Charlene Rawson

After 30 years spent mostly in food service, I was brought into mortgage lending in 2001 by the loan officer who helped me purchase my Washington home. After a year renting my dream home, with the plan to purchase in a year or two, the owner suddenly decided to sell…immediately. The purchase proved to be an extremely difficult transaction due to bad timing and poor preparation. It seemed like a miracle to find Maureen, my loan officer, first because she managed to overcome any and all obstacles encountered on the way to closing, and then for teaching me how to help others in the same way.

Personal experience has taught me that the equity someone owns in his or her home can be used to expand real estate holdings, make improvements to a home, or to restructure existing debt and improve a homeowner’s cash flow. Whatever purpose or loan type fits a borrower’s needs, my team can help. Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, Construction and Non-Conforming are all loan types in my toolkit. But regardless of the type of loan needed, owning a home is an individual’s the first step to financial security.

My realtors and clients say that my commitment to teaching prospective homebuyers, especially first-time homebuyers, how to prepare for the home purchase experience and homeownership, and support given through the purchase process is what sets me apart from most loan officers they know. Perhaps because my own purchase was so stressful, it’s become my personal mission to protect my clients from having a similar experience.

I moved to the Puget Sound area in 1998 from eastern North Dakota where my sister and her family still live. My free time is spent with my children and grandchildren, in my garden, and helping at my church where I do most of the cooking and sing in the choir.