Broker Hopes to Replace Florida Figure

photo of Nancy Detert

A Florida mortgage broker hopes to replace U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris. Nancy Detert, currently a state representative and mortgage broker, is running a race that will determine whether or not her 23-year-old mortgage career will come to an end. Hoping to replace an often politically satirized Katherine Harris, who is running for a U.S. Senate seat, Detert said she is one of seven candidates vying for the post in Florida’s 13th District. Rep. Harris rose to fame during her stint as Florida’s secretary of state in 2000, when the country was looking to the Sunshine State for its tally of the final votes that would determine the next U.S. president. “It’s a nail biter,” Detert told MortgageDaily.com in a phone interview. “I’ve had many mortgage brokers send me checks and good wishes.” Detert said two of her most formidable opponents are both multi-millionaires while her campaign has been a “grass roots” one supported by regular people, realtors, brokers and law enforcement agencies.

And it’s the regular people Detert hopes to help when it comes to her platform.“Homeownership is one of my main issues,” she said. “The net worth of average individuals in the U.S. is about $700, you can make that a net worth of $70,000 almost instantly by putting them in a home with a first time homebuyers program.”

Housing costs here in Florida have doubled and tripled,” she continued. “Teachers and police officers can’t afford housing.”

As a former school board member and a current state representative, Detert said she understands the importance of ensuring our children are prepared for a global economy and will push for more educational opportunities for students in foreign languages and financial literacy.

Other issues Detert supports include tax-deductible homeowner’s insurance, a national catastrophic fund for natural disaster relief for events such as Katrina, and less reliance on foreign oil.

“I’d like to see tax incentives for switching to energy efficient alternative forms of energy so the U.S. can become more self-sufficient,” she said.

Detert’s brokerage, Osprey Mortgage Co., has taken a backseat to her political career, she said, and suggested that she could make a lot more originating loans than she does as a state representative, which is about $30,000 a year.

However it’s the eight years Detert has spent as a Florida state representative that has prepared her to take on a role in Congress. Should she win, her career in the mortgage business would have to come to a halt.

“Congress is a full-time position,” she said. “If I am elected I won’t have the time … I’m ready to move on.”