Washington State Mortgages, Made Clear. Buying or Refinancing? Let's find the right loan together.
I'm Rhonda Porter — a licensed Mortgage Advisor with 25+ years of experience helping homebuyers and homeowners across Washington State find the right loan with confidence. No jargon. No pressure. Just honest guidance.
Your signing appointment is one of the final steps before you get the keys to your new home — or before your refinance closes. Knowing what to expect and what to bring makes the process smoother for everyone involved, including the escrow officer, your lender, and you.
Here’s a practical checklist I share with my clients before their signing appointment, along with a few tips from my background of managing an escrow branch prior to my career in mortgage.
Most loan officers do the same thing the moment you reach out: they ask for your income, pull your credit, and hand you a rate quote. Sometimes they skip even that and just send you an application link.
I do something different first — and after 25 years in the mortgage business, I believe it makes all the difference. [Read more…]
If you’re 5 to 10 years from retirement and you haven’t taken a hard look at your mortgage lately, now is the time. Not because anything is wrong — but because the decisions you make in this window can significantly change what your financial picture looks like when you stop working.
Most people review their investment accounts regularly. Far fewer give the same attention to their mortgage and home equity, even though for many homeowners in Washington State, equity is the largest single asset they own.
Here’s what I look at when a client comes to me in this season of life.
We were off yesterday for Memorial Day — hope you had a great long weekend! Here’s your mortgage and housing market update for the week of May 25th, 2026.
I’ve been helping people buy homes in Seattle for over 25 years. The market has gone through a lot of cycles — but some things stay constant. Seattle is competitive, prices are high relative to the rest of Washington, and the buyers who succeed are usually the ones who did their homework before they ever made an offer.
