The Covid-19 epidemic wreaked havoc on all areas of the economy, and while one might anticipate the mortgage business to suffer as well, the truth was quite the contrary. In 2020, the mortgage sector witnessed record low interest rates, which drove the refinancing boom, as millions of homeowners were able to reduce their monthly payments considerably. Mortgage lenders were ecstatic, with plenty of volume and healthy profits, and their only major concern was how to expand their operations to accommodate the influx of new business.
While a bank only offers the products of their particular institution, licensed mortgage professionals send millions of dollars in mortgage business each year to the country’s largest banks, credit unions, trust companies, and financial institutions, offering their clients more choice, and access to hundreds of mortgage products. As a result, clients benefit from the trust, confidence, and security of knowing they are getting the best mortgage for their needs.
Whether buying a house for the first time, pulling out equity from your home for investment or enjoyment, or just renewing your current mortgage, it’s critical to make an informed purchase decision based on expert unbiased counsel. One such professional advisor is Tracy Valko CVO and Founder of Valko Financial Ltd., an experienced principal mortgage broker and a renowned member of the Mortgage Professionals of Canada. She assists clients in obtaining mortgage financing for residential, commercial properties and investment properties as well. She has spent the last twenty-five years growing and adapting her business. She says, “This was not a role I stepped into at some point in my career. It’s been a very steady and dedicated dream to go from a one woman show who wants to help everyone, to a national brokerage that supports more than forty heart-centred and award-winning professionals.” As per her, this is what she always wanted, and everything about it is very aligned with who she is as a human being.
Valko Financial Ltd. caters towards providing financial wellness solutions for each individual client’s journey. The team offers Home Purchase Financing, Refinancing, Renewals, Reverse Mortgage, Debt Consolidation, Mortgage Life Insurance, Commercial Mortgages, as well as Leasing and its Money Matters® Credit Coaching programs to educate, inform, and empower clients in the choices they make in life going forward.
At the offices, the team is known for heart-centred leadership and service. They are all very aligned in values and priorities, and much of what they do is designed around their strengths, hearts and natural abilities. Tracy says, “My team of agents are all incredibly beautiful, ambitious and caring people who understand the true importance of homeownership and community. By surrounding myself with the right people, I don’t have to manage, I only need to support and lead by example.”
Tracy and her team are professionally and personally aligned with their core business values and personal values – their individual and collective priorities are focused in the communities where they live and work.
She asserts, “Leadership isn’t about standing out, it’s about lifting everyone up and having a full-circle mindset about the entire process – we are always growing, myself included.”
More Community Work in the Future
Tracy states that she’d like to get back into doing more Community Events since that’s where she feels most satisfied and happy. Throughout the pandemic, she did the best she could to stay in contact electronically, but it’s just not the same. She says, “We are very excited and hopeful for our upcoming 8th Annual Family Day Skate where we’ll finally get to see all our friends again from WWDSS, KWSPH,, The Food Bank of Waterloo Region, Family & Children Services of Waterloo, and many other amazing local organizations, businesses and people.”
Tracy likes to track and measure all results, so she is always looking to compare, change, and improve the processes and ensure the team is always providing the most exceptional experience and journey for the client. She opines, “I will never stop striving for improvement; Ever. I would like to continue to improve the options and offerings we provide for our clients and for our agents. Change is good.”
Trust Yourself
Tracy believes that every woman should trust herself, her gut, intuition, and instincts. She was told several times early in her career that she would not be (as) successful since she desired a family and a career.. Don’t listen to advice you haven’t asked for and trust yourself when it comes to your life and path..
She describes that there have been many risks and rewards along the way, but the greatest risk she took of all was entrepreneurship. She made the decision to leave her very safe and structured full-time job where she went from having only to ‘show up, work and leave’ to owning all the dangers, liabilities, responsibilities and difficulties along the way. It’s true, though, what they say, “with great risk comes great reward”, and “without risk, there can be no growth”.
Corporate Responsibilities as a Company
“Our corporate responsibility is very clearly mandated in all that we do – not just in our actions and words, but in our philosophies, our branding, our community involvement, and our community partners. We built this organization on honesty, integrity, commitment, and professionalism. There are no exceptions to the above, ” says Tracy.
She adds that everyone needs a roof over their heads. As a company, Valko Financial Ltd. wants to help more people become home-owners and offers many wonderful ways for them to achieve this. By increasing homeownership, the team increases the strength of the community. By giving regularly and generously to the charities and organizations the company has aligned with, it is supporting the community’s most vulnerable members as well.
Follow the Heart
Tracy wanted to have more freedom in how she was able to help people. She says, “Choice is power, and I wanted to give my clients more choices than banks could offer them. Now I’m able to give my entire organization choice, and it’s a pretty wonderful feeling.”
Tracy’s advice to emerging mortgage leaders is to ‘follow your heart’. She states, “If something doesn’t feel right, it usually isn’t. Don’t be afraid to do the right thing. You’ll never regret doing the right thing. Lastly, I would say, You’re amazing.”
Serving to Help People
Tracy doesn’t actually believe in “competition”. By that, I mean, she doesn’t compare herself to others. She says, “I do my very best and that’s all that matters. The same goes for the team and the organization as a whole. We spend zero time comparing ourselves to anyone else, but with that said, we whole-heartedly celebrate the successes of others in our industry and business. Success does not depend on the failure of others. ”
Tracy sees the company serving clients nationally and continuing to raise the bar as far as the services, standards of service, and products it offers. She asserts, “We are people helping people. If right now, owning a home is not possible for someone, we work with them until it is.” The company’s financial education and coaching programs are an absolute-game-changer for consumers, and for those wanting to join Valko Financials’ team of Elite Mortgage Professionals.
The Proud Moments
Tracy’s proudest moment as a leader was very recently. Valko Financial Ltd. was founded in 2018 and in 2020 it was named Best New Brokerage of the Year by the Mortgage Awards of Excellence. The written confirmation was incredibly bittersweet, having attended and enjoyed so many prestigious events and celebrations over the years, but this/our big moment was mid-pandemic.
With the help of Tracy’s leadership team (who were sworn to secrecy), the company hosted a spectacular virtual awards night and celebration for the entire brokerage so that they could all stop for a moment and applaud their own hard work and successes.
Tracy says, “It’s not been an easy year for any of us. Everyone received a surprise gift box to be enjoyed during the event. They were thrilled to be given their gourmet and decadent treats, and even a little bottle of bubbly. Some fun and not-so-official awards were given out that night along with the formal ones.”
She also adds, “It was during this virtual award celebration with my team that I sat back for a moment and realized that absolutely no fancy awards night or dinner could have topped what we created together, and that I couldn’t be prouder to have the people that I have by my side.”
