By: Gayle Rich-Boxman, Broker, Vernonia Realty (503)755-2905, www.lakehomesatfishhawk.com
( Fishhawk Lake Recreation Club Realtor and Fulltime Resident)
Relationship building is one of the keys to being successful in real estate and along with building good client relationships (because these folks will be living in my community, after all!), I also have a great team of experts that never fail to make me look good! One of my most treasured “team members” is Shawn Baeschlin, Senior Loan Officer, who works for a locally owned and operated business in Portland, Northwest Mortgage Group, Inc. There are so many reasons why I like working with Shawn, ones that seem to be repeated by all of the clients that I send his way to get a loan on a piece of property that they’re going to buy or get a better loan rate for refinancing an existing home/lot. He is efficient, “user-friendly”, no drama and acts like our financial advisor when we need one. He can think outside of the box, while also trying to protect your money, and if the deal doesn’t feel right, he’ll let you know his opinion, without overstepping. He also owns property at Fishhawk Lake–gotta LOVE that!!!! Since we are our own entity, it takes some extra knowledge to understand what we have out here. We don’t really fit the regular parameters of coastal property or country property, or even resort property. We are just plain DIFFERENT. And proud of it! He and I will work together very closely to make sure our shared clients are happy and comfortable throughout the whole loan process. We do get calls at all times of the night and are still accessible, when others in our business are nowhere to be found after 5pm! Yes, sometimes that falls into the “being neighborly” category, since buyers of Fishhawk Lake property are going to be living in the very same community where Shawn and I both own property, so we definitely go above and beyond the call of duty at times. But,that’s also what building relationships is all about.
An example of how wonderful Shawn is came as a result of a young couple who were first-time homebuyers that became clients of mine. They’d been pre-qualified by another loan officer, but when we started looking at the closing costs and it was coming to between $4-5,000 more than they should have been paying, all under the guise of “regular fees”, which is what they were being told, I said, let’s talk with my lender, Shawn and see what he says about these. Well, come to find out, it was quite padded and they were going to be putting money into that other loan officer’s pocket, essentially! Shawn saved them about $4,000 in closing costs and they were absolutely thrilled.
I had another set of clients who’d been working with Wells Fargo on a “refi” (refinance) and had been waiting for months to get any kind of forward motion. In the meantime, they had come out to Fishhawk Lake in pursuit of a lakefront home or lot where they could do some sailing. They fell in love with a home that just needed some updating. I turned them onto Shawn and in FIFTEEN minutes he had them pre-approved!!! They couldn’t believe it, especially after the experience (or lack thereof) they’d had with Wells Fargo. I think they even talked about doing their refi with Shawn as a result of his easy manner of doing business.
I have worked with him for several years and it only gets better. I like how creative he can be and honest and truly tries to get my clients the best loan with the least amount of time and hassles. He’s a good communicator and reflects my passion for giving excellent customer service which only makes me look better to my clients! Thank you, Shawn Baeschlin for havin’ my back!!!!
Fishhawklakerealtor's Blog 
Gayle, you hit the nail on the head sort of speak. I can never express enough how important well established professional relationships can make or break how smooth a transaction can go. The way you have expressed it are my thoughts exactly and working with Gayle makes it just as easy. I first found Fishhawk Lake in 1993 while working with a full time resident with their refinancing needs. I drove to the Lake, as at that time in the industry, the company I worked for was allowed to do there own in-house appraisals. I was the appraiser and got my first introduction to the lake. I fell in love with the area and 12 years later, I was in a position to buy a place. I had a different perspective at the time of purchasing and that was, I did not want to actually be lake front. I wanted access to the lake and view of the water, but what I also wanted and got was the most perfect Quintessential Cabin Chalet. It is surround by trees, sitting up on a hill, and with a ton of privacy. I get grumpy if I can not be there at least a couple weekends a month. After 5 years, I am still going just as often and can not imagine not having this escape from Portland. I have brought friends, family, and neighbors from Portland to the lake and they all end up loving it. In fact, one couple that came up made an offer that weekend and another couple ended making an offer on a house a few weeks later. Both of these couple were, with out a doubt referred to Gayle. Gayle is extremely outgoing, fun, witty, and at the same time, very professional. I have received great feedback from them, as well as our other mutual clients who have fallen in love with the place. The other great thing and of course the most important given our residency at the lake, confidentiality is always at the top of the list, then comes the service, trust, knowledge, and experience that both Gayle and I have to bring to the table.