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Laura Walton helps turn dreams of home ownership into reality
By: Laura Walton
"Buying a mortgage isn't like buying a book at Barnes & Noble," Laura Walton pointed out after we'd been talking about it for some time. She wasn't just talking about the size of the debt, but about its effect on everything in your life. That's why she likes to take time to learn about her clients, and about their goals. She particularly likes working with first time buyers and even with buyers with less than good credit. "For some people, buying a home might not be in the picture for several years. Maybe they're not ready, maybe they need to work on improving their credit score. People may look at the size of the house payment but not look at all their other costs." That's why she will sometimes suggest a client set aside the money for a house payment, just as if they were paying for a house, and see how taking that chunk of money out of their monthly budget has on other things in their lives. "You basically start living like you have that payment to make," she says, and that can be a real education for the consumer. Laura came to mortgage lending in a roundabout way; working as manager of a business in Chicago, serving as vice president of business development for the Museum of Discovery and Science in Ft. Lauderdale, then moving to Virginia where she volunteered for the Habitat for Humanity and ended up serving on the board. "I liked working with people, and showing them the dream of home ownership is real." When she moved to Austin, she got into the home mortgage business and works with over 40 banks, financial institutions and investors.


Because she likes to work with people to help them get ready to buy a home as well as help them find the right loan, she looks for referrals at church and in her child's school and networks with friends and business contacts. "A young couple about to marry may not be ready to buy a home, and they need to think about everything they need. For instance, instead of a silverware pattern, maybe they should register for a lawnmower or washer and dryer;" she says. In other words, things that aren't really expensive, but are needed and will put a good hole in a monthly budget. She may advise someone not to buy a home until they improve their credit score, even if their credit score isn't too bad, because small improvements can be made fairly quickly and will have a strong impact on the terms of the loans available. "I like to do two-month checkups," she says. "I gave one young couple four 'action items' to work on, and when they did them, we saw a ten-point jump in their credit score. That makes a difference. So does taking away the 'fear factor' from getting a loan. It makes a difference for everyone if the buyer is not only happy with the home, but with the whole buying experience."
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