Portland Business Journal "State
mortgage reform group split on scope" (or in PDF),
with quotes by Steve Emory
Experience
- Writing loans since 1981
- Over $300 million in closed loans since 1993 in Oregon
Knowledge
- Chairman of Ethics Committee Oregon Association of Mortgage
Professionals '99-'04
- Industry Expert asked by State of Oregon to help create updated
loan officer test for 2007
- Mortgage Industry Participant with Oregon Governor Kulongoski’s
Mortgage Lending Workgroup 2007 for Feb. ’08 Special Session
- Mortgage Lender Trainer
- Seminar Speaker on Compliance with Federal and State Laws
- Consumer Protection Published Articles in The Oregonian &
Hillsboro Argus
- Guest many times on local radio show for Real Estate Hour
Awards
- Mortgage Broker of the Year, Oregon Association of Mortgage
Professionals
- President's Choice Award, Oregon Association of Mortgage
Professionals
- President's Award for top loan volume at last employer 10
consecutive years
(When I write the above, I try to stay humble and not get too
big of a head :) ) Most all of my business comes from referrals
from past customers or related business referrals (Realtors®,
Bankers, CPA’s, Attorney’s, Builders & more) and
that is where I really give credit for my success. I return my
calls as soon as possible and always try to return the call before
I leave for the day. You will always understand the process and
be kept informed of status. You will be comfortable knowing you
are in good hands and have gotten a competitive loan rate &
costs, without any games. I enjoy helping people fill in the application
as how an application is "structured" is sometimes as
important as what is written, especially in today's world of computerized
approvals. I also help with any letters to underwriting about
credit, job changes or anything else needed. I am on the cutting
edge of technology in regards to the mortgage loan process to
save time & paperwork required. If any problems come up during
the loan process (rarely, but sometimes beyond our control), I
know how to fix them. Normally, I avoid problems upfront, at time
of application, by knowing what is needed to prevent them. I have
close, long term relationships with my appraisers, underwriters
& other staff. My past customers are always telling me I’m
better by far, than the loan officer they had last time and that
this time they really understood what was happening. My wife says
I’m the best too, but I need to stop now as my head is getting
way too big.

After I leave the office for the day, I am a husband of over
27 years to the same lady. We live out in Newberg with our five
dogs (Great Dane to a miniature dachshund) and two cats. I run
with the dogs each morning for about 45 minutes, rain, snow or
sunshine. We have two sons. Our oldest is a soldier in the US
ARMY as an army nurse and our youngest is at the University of
Oregon studying Physics currently. My wife & I are both very
proud of both of our sons. They are growing in to good decent
young men with career goals. It is easier on me to let them grow
without detailed parenting than my wife. She wants to worry over
everything they do. I realize they need to make some mistakes
and I can tell they don’t want advice for everything at
this point in their lives (I didn’t from my parents). At
times I can’t help myself and give advice as you never quit
being a “parent” but I try to limit myself to critical
items at this point. I estimate they need to be about 25+ to listen
to me again. We have lived in the same house for over ten years
and it seems I spend a lot of time at Home Depot with minor repairs
or remodeling something. We like to camp a lot. We camped before
we had our sons, with our sons in Boy Scouts, and now again just
the two of us (& pets). Oregon has many nice spots to camp
within a few hour drive of Portland Metro. We go to the coast
quite a bit but also go in to the Cascades. We used to tent camp
but now we have a small motorhome. It’s much nicer to have
a regular mattress and a heater than backpacking. Works better
with the pets as well. There are a few other couples with RVs
we go with occasionally. It is very relaxing. I don’t watch
much regular TV except news but I do enjoy movies at home. I can
re-watch some of the old classics every month but I enjoy a wide
variety of movies. We go out to dinner occasionally with friends
and go for a day drive to the coast at least once a month, year
round.
It is never boring and is actually quite satisfying to help people
get home loans. Some loans are easy to get approved but others
are quite difficult. There have been a lot that were turned down
by other lenders that I was able to get through. When you tell
someone they can get the loan they need, whether to buy their
dream or to help a financial situation or crisis, they are appreciative.
Helping a "First Time Buyer" understand the process
and get their first home is very rewarding, too.

