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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros Podcast, host Quentin Edmonds interviews Stacia Weishaar, an independent mortgage broker with a background in software and technology. Stacia shares her journey from working at Microsoft to entering the mortgage industry after experiencing a difficult home-buying process herself. She discusses how her experience in both software and lending allows her to approach mortgage solutions differently. Stacia explains the importance of problem-solving in lending, especially for entrepreneurs and self-employed borrowers who may not fit traditional loan requirements. She also highlights the growing role of technology, AI, and innovative lending products such as non-qualified mortgages in expanding access to home financing.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Stacia Weishaar (00:00)
I have two things, two big life lessons I’ve learned. I, you know, I’m 47, so I’m lucky to be halfway through my life. time is our most precious asset that we have. I believe that wholeheartedly. but the two lessons that, know, really truly I’ve learned, throughout my professional career and, and personal life is number one, my mom, my mom would always say when people would ask me what I wanted to be when I would grow up.I would answer that it hasn’t been invented yet. And the answer to that is still true, right? I have a unique background in software and in mortgage financing. where I’m going, it hasn’t been invented yet,
Quentin (02:09)
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros Podcast. I’m your host, Q Edmonds. I’m glad that we’re here today. I have another guest who we’re going to learn some things from. And you know, I like to be able to see things from different people’s vantage point, from things through their lens. And so no matter what we’re doing, we can all be doing the exact same things. We still have our own personal way that we do it, because we bring our personality to what we do. And all of us are different. So I’m so glad.that we get a chance to look through the lens of my next guest, Miss Stacia.
I appreciate you being here. And listen, I want to dive right in. I would love for you to tell the people what your main focus is these days. I would love for you to give us a little bit of origin story of how you got into the space that you’re in. And then geographically, people seem to always want to know where you are in the world, just in case as a touch point.
or if they’re trying to get in contact with you. you can just let them know where you are geographically. So again, what’s your main focus, origin story, and where you are. And ma’am, you have the floor.
Stacia Weishaar (03:08)
Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be here. My name is Stacia Weishaar. I am a mortgage broker. an independent mortgage broker. I’ve been in the industry for, I came back in the industry in 2016, so 10 years. I had a previous stint before the Great Recession. So I have a background in software and…Quentin (03:09)
So, yeah.Stacia Weishaar (03:29)
and did a lot in the software world, which is actually my background. And when I bought my first home, I worked at Microsoft. And I had worked very hard to save money to purchase a home with a small down payment. My family’s background is in residential and commercial property management. So I really understand the value of real estate and how real estate can build long-term wealth. So I bought a home. I was working at Microsoft.And I had a horrible experience. I bought what I would have considered at the time a bad house, but more impactfully, I got a bad mortgage. And I was incensed by the whole experience. My loan officer wasn’t able to communicate things properly, wasn’t available, did not tell me what, you I wanted to know what every penny was going towards. And I just thought this can’t be that difficult.
At the time, I was being recruited into a new division of Microsoft at the fiscal year. So I left the division I was in. I had a job already lined up and I went into this space to educate myself. And it turned into back then about six years of my life where I ran a builder joint venture between one the largest builders in the state of Washington state and one of the largest banks in the United States.
And it was an interesting ride. was fascinating. I learned a lot. I ran teams of people who helped clients get financing. It was an interesting time. But I did love it. I loved it because No Day was the same. And we were really, at the end of the day, helping people sort of achieve that dream of home ownership.
The recession hit and I was being, I actually was being recruited back into software by another startup at the time. So I left cause that was my background. Like how did six years pass? ⁓ and I went into soft back into software and worked for many different companies in the software world. ⁓ ran teams, have had a business coach. I’ve always had business coaches and my business coach at the time was like, after I had my first child.
I have two boys that are awesome. They’re my best friends. My business coach was like, you don’t seem happy. And I said, I have so much joy of this healthy baby boy, but I was involved in the startup world at the time and running a software company that just was not, it wasn’t that it was, I love software. I am a huge nerd by the way. And I love technology and embrace technology and everything I do. It wasn’t that it wasn’t.
