I had the fortune of meeting Laura Staerker, vice president of mortgage lending at Guranteed Rate, almost five years ago, and she has handled all of my real estate affairs in Columbia County. I wanted to speak with her, as there is certainly a boom in Hudson and Columbia County with so many people moving Upstate, and of course, there is limited inventory. I thought it would be great to know what is behind all of this, and to get some of the facts about interest rates, mortgages, refinancing, and other opportunities for people who might want to know.

JC: Laura, my good friend. It is a pleasure to get to interview you. Can you tell us a little about you, and how you became as sought after as you are?

LS: I actually have a not-for-profit background before I got into mortgages. I was the executive director of a nonprofit for years. I worked in political government, then fundraising and event planning when I was in my late 20s and 30s.  I was always a good multitasker and a people person, and I liked helping people. A woman named Paula told me she thought I would be great at mortgages. I said “I can’t even balance my checkbook,” and she said “trust me, with your personality and ability you would be great.” She hired me 15 or 16 years ago.

Mortgages are hard —it’s all trial by fire, and I made a lot of mistakes, but I always had it in my heart to learn, and I could look at a borrower and determine if this borrower was going to foreclose on a property or not. I’ve been known to take the hard loans. Some buyers would say, it’s really a quirky property, so we need your help. You really need to sit and listen to an individual and learn their story, so that you can tell the underwriter their story and always be a champion for the buyer. I try to make sure the clients' needs are met, but understand, I didn’t have a finance background, I learned and evolved and am still learning to this day, and thought if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do this 100 percent.

JC: What is the real truth about the interest rates right now, and why are they so low? Will that be changing anytime soon?

LS: They’re low because of everything happening with COVID-19, and honestly, interest rates are hard to answer. What people don’t realize is that in March 2020 the rates were low, and then all of a sudden — it may have been when the President said “you could defer your mortgage payments” — the next day the rates had jumped. I called other lenders and asked what’s going on? So many people were in the system to refinance, until the system got overwhelmed. There wasn’t enough money, and that backed up the rates. Then the government got back in with the deferred plan, and the rates came back down. I personally feel sometimes the rates go into the high fours and fives and then it trickles back again. Right now, I think it will stay low till the end of this year, but what you’re seeing is the lenders in overwhelm right now. Some lenders have stopped refinancing because you can only handle as much as they can. The questions I ask is, are you purchasing? What are you looking for? Purchase rates are lower than interest rates. Your government loan rate is lower than your conventional. Your non-cash out refinance is lower than your cash out. Everything factors into your rate. No one can just say, hey the rate is this. It’s interesting to watch interest rates, It’s the lowest I’ve seen in 15 years. Recently, I was locking people in on 2.8% rates, which is crazy.

JC: What are some of the options that people should know about if they are currently challenged with paying their mortgages?

LS: You can defer your mortgage because of COVID-19. You have to call your lender or servicer. Lenders are still allowing it. What is true is if you defer your mortgage because of your situation, the deferring will reflect on your credit score. All lenders have been given strict guidelines. You should make sure the defer took place. A person can go to freecreditreport.com. It might not be easy to understand, but it will show indication that the mortgage has been deferred. The mortgagers are only going to defer it for so long.

JC: What’s the criteria for anyone that is currently looking to purchase or refinance their property?

LS: Refinancing is hard,; right now, I’m focusing on my purchase volume because there are buyers and sellers. When you’re talking about refinance I do that on the weekend. There are some lenders not doing any of this right now. If you reach out to a mortgage person and you don’t get them, try them again. So many people in a day are trying to connect with me. I look at the mortgage statement and see what they’re trying to do. If a rate is around 4% or higher, they may want to do a rate/turn refi which means trying to reduce their rate. Some people are saying, I’d like to shorten the term of my mortgage. That’s what a lot of people are trying to do now. The best thing to do is send an email, mortgage statement and remind us of what you’re trying to do. Before I have anyone apply, I have to determine, does it make sense? Someone may say, I can’t afford that 15-year payment. Every person’s lifestyle is different. I consider it like solving a big Rubik’s Cube puzzle, because all deals are different.

JC: Can I ask you about diversity, and any cultural matters regarding purchasing that are in the Columbia County region? Do you see many women and people of color purchasing properties?

LS: What I’ve noticed in the past couple of months is there’s a lot of that activity. Here, we have all walks of life. But yes, there are more Latinos, more Black Americans buying property in Columbia County, which is great. It’s fun, because back in the day, it was always husband and wife, now it’s husband and husband, wife and wife, there are friends purchasing together. There are a lot of women coming to me. I’m the first female branch manager for Guaranteed Rate in the whole state. What the statistics are for mortgage originators, it’s 74% male to 26% female. That was the last statistic. It is a male-dominated industry, but what I’m also noticing in purchasing, is there are more women applying on their own. Women are rocking it. I’m proud to be a female-run business. I consider my branch my business, my processors and sales assistant, they’re my employees, and I’m proud of that. We are all female and one male. We are making huge strides, but then it’s sad that we have to even talk about that in this day and age. One thing that I love about Guaranteed Rate: they support the LGBTQ community, women, people of color. When we had the Pride Month this year, I thought wow, this company truly appreciates people and that is rare for a company to do that.

JC: I know firsthand, even with COVID-19, you’ve been even busier than before. What’s the best way for people to connect with you?

LS: The easiest thing is for anyone to call my cell phone, which goes directly to the office (518) 670-4816. My email is Laura.Staerker@rate.com or visit the website.

JC: If there is one thing you’d like the readers to know about your year 2020, what would you say?

LS: This year has been such a year of incredible growth for me. In changing companies to Guaranteed Rate I’ve learned so much, but I have also evolved as a person. In February, at the age of 50  I said, I’m going to move to Guaranteed Rate and start a new challenge, and I’ve evolved and am really proud of myself. I love my job, and I love talking to people. When borrowers send me a picture showing how much they love their house, that makes me so happy

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Written by
John Campbell