Mortgage broker Renee Konstantine opened Montana Home Loans in Thompson Falls in January of this year. Notably in today's housing market, people are unaware of where to turn when they are unable to secure a loan through a bank or credit union. "I am a full-service brokerage," Konstantine said. "I can do a lot of things that some types of banks and credit unions are not able to do for various reasons."

As a mortgage broker, Konstantine has the flexibility to shop around and find the right programs and loan options for her clients. "I offer Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans, Veterans Affairs loans and home equity line of credit loans. I have many money lenders I work through."

While opening her business during a pandemic was only coincidental, because of the current housing market situation, Konstantine has seen the struggles not only for buyers and sellers but for realtors as well. "What's difficult right now is that there's not much for sale and when there is something for sale people are getting more than one offer," she said. "What I'm hearing out in the field is that people are bidding above asking price because they just want to secure the property."

While in these challenging times, Konstantine says she's here to help people understand their options. "Sometimes when you want to buy a house, you don't always know all your options, it's hard to even know who to reach out to," she said. "I can be someone who people can call and bounce their ideas off of. Whether it's a refinance or a purchase, or if they want to sell their house and purchase another. By giving them more information, it empowers people."

The mortgage broker describes herself as a creative real estate broker who prides herself on always answering the phone. "A lot of times lenders don't answer the phone and that's what actually prompted me to get into business in the first place," she said. "The first house I wanted to buy I couldn't get anyone to call me back. I think I required extra special attention for credit challenges at the time."

Because of her personal experience of overcoming loan challenges, she is here to take on people's challenges and help steer them in the right direction. "For those people who think they can't buy a house, they really can," Konstantine said.

For people wanting to buy a home for the first time, Konstantine correlates the experience to dipping your toes in the water. "For first time homebuyers it can be scary," she said. "You need someone to tell you that you can do it. It just takes someone to help the buyer feel confident enough in their abilities to do it."

There are several factors that may keep people from understanding their options when looking to get pre-approved for a loan. "When you have decent credit and a little bit to put down, that's when I would talk to somebody," Konstantine said.

Another hindrance people believe is holding them back from applying for a loan is needing a large down payment to qualify. "People will assume they're going to have to come up with 10% or 20% down," Konstantine stated. "I am licensed to do and have other lenders that do FHA loans. Those only require a 3% to 5% down payment and a minimum credit score of 580 to qualify."

For those who are seeking an FHA loan, Konstantine says lenders are very accommodating in working with people who are self-employed or people who may have had some challenges with credit. She reiterated her understanding of people who think they don't have a lot of options, when people are told it's not possible to own their own home, or if they don't have 20% to put down.

"Don't ever think you can't do it," she said. "Just because the bank or local credit union turned you down doesn't mean you can't get a loan." Konstantine says she receives a lot of references from banks and credit unions because she has higher availability of resources to search for lenders. "If you've got a broker like myself, who has different lenders available to them, if one doesn't work, we keep looking," she said. "It's good to work with banks and credit unions. They want to help people too, but most of the time their hands are tied. Banks and credit unions have very strict guidelines they have to follow."

Part of Konstantine's job is to find the motivating factor for the buyer and seller. "Negotiating is such a huge situation on both ends, as well as working with the realtors on both ends," she said. "Because I'm a mortgage broker who has done real estate for the last 20 years, I've seen both sides."

Konstantine has helped to negotiate closing costs and repairs and has seen many cases where the homeowner wants to sell to the renter, but the renter doesn't know if they will qualify for a loan. "A lot of times the homeowner will call me and ask what they need to do to help the renter buy this place. Even today, people want to help and it works both ways," she said.

While looking for available property in today's market may seem like the first step, Konstantine says getting pre-approved is of the utmost importance when looking to purchase. "If there's something that needs to be done such as raising the credit score, needing more of a down payment or getting some kind of funding from the government that no one knew about; the sooner we can identify what the issue is, the sooner we can get things squared away and everyone will be happier in the end," she said.

When someone comes in needing a loan, the first thing Konstantine will want to know is if the person is self-employed and what the monthly income and debt is. Someone who is a co-signer on a note will also be asked. She calls it a "pre-qualification conversation."

While she is half a year into her first year of business in Thompson Falls, Konstantine says everything is looking good so far. "I would like to grow so that I can help more people," she said. That's the ultimate goal." For inquiries visit montanahomeloansonline.com