FXBG Neighbors Podcast
Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
FXBG Neighbors Podcast
EP #169 How A Local Lender Helps Homebuyers In Fredericksburg
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A lot of people talk about “local,” but Tammy Reid lives it. From a purple door on William Street in downtown Fredericksburg, Tammy and the Union Home Mortgage team help neighbors navigate some of the biggest decisions they’ll ever make, from first-time homebuyer loans to renovation financing, home equity loans, and construction-to-perm mortgages. And behind that work is a story that starts with a hard pivot: walking away from running multiple 7-Eleven stores, turning in the keys, and jumping into commission-only mortgage lending with three kids depending on them.
We get into what it really takes to build a 30-year mortgage career and a relationship-based business at the same time. Tammy shares what makes it possible to work with your spouse, how respect and staying in your own lane keeps the partnership strong, and why living in Fredericksburg for decades makes serving the community feel personal. You’ll also hear how their office makes giving back a monthly habit, from supporting the Fredericksburg Food Bank to working with Habitat for Humanity and helping keep downtown Fredericksburg beautiful.
The conversation goes deeper than feel-good stories, too. Tammy explains the behind-the-scenes reality of being a mortgage lender, why the job is not nine to five, and what she learned during the 2008 market crash and her time as a mortgage fraud investigator in Virginia. If you’ve ever wondered what your lender is doing while you wait for updates, or how to choose someone you can actually trust, this one will make you a smarter borrower and a more confident neighbor.
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Tammy Reid
Union Home Mortgage
(540) 300-2421
606 William Street, Fredericksburg, VA
Welcome To Fredericksburg Neighbors
SpeakerThis is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.
Speaker 2Welcome back to another episode of the FXBG Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. I have a special guest joining me today. We've got Tammy Reid with us with Union Home Mortgage. Tammy, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 1Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm excited.
Speaker 2I'm excited too. I want to learn more about you, and I want to learn more about Union Home Mortgage. So let's start there.
What Union Home Mortgage Does
Speaker 2Share with us a little bit about Union Home Mortgage.
Speaker 1So, Union Home Mortgage here, we are hometown winders here in Fredericksburg. We are in actually downtown Fredericksburg, right on William Street. It's my husband. Our office consists of my husband, who's the branch manager, myself, who's public relations business development, Valerie Shields, who is our what we call secret sauce. She's our loan officer assistant. And we have Jenny Books, who's another loan officer as well. We have all products, as you know, mortgages in the name, Union Home Mortgage. We do all residential mortgages. So that could be anything from first-time home buyers to renovations to home equity loans, construction perm, anything related to residential home purchases.
Speaker 2Amazing. So I want to learn more about you, your background, and how Union Mortgage came to be.
From 7-Eleven To Home Loans
Speaker 2So share with us your backstory.
Speaker 1Okay. So when we got married, we we my husband was a franchise 7-Eleven franchisee owner. So we had three 7-Elevens and a little grocery store that he managed here in Fredericksburg. And um one night, Friday night, we're working together and he's in the back doing the deposits like normal. And he comes out and he says, I'm done. I said, Oh, good. He said, No, I'm done. I'm not doing this anymore. Uh, because it was like 80 hours a week, you know, 365 days a year, 24-7. We had a room in the back with our kids, had cuts, PlayStation, all the things. He says, No, we got to do something else. So we turned in the keys the next morning, and here we are, both of us, no jobs. And he saw an ad in the paper for mortgage loan officer. And I said, Are you crazy? That's commission only. We have three kids. So, anyway, um, long story short, went into the mortgage business. We did not start out as union. We are now landed with union, but we uh actually were with another mortgage company for years, and we've been here lending for over 30 years, Dori, uh, in the mortgage business.
Speaker 2Wow, amazing. That's such a great story in how sometimes a leap of faith is what it takes.
Speaker 1It took a true leap of faith there. Yep. And he told me I couldn't decorate his office or do anything until his first big check. So, which I'm a decorator, so that drove me crazy. But yeah, yep. So here we are 30 years later, still working side by side, 24 together, 24 hours a day, and we still like each other.
Speaker 2That is amazing.
Working With Your Spouse
Speaker 2What what advice would you give uh a couple who are thinking about going into business together? Because I imagine there's some tough times and some great times.
Speaker 1We get that question all the time. And most of my friends are like, I couldn't do that. I couldn't work myself. No, it does. Uh, we're very, very, very blessed. Um, we stay in each other's lanes, we know, we respect each other. Uh that's just been a blessing. And we just have always from day one, not only in business, but personal, because we're a blended family, and that can be challenging too. And we've just uh we've just very blessed. Only thing I can say is we've always uh respected each other and uh each other's opinions and each other's roles and so forth. Yeah.
Speaker 2Respect is a great word. I think that's uh that says it all.
Speaker 1Yeah. Now it is challenging because we work together and it's it's it's a lot to take that time for just us sometimes. Uh, but we seem to have made it work for 30 plus years. So nice.
Speaker 2I love it.
Why Being Local Matters
Speaker 2So you talk about how you are from here and uh you live in in Fredericksburg. And talk to me about the importance of that to you.
Speaker 1Yeah, I am I'm a native of Fredericksburg, been here 66 years. Um, born and raised here, my whole family were diehards, uh, here, very involved in the community. My brothers were legends, my parents. Um community is what it's always been about for us, and um I value that to see Fredericksburg what it is today compared to what it used to be growing up. Um, it's amazing. And we're in downtown Fredericksburg, and that makes it even better, our office. I love it being able to walk to the shops and the restaurants and support friends, and it's it means a lot. And we won the best main street in the south, so that's pretty cool. Yeah, I I I um yeah, it's really personal to me to live here all these years and see how wonderful it continues to be and grow.
