Tired of Renting – Mo’s Story

Long time Seattle renter Mo clearly recalls the moment she wanted to become a home buyer.

Mo and her wife Julie were renting, a townhome, in Pike Place Market. Their rental included one parking spot, so they gave up one car, and used this space for another car, plus two scooters. This solution, however, proved to be short-term. “We came back home one day and found a note telling us that we couldn’t add our scooters to the parking space,” she says. At that point, Mo realized she wanted to become a home owner. “I didn’t want to have anybody telling me what to do anymore,” she adds. “I’m going to go get a home.”

Mo was ready to make the plunge into home ownership, but she wasn’t sure where to begin. Her realtor told her she first needed to get pre-approved. He recommended Salmon Bay Community Lending. At first, Mo thought that securing a home loan was going to be a daunting task, but when she met with Ruby Grynberg at Salmon Bay Lending she actually felt like owning a home was going to be possible. “They made it super easy,” she remembers. Her experience was so different than she thought it would be. “It was a really great atmosphere, a friendly comforting environment that didn’t look like a bank,” she adds.

One thing that stood out to Mo when she sat down with Ruby Grynberg was the mortgage education she received. “And we talked about something that was totally unexpected,” Mo says. “Ruby wanted to know what my goals were for becoming a homeowner and what I was going to feel comfortable with for a monthly payment and a down payment.”

Because Mo owns  her own business, and works for herself, she learned that it was sometimes more difficult to secure a home mortgage. But Ruby and her team were able to help her navigate through this and secure her home loan.

After her meeting with Ruby, Mo was able to go back to her realtor with a pre-approval, but also, more importantly, with a better sense of her ownership goals, and what she was comfortable with spending each month for a mortgage. 

Once Mo closed on her new home, she remembers getting a special call from Salmon Bay Lending.  “When everything goes through, and you finally get your home, Ruby and her team call you and ring ‘the funding bells’. It’s a celebration, so they’re with you the whole way through. When you actually do get your home, which can be kind of complicated in Seattle, you feel like it’s a whole team at the end saying ‘yay’, we did it!”

If you’re tired of renting and want to get pre-approved to buy your first-house, please contact us online or call (206) 789-8629 to schedule an appointment. We’d love to help you with your homeownership goals!