Quentin (06:15)
Bye.Stacia Weishaar (06:41)
that wasn’t joyful, was that it wasn’t in the mortgage industry. And I really developed a passion around the industry and I still am very passionate about the industry. I love software and I love mortgages. And so I bring a unique perspective ⁓ into this space because of my unique background. And so we shared a chart and everything and I went back in the business and I love this space. It’s a very…interesting industry to be in. I am an independent mortgage broker. ⁓ I’ve been a banker, I’ve been a mortgage banker, but I decided to be an independent mortgage broker because as a broker, I get to go shop every lender in the United States. You got to shop interest rates. have more competitive rates. have more products that I couldn’t didn’t have at those other places I had worked. ⁓ and I wanted to build my own thing. And so
That transition has been wonderful. I love being a mortgage broker. People land on my lap that have been told, no, not possible, or you gotta put more money down, or you have to liquidate these assets, or you gotta revise your tax returns. And I find a solution that doesn’t require any of that. And that’s fun to do.
Quentin (07:55)
Yeah, yeah. Thank you. mean, wow. Thank you for walking us through. mean, as you was talking, I was writing, you you came back in this, you know, after some time out until you had a background in software, worked at Microsoft, family has a background in real estate, and you got a bad mortgage and you’re a big nerd, boy mom, like all these different things that you wrote. And I kind of wanted to highlight what you talked about because I have a saying.Stacia Weishaar (08:02)
youYeah.
Quentin (08:23)
where I say destiny has no wasted moments, right? Meaning no matter what we go through in life, the amalgamation, the compound things that we go through kind of make us who we are today, right? And we can reflect and we can think about the decisions that we made and how some decisions kind of led to where we are now. And so I would love to know, Ms. Stacia, through this journey, Microsoft, boys, all these different things, what has destiny taught you about you? Has it taught you that you areStacia Weishaar (08:26)
Mm.Quentin (08:51)
discipline, that you are a go-getter. Like what are these things highlighted about you that you know Destiny has made these moments, made you who you are today. So where’s the torture about you?Stacia Weishaar (09:36)
I have two things, two big life lessons I’ve learned. I, you know, I’m 47, so I’m lucky to be halfway through my life. time is our most precious asset that we have. I believe that wholeheartedly. but the two lessons that, know, really truly I’ve learned, throughout my professional career and, and personal life is number one, my mom, my mom would always say when people would ask me what I wanted to be when I would grow up.I would answer that it hasn’t been invented yet. And the answer to that is still true, right? I have a unique background in software and in mortgage financing. where I’m going, it hasn’t been invented yet,
and I know that. Like, I have things I’m working on. So I’m an entrepreneur at heart. I am a critical thinker. I love problem solving. And I see opportunities for things to be
solved all the time, okay? And I, my space specifically. And so those opportunities create momentum, create excitement in me. So I get very excited about, you know, solving problems daily, which is why I’m really good at my job, because I solve problems. The other thing that I have learned and life has taught me is implicitly, I trust people. I always have trusted people and life has taught me.
throughout my journeys that to be more curious, to stop trusting so wholeheartedly, it’s a strength, but most of our strengths are also our weaknesses sometimes, our blind spots. My boys know what’s the number one rule, the truth always comes out, and I believe that. And so I’ve just had those life moments both professionally and personally where I see true colors of people, where maybe I trusted implicitly.
And now as I’m older, I’m super curious about not only people genuinely, but also outcomes and how those relationships can impact my life positively, both professionally and through business.
Quentin (11:38)
Hmm. I know you can see me smiling the more you talk the more I’ll just smile because it’s so, you said so many things that is just intrinsically intrinsically inside of me that like connect on such a deep level. First, when you said it hasn’t been invented yet, which, you want to be, where you going? Oh, when I tell you that resonates with me, that’s how I feel. I feel like, so I’m 44. just turned 44 in.Stacia Weishaar (11:42)
youYeah.
