Designation
Certified Mortgage Advisor
An advisory designation focused on long-term mortgage strategy, distinct from transactional loan-officer credentials.
About
Charlie Peterson, Certified Mortgage Advisor.
A West Michigan mortgage advisor for first-time home buyers, move-up buyers, jumbo applicants, and real-estate investors. Mortgages explained in plain English when you are new to the process, and framed as a component of a long-term wealth plan when you are not.
- Credential
-
Certified Mortgage Advisor
NMLS #1632141 - At
- Priority Home Mortgage
- Direct line
- (248) 762-8685
The practice
Why Charlie's clients call him an advisor, not a lender.
Most mortgage conversations end at the rate. Charlie's start there and keep going for another forty-five minutes.
Charlie Peterson is a Certified Mortgage Advisor (NMLS #1632141) at Priority Home Mortgage. He joined PHM in July 2019 and has been in mortgage lending since August 2017, when he started at Towne Mortgage in Troy, Michigan. The practice runs two lanes. The first is first-time home buyers across West Michigan, walked through MSHDA, FHA, Conventional 97, VA, and USDA programs in plain English with a 20-minute discovery call as the natural first step. The second is specialist work, move-up buyers, jumbo applicants, and real-estate investors, the borrowers whose situations a typical loan officer treats as edge cases. Edge cases are core business.
The path into mortgage was unusual. From late 2014 through 2019, Charlie ran consulting and property management out of Shorewood Investments in Lake Orion, Michigan. The years spent on the operational side of rental real estate, balancing turn costs, modeling actual cash flow, learning what makes a property profitable versus what just looks like it does, are why his investor practice today is what it is. Most loan officers learn DSCR from a guideline matrix. Charlie learned it from running buildings.
The framing is deliberate. A typical loan officer is paid to close transactions. An advisor is paid to be right about the long-term picture: when refinancing makes sense and when it does not, when a HELOC beats a cash-out, how to layer investment-property financing without choking off the next purchase, when to structure a Buy-Before-You-Sell bridge instead of forcing a contingency that weakens the offer.
Charlie attends every closing. He runs annual reviews on every active client file. The relationship is designed to last across multiple homes and multiple market cycles, which is the only timeframe over which mortgage strategy actually compounds.
"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."
Rebecca B., move-up buyer, East Grand Rapids
Credentials
Verified, licensed, and accountable.
Mortgage loan originators in the United States are regulated by the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System. Charlie's individual NMLS ID is the canonical reference for verifying his license status in any state.
License (individual)
NMLS #1632141
Verify on NMLS Consumer AccessBrokerage
Priority Home Mortgage
A dba of PFN Lending Group, Inc.. Corporate NMLS #103098. Equal Housing Lender.
License (states)
MI · GA · FL · NC · CO
Michigan, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Colorado.
Where Charlie works
West Michigan, with selective out-of-state files.
The primary market is West Michigan: Grand Rapids and the surrounding suburbs, plus the lakeshore. License in 5 states means a portion of the practice handles cross-state portfolio scenarios.
Licensed states
- MI Michigan
- GA Georgia
- FL Florida
- NC North Carolina
- CO Colorado
West Michigan cities served
- Grand Rapids
- Cascade
- East Grand Rapids
- Ada
- Forest Hills
- Byron Center
- Holland
- Muskegon
- Grand Haven
- Spring Lake
Don't see your city? Charlie regularly closes files across the broader Grand Rapids metro and the entire Michigan lakeshore. Ask.
Practice areas
The files Charlie takes most often.
Two lanes. First-time home buyers as the primary funnel, with program-by-program walk-through and a discovery call as the first step. Specialist work, move-up, jumbo, investor, in the parallel advisory funnel for borrowers whose situations a generalist mortgage shop treats as inconvenient.
First-time home buyers
MSHDA down-payment assistance, FHA, Conventional 97 (HomeReady and Home Possible), VA, and USDA. Plain-English program guidance plus a discovery call as the natural first step. The primary funnel of the practice.
Move-up and bridge
Buy-Before-You-Sell, bridge financing, and offer structures that work in slow-inventory markets without contingencies that weaken your position.
Jumbo financing
Loans above conforming limits for West Michigan luxury, move-up, and high-net-worth buyers. Reserve-heavy profiles, asset depletion, and self-employed borrowers welcome.
Investor financing
DSCR loans (qualifying on property cash flow) and broader Non-QM products for investors building or scaling a rental portfolio.
Strategic refinance
Cash-out, rate/term, and HELOC strategies framed against long-term portfolio outcomes rather than headline rate alone.
Move-up buyers, jumbo applicants, and real-estate investors find Charlie’s advisory funnel at workwithcharlie.com/advisory . First-time home buyers land on the main page at workwithcharlie.com , with MSHDA, FHA, Conventional 97, VA, and USDA program guidance.
Common questions
What clients ask before booking.
Most strategy-session requests come after a 10-minute scan of these. If your question is not here, charlie@mypriorityhome.com lands directly in his inbox.
Who is Charlie Peterson?
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.
Where is Charlie Peterson licensed?
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.
Does Charlie work with first-time home buyers?
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.
What first-time-buyer programs does Charlie cover?
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).
What does it cost to work with Charlie?
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.
How do I verify Charlie Peterson on NMLS?
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.
How fast does Charlie respond to inquiries?
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.
How do I book a session with Charlie?
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.
Can Charlie help me buy a new home before I sell my current one?
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.
Does Charlie handle jumbo loans in West Michigan?
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.
Does Charlie work with real-estate investors?
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.
How is a Certified Mortgage Advisor different from a typical loan officer?
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.
What is a Portfolio Strategy Session?
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.
From a client
“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.”
Rebecca B. · Move-up buyer, East Grand Rapids