Speaker 2I can feel the pride.
Speaker 1I can feel yeah, I can feel it right here too. My heart's pounding.
Speaker 2Yay! Yeah. And you all do a lot to give back to the community.
Serving Fredericksburg Month By Month
Speaker 2Talk to me about what you all do and the importance of that.
Speaker 1So that's that's mainly my role um is is community service. I'm the chairman of community service for the Builder Association and Fab Foundation of the Builder Association, but we've always been a part of um all the org, a lot of the organizations here in in in town. The Fredericksburg Food Bank, we even served on that that board for a while. But that once a month we tried, we do do a project once a month in Fredericksburg, it's planned or surrounding area uh to get back to the community. It could be from the food bank, it could be from the habitats, whether it be Fredericksburg Habitat or Caroline Habitat. We help build homes uh for the homeowners involved in Habitat. We help with Habitat Restore, Fredericksburg Main Street, we um do the flowers and things downtown Fredericksburg. That's us. We plant the flowers and the Christmas trees. Um I'm trying to think. There's so many organizations we're a part of in the community, but that's where it our reward really comes from is giving back to the community that's been so good to us. We and a lot of the clients that come to us that are have their own charities or fundraisers, we we participate in those as well.
Speaker 2That's so important. Um, and and it's so important for your clients to see that and be part of that too, through you. And I've watched you around town. You're you're involved in many organizations like you mentioned, and that relationship building for your type of business is I imagine more important than most because it is like you mentioned, one of the biggest decisions people make or purchases that people make in their life. So I gotta tell you, you are fantastic at relationship building, and um, I just uh love what you do.
Speaker 1Thank you. That that's my passion. Um yeah, that's my passion. My husband says I'm the best volunteer relationship person ever. But um truly, I think that's what it's about. Any the groups that we have started ourselves, the networking groups, the taco twos, it's about relationships. You got to have that trust, know, like and trust. Same thing in our business, they got to know, like you, and trust you. And then that's what most of our business comes from past clients, past referral business. So um, yeah, it's it's about relationships. And it starts with John and I. And that's where it starts for us to be able to do this for 30 years together, live together, work together, and we try to convey that to the public.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah.
The Unseen Work Behind Mortgages
Speaker 2What is something that you wish the listeners knew about union home mortgage?
Speaker 1Well, I just said that one about how much community, how much we love the community and how much we value relationships, uh, I would say is our top thing. And anybody that knows us as you do, um, know that. But I also not just union home mortgage, just the mortgage business in general, is a lot that goes unseen behind the scenes that people do not. I wish, I said, I wish every realtor had been a loan officer before and homeowner. There's a lot, lot to it. And back in 2008, when we had the market crash and all of that, you learn how to overcome obstacles and hardships because we were commission only, right? So um I was fortunate enough to to become a mortgage fraud investigator for the state of Virginia.
Speaker 2Oh, wow.
Speaker 1Yeah, and um, it was overwhelming how many people got mortgages and didn't know what they were doing. And that's where what happened, why why all of that downfall happened and all the things. And um, I learned a lot about what, yeah, to how to educate people better. So that was a hardship yet that we overcame that led to a blessing on how to educate people every step of the way because they don't know. Um, so a lot of people think it's nine to five. No, it's at night, we get phone calls all hours of night, morning, text, what have you. Um, there's a lot more to it. And I remember one realtor who had known me forever came up a few years back and asked if I would do something at 5 30 with her that evening, an event. I'm like, absolutely. You mean you work after lenders work after five o'clock, mortgage lenders, nobody I'm like, yes, we do. So yes, I'm speaking on half of all of us. Yes, we do. It's it's not a nine to five job.
Speaker 2That's uh you you wear a lot of hats and you do a lot of things. Uh, you know, I didn't realize that it was, you know, kind of round the clock like that, and you're involved in organizations and you're a mother and a wife, and in a meeting.
Holding It Together With Time Blocks
Speaker 2And so, do you have any wisdom to share with those of us who are trying to hold it all together?
Speaker 1So I get asked that all the time too. How you do, how you do it? I I have to say, A, I love, I do love what I do, uh, all the things. Um, and so it's not, I'm very blessed to have a job. My part of the job is is relationship. Unfortunately, I I love that. I have the easy part to be honest. Um, but every morning I pray. Hey, some mornings I don't feel like I got, please, Jesus help me. And that's a true story. Please, you know, I got this, this, and this. And um, yeah, just relying on that and knowing when. I have to say no sometimes and knowing when to do that, but I time block everything. Uh, so everything is on a calendar, and sometimes it gets met, but that helps keep our sanity a lot for both of us. I time block for the whole office. This is what we're doing now, this is what we're doing now. So that helps a lot.
Speaker 2That's good advice.
How To Find The Purple Door
Speaker 2So if the listeners want to learn more from you, if they want to connect with you, where can they find you?
Speaker 1I would love that. We love visitors. We are downtown William Street, 606 Williams Street. We're right across from Mellow Mushroom. Love for anybody to stop by. You see the purple door, uh, that's our signature, our purple door. Stop by, visit us. You can email me at tread at uhm.com. You can call, you can go to our websites. But we love for you to come by. We love being downtown and people can just pop in. So I invite you and challenge you to stop by 606 Williams Street.
Speaker 2Amazing. Tammy, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today and sharing Union Home Mortgage with us.
Speaker 1Hey, thank you, Dori, for having me.
SpeakerIt's a pleasure. Thank you.
unknownThanks.
Nominate A Local Business
SpeakerThank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to FXBG Neighbors Podcast.com.