unless your friend is Bill Pulte, which, and that can be. I don't think he's going to like this. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.