Saxton Mortgage
Speak with me directly(619) 903-6659
Michael Fensterer, Loan Officer at Saxton Mortgage
MF
Michael Fensterer
Loan Officer, Saxton Mortgage · U.S. Army veteran
NMLS #1666142 · Licensed in 14 states

A Nashville mortgage broker who answers his own phone.

One application, shopped to multiple wholesale lenders — instead of one bank's answer and no explanation. I'm a Loan Officer with Saxton Mortgage, a UWM Top 1% partner licensed in 38 states, serving Nashville, Franklin, Brentwood, Murfreesboro and Middle Tennessee.

Independent broker UWM Top 1% Partner Licensed in Tennessee NMLS #1666142

A bank has one rule book. I have dozens.

When a bank declines you, that's the end of it — and nobody tells you which lender would have said yes. Most declines aren't agency rules at all. They're one company's internal add-ons, called overlays.

As a broker I submit your file to multiple wholesale investors and bring the options back. Knowing which ones don't carry a given overlay is most of the value I add — and it's the entire reason a broker exists.

See where you stand

About two minutes. No credit pull, no obligation.

Getting startedabout 2 minutes
Your information is never sold or shared with other lenders.

UWM Top 1% Partner

Awards earned by Saxton Mortgage, the lender behind your file.

Top 1% Certified Partner 2025
Pro Elite Excellence 100 · 2025
Fastest Purchase Closer 2025
Top 100 Purchase Loan Officer 2024
Top 1% Certified Partner 2024
Fastest Growing Loan Officer 2024
Excellence Award 2024
38 states licensed · NMLS #1717191

How I help Middle Tennessee buyers

Whether this is your first house or your fifth, the questions are different and the answers should be too.

01

Pre-approval that holds up

An underwriter-reviewed letter, not an auto-generated PDF. Listing agents can tell the difference, and in a market where buyers finally have some leverage, it's worth having the stronger one.

02

A pre-approval that fell through

The most fixable problem I see, and the most stressful. Bring me what happened and I'll tell you quickly whether it's recoverable and what it would take.

03

FHA and conventional, side by side

I'll model both rather than steering you. They differ on mortgage insurance, credit flexibility and long-term cost, and the right answer genuinely depends on your file.

04

Down payment assistance

Tennessee's THDA program raised its purchase price cap in 2026, which brought a lot more Middle Tennessee inventory into range. Worth checking before you assume you don't qualify.

05

Self-employed and 1099

Banks judge you on tax returns after write-offs. Bank statement and 1099 programs judge you on deposits. If your returns don't reflect what you actually earn, say so.

06

Credit that isn't perfect

FHA rules reach considerably lower than most banks will go. If you were declined on score alone, that was probably an overlay rather than a rule.

07

Franklin, Brentwood and jumbo

Nashville sits in a high-cost loan limit area, so a good number of Williamson County homes aren't actually jumbo. I'll tell you which side of the line you're on.

The scale of a national lender. One person accountable to you.

Working with a broker doesn't mean working with a small shop. It means you get both.

Licensed in 38 states

Saxton Mortgage, LLC holds lending licenses in 38 states from Alaska to Wyoming under NMLS #1717191. That footprint is why the investor access behind your file is what it is.

UWM Top 1% Partner

Saxton is a Top 1% certified partner with United Wholesale Mortgage, the largest wholesale lender in the country — which affects pricing and turn times in ways a small independent shop cannot match.

One application, many lenders

I submit your file to multiple wholesale investors and bring the options back to you. A bank can only ever offer you the bank.

Every file is mine

The institutional weight sits behind the loan. The relationship isn't outsourced — you work with me from the first call through closing, not a rotating queue.

What clients say

Verify any of this yourself — I'd rather you checked than took my word for it.

★★★★★
As we were shopping around lenders, Mike was recommended by a realtor friend. We spoke to Mike and laid out our concerns and right away he made our worries feel at ease. All we did was ask if he could close on the date provided and he went to work. Mike definitely went above and beyond and he made sure to take care of his veterans. In the near future we would love to work with Mike again and would definitely recommend him to all our homebuyer friends.
Steph R.
Google review
4.8
★★★★★
889 client reviews

Saxton Mortgage, LLC holds a 4.8-star average across 889 client reviews aggregated from Zillow and other sources. That rating reflects the company as a whole, across every loan officer.

Read them at Birdeye, see reviews specific to me on my Saxton profile, or look up NMLS #1666142 at nmlsconsumeraccess.org.

Questions people ask me

How are you paid?

On most files the wholesale lender pays my compensation rather than you. On others it comes from loan proceeds at closing. Either way the exact figure appears in writing on your Loan Estimate before you're committed to anything, and I'm glad to walk through it line by line beforehand.

Will this affect my credit?

The questionnaire doesn't pull your credit — it uses your own estimate of your score. Nothing touches your credit report until you ask me to proceed and we both agree it's worth doing.

How long does pre-approval take?

Usually within a couple of business days once I have your documents. If you're writing an offer this week, tell me on the first call and I'll work to that.

What will you need from me?

To begin, nothing beyond the questionnaire. To go further: typically two months of bank statements, recent pay stubs, two years of W-2s or tax returns, and photo ID. I'll send an exact checklist.

Can you guarantee I'll be approved?

No — and anyone who does before reviewing your file is telling you something they aren't permitted to say. What I can commit to is a clear, honest answer quickly, so you can plan around it either way.

How I work

So there are no surprises later.

Direct, not branch hours

I work remotely with clients across the states I'm licensed in. My office of record is Saxton Mortgage in San Diego — which in practice means you reach me directly rather than whoever happens to be at a branch desk.

Fourteen states, not one

I'm licensed in AL, AZ, CT, FL, HI, MD, MI, OH, OR, PA, TN, TX, UT and VA. Kentucky is the notable exception — if your home sits on the Kentucky side of the Fort Campbell line I'll tell you at the outset and refer you to someone licensed there, at no cost.

Loans from $100,000

Below that figure, fixed origination costs take up too much of the benefit for it to be a fair deal for you.

A straight answer, quickly

If I'm not the right fit, I'd rather say so on the first call than three weeks in. That has cost me business occasionally. It's still the right way to do this.

Find out where you stand

About two minutes, no credit pull, and no obligation. You'll get a clear answer either way.

Check Your Eligibility Or call or text me directly at (619) 903-6659