Best of all worlds for getting you the right mortgage loan. Mortgage
Banking or Mortgage Brokering, if it's a mortgage loan, I offer
it all. We broker to many of the major national lenders you have
heard of as well as local lenders that Portfolio
their loans with "Make Sense" approvals for unique situations.
Our Mortgage Banking approves loans in house as all major mortgage
banks do, but is better than most in that we shop multiple sources
of mortgage rates each day to be sure our interest rates and fees
are some of the most competitive available at all times. Your
national bank or large credit union only uses one source for interest
rates, theirs.
For loan approvals, almost all mortgage loans today (probably
over 90%) are approved by computer programs. FannieMae (FNMA)
or FreddieMac (FHLMC) have software programs called "Automated
Underwriting Systems", or AUS. FannieMae calls their system
Desktop Originator/Underwriter (DO or DU) and FreddieMac's is
Loan Prospector (LP). Every lender that writes conforming loans
(conventional or "A" paper like major banks) uses one
or both of these systems for every mortgage loan approval. Many
banks add their own requirements in addition to FannieMae's or
FreddieMac's "findings" or approval. Once you understand
this fully, you understand that loan approvals are not so much
based on what lender you go to, but rather on the individual loan
officer entering the data. Knowing how to enter the data is critical
to your loan approval. I do not want to imply that I lie or leave
out important information from your application to hide it from
the lenders. That is wrong whether your loan officer does it or
you do. It can be found to be fraud, a Federal offence. But my
years of experience with structuring application packages can
help you. Plus the AUS systems analyze risk and give “points”
based on risk for different loan parameters. With my experience,
I can adjust these loan parameters for higher “points”
to get loan approvals that others don’t know to think of
and you end up getting a good loan approval that you may have
thought you couldn’t get. It will also make a big difference
on how hard or easy the loan process for you will be. The loan
officer's skill and knowledge of these systems may even affect
what interest rate or loan program you will end up with at close.
I have had direct access to both AUS systems since their inception
many years ago. I am highly skilled on their use and have trained
other loan officers to use them to help their customers get better
loans than other lenders have told them they are approved for.
You can watch me run your approvals "live" in my office.
Don't take an "A-", "Stated Income" or lesser
quality loan from someone else until you let me try and help you.
Service
"Service" is an over used word that does not mean much to most
businesses anymore. At Northwest Mortgage Group LLC, we do
what we say . . . when we say it. We will meet with you face-to-face
to fill in your loan application, or you can do business with
us completely online with the Internet, email, fax, phone and
UPS. Come into the office, or just call, your choice. Even if
you just call us and do business via technology, you know you
can come in and see us if you want. We're local and have an office.
We are not in California, out of state or working out of our trunk
with a laptop. Some customers were hesitant to drive into my offices
from a distance, they were not sure it would be worth the trip
or time off work. Everyone leaves my office telling me they were
very glad they did (even people that came in from Hood River to
Beaverton). They learned a lot, understood their options better
than ever before and saved money. You can watch us run your approvals
in minutes through FNMA or FreddieMac (see below). We will show
you multiple mortgage loan options on my state-of-the art software
and show you ways to save money now and in the future on your
home loan. You will be happy you did business with us in person,
or over the phone with technology.

After a recommendation from a friend and a visit to his website,
we decided to meet with Steve to see what he was all about. We
wanted to meet somewhere more convenient, but Steve dissuaded
us explaining that a remote meeting would limit his abilities,
allow for distractions, and that he wasn't comfortable with compromises
in service. That's hard to disagree with.
He spent three hours with us, explaining our options and offering
us his professional advice based on more than 20 years of writing
loans. We instantly felt like we could trust Steve to guide us
through a process that we were unfamiliar with.
As I sit writing this in our new home, I can without hesitation
recommend Steve Emory and Northwest Mortgage Group to any
homebuyer, however; his advice and guidance for the first-time
homebuyer is unparalleled.
Michelle
& Andy Freed
Just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate all of your help
and experience in getting me my first home loan. I was extremely
impressed with how smooth the whole process went and how worry free
it was. I am very pleased with the results and really happy with
the home that I purchased. I thought you did an excellent job and
I will definitely recommend your services to anybody I know thinking
about buying a house.
Thanks again,
Greg
Woodworth
We had been priced out of the housing market for years mainly
because of high interest rates. Steve evaluated our financial
situation and advised us how to position ourselves to qualify
for a home loan. We did what he told us, and when the rates fell
to a level that was acceptable, Steve got us qualified for a loan
and locked in the rate so we could look for a home.
We felt this was our one shot at home ownership, and Steve made
it happen. Even when we suffered a financial set back that I thought
would end our chances for the loan, I found that because of Steve's
vast experience he had anticipated and allowed for changes that
often can occur. My worries were put to rest.
We love our new home! I'm positive that having the right person
on our team made the difference. That person was Steve Emory.
Confident, caring, and professional in every way. Thanks again
Steve.
Sincerely,
Tim
and Karolyn Laubacher
When we talk about Steve Emory 3 things come to mind: 1-Professionalism,
2-Friendly, 3-Knowledge. We have known Steve for 5 years and have
gotten four loans through him. Our first was a no income verification
loan to get us out of an owner-contract. Not knowing if we could
qualify, we took a chance and called him and he pulled it off.
We then refinanced 2 years later. As our family grew, we needed
a larger house. He got us a loan on our brand new home, and we
recently refinanced and got a terrific rate. We really appreciate
the fact that he always makes time for us, returning our calls,
answering all our questions, and just knowing the business so
well. We would highly recommend Steve Emory. Just call him, he's
a great guy!
Jeff
& Christy Smith
If it weren't for Steve, I'm not sure that we would have been
able to buy our dream home. We had several challenges to overcome,
including self-employment, selling a home before we could buy,
and coming up with a 20% down payment. He worked hard for us and
stayed on top of all the steps we needed to do, even when our
real estate agent and title company didn't. He knew how important
it was for us, and he had faith in our ability.
Thanks, Steve!
Kraig
& Anne Short
These Realtors® are some of the agents that refer their customers
to me. They all have a web page where you can review information
about them, the local market and access the homes for sale on
the Internet. Click on their images to visit their websites.
