Minneapolis loans and who’s who in lending.

Stacey makes loans happen!

Stacey Quinn wears many hats, including being past president and chairwoman of Mpls NARI (National Association of the Remodeling Industry). Now days this energetic and positively confident mover and shaker is writing loans for 1st Trust Mortgage located in the Twin City Metro area.

1st Trust is a mortgage and construction loan lender, they have different programs tailored to meet the needs of their clients, plus they are now offering 203K loans in the full or streamline version. If you don’t know what what a 203k loan is the go here 203K Minnesota and most of your questions can be answered.

So, who is Stacey Quinn?

I first met Stacey at a NARI roundtable where she and I were members. As a new member I wondered if the time invested would be worthwhile, would I feel comfortable with the other people? My first meeting I was impressed with the talent sitting around that table and Stacey, not knowing any better welcomed and engaged me from the start, she’s smart, sassy and works to get things done, my kinda Gal.

Stacey grew up in a working class family in Belcourt, North Dakota, with a nurse Mom and her father working construction. Stacey attended the local school.

Moving to California Stacey attended Cal State and hung out at the beach, Long Beach that is, home of the Queen Mary (the ship), movie stars, and also the singing gondoliers. According to my source Stacey never  held the position of a singing gondolier. We suspect the “singing” part was the cause.

She finished school and worked in a bank and at Walgreen’s. Moving forward Stacey got her real estate license and then moved to Minnesota in 02′, now she lives and works in the Twin Cities metro area writing loans.

Stacey gets the Remodel Crazy spotlight questions:

As a loan officer do you have a suggestion for remodelers when selling depends on a home equity loan?

In my opinion it is best that the remodeler always refer their clients to talk with someone in the mortgage industry in order to get their options.

What is a good way to present finance for a project?

Get the conversation about finance started early. Even if a client can pay cash it is always a good idea to see what advantages there are to financing the project.

Where is the loan industry headed?

I believe the industry is loosening up. The rates are crazy GREAT but it is more difficult to qualify. A lot of our standards and guidelines have become more conservative but you have to consider from where we have come from in the last 4 + years.

What do contractors do that is wrong?

I wouldn’t say they do anything wrong, however, the ones out front are having conversations early on about where the money for the project is coming from and it would seem every contractor comes at pricing the job differently. That can be confusing to the consumer.

How should a contractor be prepared?

The #1 best thing a contractor can do is tell the consumer what they do best and have the credentials to back it up with education, referrals and past projects.

Where is the loan industry headed?

This is a tough one; I would be better off playing the lottery! It is in a fragile state because you have the government so involved. My best guess is that the market will correct and underwriting will level off to a more “normal” pace in the next 12- 18 months. We need to have people back to work and grow consumer confidence before we see a full recovery. But we always recover.

Thanks Stacey, and one more thing, Stacey and her husband own and operate Da Vinci’s Italian Restaurant in Watertown, Minnesota, a bucolic river town you can visit for a memorable meal.

If  road trips, romance and good eating is your thing, head on over.

Thank you Stacey

The Paul