Sarah Shields has been a mortgage loan officer with PNC Mortgage for 15 months. She was a home mortgage consultant with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage before that for two years.
Before lending?
She was vice president of sales and marketing for an accounts receivable management company. She was in the collection industry in sales for nine years.
Name sound familiar?
Shields is the daughter of Jan Shields, a well-known Realtor at the beach. “When I was growing up at the beach, my mom was a Realtor and my dad was a custom home builder, so I knew what an appraisal was at the age of 11.”
Why go into mortgage industry?
“When I decided to change careers this industry spoke to me. As a child of a Realtor, I have a good feel for what Realtors need. You need to be available on the weekends and you need to be able to answer your phone because that is when Realtors are out showing property. It is also important to keep people informed and give updates throughout the process. I try to be sensitive to the needs of the Realtors as well as the borrower.”
Why not real estate?
She started in the mortgage industry about three and a half years ago when the market was still flat. “I did consider going into real estate, but after discussing it with my mom, we decided the timing wasn’t good to jump start a career. I would probably be able to go further by going into mortgages.”
Past experience help?
“It was a sales position and it was also a lot of obtaining large clients. My accounts included Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Washington Mutual and the Dish network, to name a few. I acted as a project manager of the account in making sure everything happened as it should. There are a lot of moving parts, which is very similar to being a mortgage officer with all the moving parts of getting a loan from start to close. My job required a lot of traveling. I was always on airplanes and in hotels because wherever the big clients were, I would go. My territory was the United States. I love that I don’t have to live on the road anymore.”
College
She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of North Florida.
How did she get here?
Her family is from Seattle, but moved to Jacksonville when she was young. After college she left Jacksonville to move back to Seattle and got the job with the accounts receivable management company. “I wanted to do my own thing and make my own way. I started my career in the collection industry as a sales person. I started with a local company and then decided I needed to look for a new company. I’m living in Seattle and said I was not moving back to Jacksonville. I was looking for a new job and spoke with a headhunter who found a company that fit my needs, but they were based out of Jacksonville. I started coming down with my daughter and staying at my parents house and stay for a week. Then I’d come down and stay for two weeks. Eventually I decided that Atlantic Beach is really neat place and a good place to raise my daughter so I moved here.”
How’s it going?
“It’s going phenomenally well. This month I will close 23 loans for over $4 million. There’s been a lot of hard work, but when you get to a month like this it is so rewarding.”
How are Realtors important to you?
“I really feel like I have some good Realtor relationships where they use me as exclusively as they can. They are my partners in success and in providing the whole customer service package. It is a team effort to get everything to the finish line.”
Like about lending?
Shields said she likes that the sky is the limit as far as income. “It’s all a matter of how hard I want to work. I am the captain of my own shift and am building my own business. I have PNC behind me, but I am my own brand.”
Learning by example
Shields said watching her parents who were successful business people was a great way to learn. “If you work hard, work with integrity and honesty, the business will come to you.” She added that communication is also very important even if it is bad news. “You need to come to the client and say, ‘Here is the problem and either here is the solution or it isn’t going to work at this time.’ I’ve had people thank me telling them the problem upfront.”
Advice for Realtors when dealing with loan officers?
“Know the importance of doing pre-approvals with buyers as quickly as possible so you are not wasting your time on someone who does not qualify for a loan at that time. They may qualify down the road, but if they have a bad credit score, they have some work to do.”
Family
She lives with her partner, Kelly, in Atlantic Beach and they have an 8-year-old daughter, Lily.
Professional organizations
Northeast Florida Association of Realtors and Jacksonville Women’s Council of Realtors.
Advice for new loan officer
“Communication is very important.”
Something about you no one knows
“I ran the Honolulu Marathon in 2000 and haven’t run once since.”
– by Michele Gillis