Press and partners
For reporters, chambers, realtors and community partners: who I am, what Nook Lending does, the local data you are welcome to cite, and how to reach me.
Reviewed by Jennifer Ferrara, NMLS #2781982Last updated
About Jennifer Ferrara
Jennifer Ferrara is a mortgage broker and the founder of Nook Lending, helping homebuyers across Hays County and Austin. She grew up in Queens, New York, got her real estate license at 18 in New York City, and has spent 14 years in real estate, first in New York and in Austin since 2020. She has closed more than $65 million in real estate transactions in Texas.
She is licensed throughout Texas, works in English and Spanish, and built Nook Lending around one idea: buyers should understand every step of a loan before they are in the middle of it.
Both sides of the table
Most people in a home purchase see only their own part of it. Jennifer is licensed in real estate and works as a mortgage broker, so she has seen a deal from the agent’s side, where the financing can fall apart at the end, and from the lending side, where the offer, the inspection and the appraisal decide what a loan can do.
That gives her a close view of what buyers are doing and feeling right now, from the first search to the closing table, and she is glad to give reporters a local voice on how the market feels to the people in it.
What Nook Lending does
Nook Lending is a mortgage brokerage. Because Jennifer is a broker rather than a bank, each loan can be compared across a panel of more than 40 wholesale lenders. She works with buyers in Kyle, Buda, San Marcos, Dripping Springs, Driftwood, Wimberley and Austin.
She is building a free local resource for Hays County buyers: sourced property tax rates for every city and school district, guides to the loans that fit this area, and calculators with local tax rates built in. Every number links to its source and carries a date.
Local data you are welcome to cite
Free to use with a link back. Every figure names its source and its date.
- Hays County property tax rates, 2026 and 2025Every city and school district rate, the combined rate for each town, what changed, and a CSV download.
- What $400,000 buys in Kyle versus BudaPrice per square foot, property tax, and the MUD and PID lines that change the monthly cost.
- 2026 loan limits for Central TexasThe conforming and FHA limits for the Austin area and what changes when a loan crosses them.
- Texas cash-out refinance rulesSection 50(a)(6) in plain English, with the statute and Fannie Mae guidelines cited.
- Texas down payment assistance comparedTSAHC programs, the City of Austin program and NeighborhoodLIFT, side by side.
Topics Jennifer can speak on
- How a Texas property tax rate is built: county, city, school district, and MUD or PID lines
- Texas cash-out refinance and home equity rules (Section 50(a)(6))
- Help for first-time buyers in Hays County, including TSAHC programs
- Financing new construction and what a builder’s preferred lender incentive really means
- What loan limits mean for a buyer, and what changes above them
- Documenting self-employed income for a mortgage
- What today’s buyers are weighing: price, the monthly payment and how long they can wait
- Why financing falls apart late in a deal, seen from both the agent’s side and the lender’s side
- How offers, inspections and appraisals change what a loan can do
Tell me what you are trying to do
Text or call and you reach me directly. I will tell you honestly what it can do and what it cannot, before anybody pulls your credit.