Quentin (12:07)
December, I’ll be 45 this year. And I feel like for the first time in my life, I clearly see what I am supposed to give to this world, in a sense. I’ll just, you know, I know that sounds big, but I think you kinda, you get it. Like, I see what has not been invented yet. And I just feel like, I’m sorry everybody, but this is how I feel. It’s on me to invent it. Can’t nobody do it like me.Stacia Weishaar (12:23)
No,Quentin (12:34)
Nobody has those destiny moments that built me for to respond to this moment. That’s how I feel. So that connects with me. And I don’t really do New Year’s resolutions. However, this word came to me at the end of 25. And I said, for 2026, I’m going be more curious. I’m going be more curious about everything. So curious is my word. I’m going be curious about why I get angry. I’m going be curious about what makes me happy. I’m going to be curious about the friendships that I keep.Stacia Weishaar (12:53)
I’mQuentin (13:04)
So when you just, and then when you talk about recognition, like, I mean, you just said so many things that bodes well with me and I hear you and I think that’s a beautiful thing that you’re teaching your boys about the truth. I think this is a beautiful journey that you’re on. So thank you for taking time to just show us these moments that Destiny has brought you to. And ⁓ I try to tell people, I want people to know that listening to this, we all have our superpower. We all have.tools and our tool belt that we are experts in. know, everybody’s not expert at the drill. Everybody’s not an expert at the hammer, but you have something in your tool belt that over the years you have been building that’s going to help you build the world that maybe you just don’t see yet because we have the power to build the worlds around us. So I’m going to pause right there. Does any of that resonate to you? Like this is what you brought out of me. As you was talking, this is what came out of me. So does any of that resonate with you?
Stacia Weishaar (13:57)
No.Well, so I have a word of the year too, by the way, so I always choose the word of the year. My word of the year is abundance. And it’s abundance in time, it’s abundance with my family, it’s abundance in growth and success, it’s abundance in health. So I love your word curious. I actually am a room parent too between my multiple things that I do and I…
and had brought this exercise to my fifth grade son’s class. And all of these kids, these awesome little fifth graders came up, we did a craft and they came up with their word. it was, know, words are very, very powerful, right? We live in a world where, you know, we have large language models that interpret words, right? But words can be powerful in that we…
get to choose what that means for us. And so I love your word, curious. Curious was my word last year, actually. So I appreciate that you had the word this year. I do believe in the power of our ability as entrepreneurs and as business, people who are experts within certain fields, be it real estate, be it mortgage, be it software, whatever it is.
We’re in an age right now, we’re in a moment of time where the ability to dream big and execute at a scale that’s very achievable because of technology, I’m a huge AI nerd, huge, we can make massive impact. And that,
impact is so can be so substantial in our world, right? And we can solve a lot of problems. And, you know, I could talk about AI for for hours and hours and hours. I was my first job out of college. I represented one of the first public facing artificial intelligence companies in the United States. And this is back when Steven Spielberg’s movie AI came out. And so you’re nodding because you were you were of a similar age. And so you remember that.
Many people don’t and that’s how long AI has been interacting with us. Now it’s different, right? It’s not as it’s a different type of AI, but still it exists. And you know, the ability to use all these tools at our fingertips, just sitting at my computer every day. It’s phenomenal. I mean, we’re so we’re in this moment in time that is so, so, so, powerful and what individuals can do to make substantial impact.
in their communities, in their business life, in their world. mean, my sons and I are, they want to launch a nonprofit. So I’m like, okay, let’s launch the nonprofit. Like how cool that they’re so young, they want to launch a nonprofit and how easy it is to actually do that. Now, when I was a kid, that would not have been an easy task for my parents to assist with, but we can launch a nonprofit in a week if we want, or less, a day. You know, it’s easy. Like we live in a world where we have tools that make things easier.
So we need dreamers.
