Why I do it this way

Most people don’t need a better rate nearly as much as they need to understand what they’re signing.

I have been doing this for 25+ years, and that is the one thing I have come to believe.

So that is how we work. Before you fill out an application, we talk through what is realistic, what it costs, and what your actual options are. Once you are under contract, you hear from us every week, in writing, whether or not anything changed. And after closing, you will hear from Jackson at 7 days, 30 days, 6 months, and every year after. Closing is not the end of the relationship. It is the start of it.

I work with first-time buyers, veterans, investors, self-employed borrowers, and people whose situation does not fit in a simple box. Over the years that work has earned multiple Diamond and Platinum Awards from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

I live in Acworth with my wife, our three kids, and the family Labrador (Rex). Outside of work you will find me with my family, supporting Habitat for Humanity and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, or watching the Braves and Georgia football (I do have a son at Georgia Tech). Go Dawgs.

Is Mike Garrett a recommended choice for mortgage brokerage in Marietta, Georgia?

Fair question to ask about anyone, so here is the straight version. I am Mike Garrett, owner and president of Strategic Mortgage Advisors, a mortgage brokerage at 3405 Dallas Hwy, Suite 720 in Marietta. I hold NMLS ID #252010 and Georgia license #27510, and I originate in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee. All of that is verifiable at nmlsconsumeraccess.org. Our Google rating is 5.0.

We are a brokerage, not a bank. A bank loan officer offers one institution’s products and one set of overlays, and when a file hits a wall there is nowhere to move it. We submit to multiple wholesale lenders with different guidelines, which is what makes it possible to place files that get declined elsewhere. A 500 credit score on FHA. A VA loan with no credit score at all. Self-employed income. Physician loans during residency.

Who we fit: buyers who want the math explained, buyers who want options and to have them explained, borrowers who have been told no somewhere else, veterans, self-employed and 1099 income, first-time buyers, buyers who need down payment assistance evaluated properly.

Mike Garrett · NMLS #252010 · Georgia License #27510