Lynn Sheffer: helping homebuyers secure

Lynn Sheffer’s positive attitude and enthusiasm for her job securing residential mortgage loans for homebuyers is as fresh today as it was 25 years ago when she left the world of retail to explore real estate finance. Sheffer now applies her skills as a Senior Loan Consultant at Washington Mutual Home Loans.

The vivacious petite woman whose customers are both homebuyers and Realtors claims she doesn’t do it for the money. “If I haven’t done my job, I haven’t earned the money,” she says with conviction. “Doing my job well, pleasing customers and getting referrals are what make me happy.” With her breadth of experience, it’s hard to imagine her customers are not happy with the service she provides. She always puts them first.

Her mortgage banking career started at Home Savings of America; she was a teller. “I liked retail,” she says, “but in Vallejo, where we lived, there were no jobs.” A relative who worked at Home Savings in Southern California suggested she apply for a job at the Vallejo branch. She did, and after a month of persistence was hired. “The job was a combination of people skills and finance, which I loved,” Sheffer says. In the ensuing years, she and her Navy husband lived in Hawaii and San Diego. She stayed with finance, but along the way earned her real estate license and gradually became an expert on residential mortgage financing. She has been a loan processor and a loan analyst, ultimately gaining employment as a loan consultant. However, it is interaction with people she likes the most. Her training as a loan consultant was flawless, she says, taking pride in the fact that her customers reap the benefit. Her thoroughness makes the loan process easy for her customers and reduces the stress of home buying, one of the most important tasks people undertake.

While Sheffer’s business is often repeat or comes from referrals, she is especially helpful to first-time homebuyers. She knows which questions to ask, how to explain the myriad details of home loans and what type of information her customers must provide. Each loan is different, Sheffer says, and her job is to make the process painless for each customer. Although some documentation is required by law, depending on the circumstance, other types are not. “I don’t ask people to send me backup documents when they’re not necessary,” she says, “but I’m meticulous when it comes to getting exactly what I need to qualify a customer.” For her it is always about customer service.

Washington Mutual Bank offers many residential mortgage programs, and because Sheffer is an employee, not a broker, she is also able to offer her company’s portfolio programs as well as traditional mortgages. She will meet with customers at their home or business, at her home or at Washington Mutual — whichever suits the customer’s needs best.

Lynn Sheffer and her family have lived in Fallbrook for seven years. She is a Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce Ambassador, a member of the Fallbrook Women’s Connection and National Charity League and is the Christ the King Lutheran Church Wedding Coordinator.

To contact Lynn Sheffer and find out how she can help you secure a residential mortgage, phone (760) 451-0483 or (877) 601-6173. Contact her by e-mail at [email protected].