Meet Joe Petrowsky, Mortgage Consultant

I met Joe Petrowsky when I attended my wife Carole's BNI business leads group meeting a few years ago. I drive past Right Trac Financial Group, Joe's business at 110 Main St., almost every day and I was curious about the business. I contacted Joe and asked him to share his thoughts about his business and what is happening with mortgages these days.

Timothy Becker: Joe, what services do you offer here at Right Trac Financial Services?

Joe Petrowsky: I have this belief that anyone who wants to own a home should be able to get a mortgage. It is my responsibility to make sure that happens. Owning a home is still the American dream. The American dream is not renting a home.

Timothy Becker: What type of mortgages do you offer?

Joe Petrowsky: There is no type of mortgage that we don't do. We represent 40 different lenders. We can satisfy every imaginable niche, from reverse mortgages to forward mortgages, great credit to not so great credit. We also do VA mortgages for service people. Our veterans need to be taken care of in every way. We do business in the eight New England states, New York, and Florida. One hundred percent of our business is from referrals. I wrote my last ad in 1996 and we haven't advertised since.

Timothy Becker: How did you come up with the name of your business?

Joe Petrowsky: The predecessor to Right Trac was Access Capital. In March of 1997, I started reading letters from past clients. There was a common theme in all of them: “Thank you for getting us on the right track.” That is when I changed the name to Right Trac Financial. I paid attention to my customer's letters.

Timothy Becker: Do you have any thoughts about the sub-prime mortgages that were blamed for the financial crisis in 2008?

Joe Petrowsky: The mortgage broker community took the rap from the sub-prime loan debacle. The problem is no broker ever created a loan type. A broker could only write mortgages that were available from institutions. Greed created sub-prime loans. Wall Street packaged them into securities and sold them. I was not in favor of the bailouts. Fannie and Freddie were bailed out to the tune of $186 billion by the public. They never originated a sub-prime loan. The bailouts they received were for traditional loans.

Timothy Becker: How do you help people with less than perfect credit?

Joe Petrowsky: 25 percent of the loans that we do are referrals from banks and credit unions for loans that they can't do or won't do. There are wonderful people that got caught up in this debacle. Due to their history they can't get a mortgage from a bank. There is no bank that I can't compete with. Most people don't know how to fix their credit. They are scared to death of their credit report. It is my responsibility to help these people and get them a mortgage. It becomes my mission.

Timothy Becker: Can you give an example of a person that you were able to help?

Joe Petrowsky: I worked for 28 months with a women whose husband had left her with three children. She was working full-time and went to nursing school full-time. I set up a budget for her and coached her on how to fix her credit. She now owns a home with a $1,100 a month mortgage payment. She had been paying $1,300 a month in rent. I love what I do.

Timothy Becker: Your business can be emotional at times?

Joe Petrowsky: There are days when I walk out of here in tears. When you know a person is going to lose their home, those days are tough.

Timothy Becker: I understand that you have a blog. Can you tell me about it?

Joe Petrowsky: I write at least one mortgage a week due to my blog. If you told me that a year and a half ago, I wouldn't have believed that I would be blogging. I have strong opinions that I need to share with as many people as possible. My blogs are all stored at www.joepetrowsky.com.

Timothy Becker: What is your advice for people who are buying a home orrefinancing a mortgage?

Joe Petrowsky:. People don't know. People are afraid to be rejected. It is my job to coach people. There is always a way. Talk to someone who is knowledgeable. A bank or credit union officer isn't required to be licensed or pass an exam. A mortgage broker must pass an exam and take continuing education every year and must be licensed by the state and federal government. You should work with someone who is solution oriented.