Quentin (18:00)
Again, you said so many things that’s in sync. And so I have a saying, and I adopted it. It’s not something that came up with myself, but when I heard it, I just stuck to it that words shape our world. Words shape our world. And now, like you said, with the tool of AI, training AI to do what we want it to do, we have more tools now to really create the world that we want to see. And it’s so interesting that you said your word.Stacia Weishaar (18:01)
ThankQuentin (18:28)
this year is abundance because this is what I said to myself in 2024, if there’s 365 days a year, I had to said this close to 365, maybe it was like 340, but I wanted to try to say this to myself every day. And I would say that I’m blessed abundantly so that in all things, at all times, having all that I need, I would abound in every good work. And I would say that every morning to myself.Stacia Weishaar (18:55)
and.Quentin (18:57)
that I am blessed abundantly so that in all things, at all times, having all that I need, I can abound in every good work. And for me, that was synthesized to say, I can do hard things. No matter what I need to do, I have the abundance of resources to do it. I’m not going to let anything tell me I don’t. I am abundant in resources that I can love my wife. I can do this business.I can interview people like I have this abundant resource. And so it’s interesting that your word is abundant. So I give that to you. You can’t tell me otherwise. I’m just like, I’m blown away. But it makes sense because I just think this is how the currency of this world works. Right. When you, when you put off certain and I’m not trying to get all mystical, but it’s just, there’s a
Stacia Weishaar (19:32)
We weren’t meant to be connected, I think.Quentin (19:55)
There’s the law of attraction is real. when you put out that, I don’t want to say energy, I, cause I’m not trying to be superstitious, but I will say this, like what you put out is going to come back to you. I’ll just say it like that. And I think we all can witness that when you want to call it calmer, whatever you want to call it, what you put out there is going to come back to you. And I just believe, like you said, I think you and I have put enough out there that this was destined to happen. You know what saying? So I’m glad you’re here.Stacia Weishaar (19:57)
Go.Yeah. ⁓
You’re right.
Yeah.
Quentin (20:24)
Iwant to ask about your business, brokerage. What’s your next real goal? Like, what are you looking to solve a scale next?
Stacia Weishaar (20:27)
⁓ huh.Well, I have two goals. One, you know my business is successful. I’m a problem solver. SO people typically get, they walk into their institutional lender or institutional bank, excuse me, and they get passed to the lender there and they get told no, or they get told, yeah, it’s possible, but you gotta revise your tax returns or you need to put more money down. And we solve those problems.
CPAs, financial advisors, wealth managers call me all the time because they’re told their clients or self-employed clients are told they have to revise their tax returns and they’re going to pay tax penalty and such. I’m like, no, we don’t even need to look at the tax return. So let’s look at the business cashflow. certain others will tell you there’s there’s so many loans out there called what we call non-qualified mortgages. Now, qualified mortgages are they follow agency rules. So
Fannie, Freddie, FHA, VA. And that box is really small, right? It’s a very small box. Your W-2 wager and are very, very small. And not everybody fits into that box. In 2017, there’s been a resurgence of investors, meaning what’s sit on the bond market, secondary market, who’ve created these, where there’s also lenders, where they actually have an appetite for what are called non-
of pipe mortgages. And the word non is negative, right? It’s a negative connotation, but it really is serving the underserved. It’s entrepreneurs, it’s business owners. And since 2017, that market has grown exponentially. It’s a hockey stick. And yet the access to those solutions for those people that maybe have no income, maybe they’re entrepreneurs, maybe they sold something and now they’ve just got assets, right? Maybe they want to build a real estate portfolio.
