Strategic mortgage advisory · West Michigan
For West Michigan’s premier homeowners, jumbo buyers, and real-estate investors. Charlie Peterson treats your mortgage as one component of a long-term wealth plan. Because it is.
Certified Mortgage Advisor · Priority Home Mortgage · NMLS #1632141
The advisory process
The mortgage industry trains borrowers to expect a sales pitch. Our process is the opposite: conversation first, scenarios second, execution third. The relationship continues after closing.
A 30-minute conversation about where you’re trying to go, not just what you’re trying to buy. Equity, tax position, time horizon, family plans. We never quote a rate before we understand the why.
A custom scenario set comparing the structures that actually fit you: jumbo vs. conforming, fixed vs. ARM, bridge vs. cash-out, hold vs. rent. Real numbers, no marketing math.
We execute the plan, then keep the relationship. As the market moves, we revisit: refinance windows, second-property leverage, equity restructuring. Your mortgage is a tool, not a transaction.
Market intelligence
Snapshot as of May 2026. Refreshed quarterly.
Median Home Value
$314,900
+2.57% YoY
A stable safe-haven asset class, quietly compounding while volatile markets reset.
Luxury Hotspots
Cascade, Forest Hills, Byron Center
Where high-caliber inventory is moving and qualified buyers are competing.
Inventory Outlook
+9–17%
modest improvement
Negotiation leverage returning for move-up buyers. First time in three years.
Investment Outlook
+3.2%
projected appreciation through Sept 2026
Steady equity growth, well-suited to portfolio-tier and DSCR investors.
For complex profiles
The standard 30-year fixed isn’t always the right tool. Below are the programs we use most often for move-up buyers, jumbo applicants, and investors. None of them are off-the-shelf.
Move-up buyers and luxury-tier homeowners
2026’s jumbo guidelines reward preparation. We structure your application against the strictest preferred-profile requirements before underwriting touches it.
Real-estate investors expanding portfolios
Non-QM lending is forecast to reach the low teens in market share by late 2026. DSCR loans qualify the property, not your tax return. The right tool for a serious investor.
Homeowners trading up in a 6–6.5% rate environment
You don’t want to sell first and rent. You don’t want to carry two mortgages. We design the bridge.
Bridge availability varies by program. We confirm fit before we discuss structure.
In their words
“I felt like I was working with a highly respected friend. He even made himself available to answer my questions while he was on vacation with his family.”
Book a private call
Two questions to get us oriented. Charlie reviews every submission personally and follows up within the same business day.
Frequently asked
If you are evaluating whether Charlie is the right fit for your situation, these are the questions clients most often ask before they book a strategy session.
Charlie Peterson is a Certified Mortgage Advisor at Priority Home Mortgage, NMLS #1632141. He has been in mortgage lending since 2017 and joined Priority Home Mortgage in Grand Rapids in 2019. His practice serves first-time home buyers across West Michigan as the primary funnel, with a parallel advisory practice for move-up buyers, jumbo applicants, and real-estate investors. Before mortgage lending, he ran property-management consulting at Shorewood Investments in Lake Orion, Michigan, which is why his investor work draws from the operational side of rental real estate, not just the loan-product side.
Charlie is licensed to originate residential mortgage loans in Michigan, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and Colorado. His primary market is West Michigan, including Grand Rapids, Cascade, East Grand Rapids, Ada, Forest Hills, Byron Center, Holland, Muskegon, Grand Haven, and Spring Lake.
Yes. First-time home buyers are the primary audience of workwithcharlie.com. The homepage walks through MSHDA down-payment assistance, FHA, Conventional 97 with HomeReady and Home Possible variants, VA, and USDA programs in plain English, and lays out the five-step path from first call to keys. The natural first step is a 20-minute discovery call. No application, no credit pull, no commitment.
MSHDA (Michigan State Housing Development Authority) down-payment assistance up to $10,000, FHA loans for thinner credit profiles, Conventional 97 (3% down) including HomeReady and Home Possible variants for buyers under area median income, VA loans (0% down for eligible service members and veterans), and USDA loans (0% down for eligible rural areas, including most of the West Michigan lakeshore).
A discovery call or strategy session is free. Standard mortgage origination costs apply if and when you proceed with a loan, and rates and terms are competitive with major lenders. There is no application fee and no surprise costs at closing.
Visit NMLS Consumer Access at nmlsconsumeraccess.org and search the individual NMLS ID 1632141. The direct link to his profile is nmlsconsumeraccess.org/EntityDetails.aspx/INDIVIDUAL/1632141. NMLS is the federal regulator-of-record for residential mortgage loan originators in the United States.
Booking requests trigger an instant SMS to Charlie. Most clients hear back within an hour during business hours and the next morning otherwise. Email and phone are both staffed directly by Charlie, not a call center.
The fastest path is the calendar embedded in the booking module on workwithcharlie.com. Pick a 20-minute slot that works for you. You can also email charlie@mypriorityhome.com or call (248) 762-8685 directly.
Yes. Buy-Before-You-Sell and bridge financing are core to his advisory practice. He runs the carrying-cost math and structures the offer so the contingency does not weaken your position in a competitive market. There is a detailed essay on the bridge math at workwithcharlie.com/knowledge/buy-before-you-sell-bridge-math.
Yes. Jumbo financing is a core specialty of his advisory practice at workwithcharlie.com/advisory. He routinely closes loans above conforming limits for West Michigan luxury and move-up buyers, including reserve-heavy borrowers, self-employed profiles, and buyers using asset depletion to qualify.
Yes. He specializes in DSCR loans (Debt-Service-Coverage-Ratio loans that qualify on property cash flow rather than personal income) and broader Non-QM products. Suitable for investors building or scaling a rental portfolio. See workwithcharlie.com/advisory.
A typical loan officer is paid to close transactions. A Certified Mortgage Advisor models the mortgage as one component of a long-term wealth plan: when to refinance, when to recast, when to use a HELOC versus cash-out, how to layer investment-property financing. The framing is strategy, not paperwork. This shows up most directly on the advisory parallel funnel at workwithcharlie.com/advisory.
A 30-minute consultation on the advisory funnel at workwithcharlie.com/advisory in which Charlie reviews your full picture, your existing financing, your goals, and your timeline, then outlines a written mortgage strategy. There is no application, no obligation, and no credit pull. The deliverable is clarity on your next move, not a quote.
For the problem-aware, not yet booking
A short, dense brief on leveraging current home equity for a second property, tax-efficient ownership in Michigan (LLC vs. Trust), and the luxury-tier outlook for Cascade and Forest Hills through 2026.
One email. No drip-marketing avalanche. We won’t share your address.
Knowledge center
Plain language, real math, no clickbait. Updated as the market and the regulations move.
Strategy · Move-up
Bridge loans get a bad reputation. Sometimes deserved, sometimes not. The honest math, the four execution paths, and the three scenarios where bridging beats the contingency every time.
Read essay
Strategy · Jumbo
The 2026 conforming line, what counts as reserves, the 12-month timing rules that decide files, and the self-employed pathway. Plus the rate-spread paradox: why jumbo is sometimes cheaper than conforming.
Read essay
Strategy · Investor · Michigan-specific
The asset-protection reality, the SEV uncapping trap, the Garn-St. Germain due-on-sale carve-outs, and the decision framework for investors with their second to fifth door.
Read essay
