Meet Lauri, An Elevations Mortgage Loan Officer

Whether you’re embarking on your first home purchase, adding an investment property to your portfolio, buying a vacation home or considering a refinance, loan officer Lauri Larson from the Mortgage Team at Elevations Credit Union is ready to assist you. Lauri is based at the Boulder Diagonal Branch, where she’s helped members throughout Colorado for the past nine years. Learn more about her personalized approach to mortgage lending in this post.

With over 25 years of financial services experience, Lauri enjoys educating members on the best loan to meet their short-term and long-term goals. Before joining the Elevations team, she worked as a financial planner and investment advisor, a corporate treasurer, a CFO and a mortgage lender. She loves real estate and decided to focus on her affinity for mortgage loan origination at Elevations Credit Union.

Lauri Larson explores the whole picture. Buying a home affects every aspect of life, and Lauri believes it should enhance the journey — not become a burden. She firmly believes every loan should help the member get ahead in life and meet their financial goals. “I want the home to support you and not make you feel like you have to do everything to support the home,” she explains.

One of the first questions she asks applicants for both refinances and new home purchases is: How long do you plan to stay in the home? This question helps Lauri optimize the loan structure and payments to fit their lifestyle. “Are you going to live there for five years and then invest in something else, or is this your forever home? There are different strategies for financing and for how you want to pay down the loan,” she adds. “It’s also important to consider where you are at in your life. Is this home a stepping stone or your long-term residence to raise your family? Do you want it to complement your retirement plans?”

Lauri gets creative with her loans and communication  

“I work with first-time homebuyers and jumbo borrowers, as well as seasoned investors, and I love the variety. It’s a great spectrum. I’ve helped both my kids buy their first homes in Colorado, and I can also relate to investors, as I own rental properties. I tend to collect real estate like a girl buying a new pair of shoes. Ha!” she chuckles and says with a smile.

“The thing that makes the job fun is the different ways to communicate with people effectively,” she notes.  Lauri will ask if buyers are more focused on numbers or concepts. If they love numbers, she will dive deep into that aspect of the loan initially to connect. On the other hand, some would rather talk about their dream home’s features and how this investment fits into bigger life plans. Whatever communication approach works best, she’ll talk them through the mortgage process in their language.

Lauri also offers members ample reassurance and support. She stresses that if you have questions, please ask. None are trivial or silly. It’s common for a question to resurface more than once in the homebuying process as more information arises or changes, especially for first-time homebuyers or those looking to purchase before selling their current home.

Helping homebuyers make sound decisions

“My goal with the lending process is to have no surprises for the borrower. A lot of due diligence is done on the front end. I want them to have a smooth process once they go under contract on a new home purchase so that there are no 11th-hour issues,” she notes. “In all my years here at Elevations, I’ve never written a preapproval that hasn’t closed due to lending issues. I’m super proud of that. It shows the care and quality that my team and I put into that process.”

Lauri says Elevations has an excellent reputation in the mortgage marketplace and local community. In addition to offering top-tier rates and low fees, the company believes in service and communication. “We want our members to be delighted with the lending process,” she says.

Time in nature and with family makes her happy

Lauri craves time outdoors when she’s not helping Elevations members make a move or refinance a loan. “I love any road I haven’t been down, so I’m a sucker for a road that’s new, just to go check it out and see what’s there,” she laughs.

Lauri has lived in Colorado for over 29 years and says spending time outside — whether it’s hiking, water skiing, snow skiing, camping or fishing — is what keeps her grounded. “We could not have a better playground in Colorado. It’s just phenomenal. Enjoying those activities with family makes it even better.”

Lauri (NMLS# 287525) works from the Boulder Diagonal Branch. If you’d like to chat about your personal financing options, please reach out to her via email at LLarson@elevationscu.com or by phone at (303) 402-5451.