Meet Julie Shank
A Senior Mortgage Advisor & Strategist (and giant nerd) with almost 10 years of experience, serving AR, AZ, CO, ID, NV, OR, TX and WA.
Hi, I’m Julie.
Spoiler alert: I’ve moved…a lot.
I was born and raised in Dallas before moving to beautiful Big Sky Country for a few years. Montana taught me how to drive any motorized vehicle over a snowy mountain pass, shoot guns, and withstand extreme temperatures.
Then came a decade in Colorado—where I got better at driving in the snow, fell in love with tiny mountain towns, and learned to navigate single motherhood. After graduating from the University of Colorado, my daughter and I landed in the Pacific Northwest.
We spent eleven years in Olympia, Washington—hiking rainforested mountains, appreciating sunshine, and getting very excited when “the mountain is out.” It’s also where I became deeply rooted in the military community as an Army spouse, had my youngest daughter, and became a mortgage advisor.
While my home is now back in the slow, country life of small town Texas, I spend many, many weeks every year in both Colorado and Washington.
Here’s the thing: mortgage questions tend to show up right in the middle of everything else, which is often chaotic. They show up when you’re moving, getting divorced, changing jobs, using your VA loan to begin or grow your real estate portfolio, buying your first house, or realizing the house you have is not working for your life anymore.
And then everybody has an opinion. Your cousin. TikTok. The person who told you to download a credit app. A guy at work who bought a house in 2019 and is suddenly a real estate economist.
I’m like a dog with a bone when it comes to helping my people find the right financing for their situation. I want to know what you’re trying to do, what you’ve already tried, and what the numbers actually say.
Because you do not need somebody to hand you the loan that is easiest for them and call it a strategy. You need someone who will explain your real options, help you understand the tradeoffs, and tell you when the thing you’re worried about is a real problem—and when it’s just some wackadoo’s opinion.
I’ll ask a lot of questions. I’ll be direct. I’ll make sure you understand what matters before you make a decision. No pressure, no shame, and no pretending every mortgage question has the same answer.
That’s the work: figuring out where you are, where you want to go, and what actually makes sense between here and there.
Everything is figureoutable.
Areas of Expertise
Certified Mortgage Advisor
I’m a Certified Mortgage Advisor (CMA), which means I completed additional education and training and committed to CMA’s ethical standards. More importantly, it reflects how I work: looking at the mortgage as part of your larger financial picture, not as a standalone transaction.
Divorce Lending Specialist
Divorce is hard. Sorting out what happens to the house, the mortgage, and the money while everything else is changing? Also hard. I help you get clear on the housing and financing pieces early, so you can make decisions based on actual information—not guesses, assumptions, or whoever spoke last.
Military Mortgage Specialist
VA loans are one of the best military benefits there is. They are also one of the most misunderstood. Your entitlement, timing, occupancy, and goals all matter. You deserve someone who understands how the whole benefit works—not someone who hands you the standard to-go order and calls it a strategy.