Quentin (21:51)
No, yeah.Stacia Weishaar (22:19)
are really, really difficult to obtain because not all of the me’s of the world understand that product, right? And banks don’t have access to it. And mortgage bankers might have access to a few of those solutions, but the rates are really high. Now, that’s why I became a broker is because I was tired of passing my clients on knowing that there are solutions out there because I’m also a coach in my industry and I coach enough people to know the differences.I was like, this is my wheelhouse. Like I’m a problem solver. So, you know, looking holistically at that market, I’m an expert in non-QM lending and people will be told, the rates are really high. They’re not actually, they’re can be as competitive as, you know, agency financing. And so I’m trying to break those myths. That’s one of my goals is to make sure that people understand that marketplace for those people that want to buy.
and want to leverage debt to do so by real estate. The second thing is to that ecosystem is growing and there’s a lot of opportunity in that ecosystem that I see as an entrepreneur. And so I’ll be a forefront leader within that space and figuring out how it’s going to evolve moving forward.
Quentin (23:33)
Yeah. Well, listen, you are so needed in this space. And I’m so glad that one, you are very confident about what you do. You know who you are. I have a saying, and this hit me when I was at a crossroad in my life. And I’ve stuck to this, stuck to this saying, when you know who you are, you know what to do. So when you know who you are, that person in any situation, they know what to do. And I love how you’re confident you know who you are within this space.Stacia Weishaar (23:36)
Yeah.Quentin (24:00)
and you are what people need within this space. So I really, really appreciate you coming through and I really appreciate you just being serious about what you’re doing. And I can’t, I wish I could find a more better way to say it, but you, I sense you take seriously what you’re doing. And I wish I could say it another way, but I think you figured out what I’m saying. Like you’re doing what you know you’re supposed to be doing. And if this is not enough, you’re going to create what needed to be enough.so that you can continue to help people. And so I really appreciate you. listen, if someone, please go ahead. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Stacey.
Stacia Weishaar (24:29)
Yeah, thank you. No,I said thank you. That’s a very nice compliment. I appreciate it.
Quentin (24:36)
Absolutely.If someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, how can they get in contact with you,
Stacia Weishaar (24:44)
I am on everything. you can, my Instagram handle is, you know, Stacia underscore Weishaar. on all the social channels. I also have my website for my mortgage business is Delightful Refuge. There’s a story behind that, but we don’t have time to get into it. So that’s my website.But I also am on everything. If you Google my name, it’s unique enough that you can find me. And I’m happy to help and connect. I love making connections like we’re doing here today.
Quentin (25:19)
Absolutely. It’s funny you said that. This is so crazy because I love finding out the meaning in people’s name and I always wait till the end. I’m like, dang, I should have asked that in the beginning. So I love it. We will have to do this again for sure. If you’re up to it, I would love to do it again. But I want to say three things to you. You stole my thunder. People who watch me, they know I say this. First thing I thank people for is their time.Stacia Weishaar (25:28)
ThankQuentin (25:44)
I tell people that time is their most precious commodity. And you said that earlier and I was like, what is going on here? But, no, honestly, you could have been anywhere in the world. You’re a boy mom. mean, you got things that you can be doing. So thank you for your time. Your time is precious to me and I don’t take it lightly. We can put a premium on L time. We can put a price tag on L time. And so thank you so much for your time. Secondly, thank you for your story. Thank you for leading with.Stacia Weishaar (25:47)
I spilled it.Quentin (26:11)
authenticity. I say thank you like for the gift of your vulnerability. You share stuff with us that you did not have to share. And I believe stories have a way of planting a seed in other people. may not see the growth of that seed. It may come two years later, three years later, but if we trace it back, it can be traced back to a story, a seed that we put in people. And so thank you for your story. And lastly, just thank you for your perspective, your mindset and the way you think and bringing that mindset to this platform.I greatly appreciate you, man. Thank you for being here. Absolutely. Absolutely. So listen, y’all heard Miss Stacia. Look in the show notes, get in contact with her, check her out. Definitely make sure you’re subscribed here. I keep telling y’all. I keep saying it. We’re going to keep bringing up amazing people. ⁓ we just, I just, love this. I love what I do. And so definitely make sure y’all are connected. That way you can just come in when the alarm goes off. And so Miss Stacia, thank you again.
Stacia Weishaar (26:43)
My pleasure. Thanks for having me.Quentin (27:08)
And to everyone else, listen, y’all have a fantastic day.
