About
About Forward Mortgage
We help people at every stage of life — from first-time buyers on up — with an analytical, education-first approach to every mortgage decision they face. When (and only when) a refinance actually makes mathematical sense, we help them think it through. Most lenders chase refinances. We chase the right answer.
We’re an independent broker, which means we shop your loan across multiple lenders rather than pushing a single product. And we stay small on purpose — the person you call is the person who knows your file.
Most lenders chase refinances. We chase the right answer.
The relationship doesn’t end at closing
A mortgage is a long-horizon financial decision. Most lenders treat it as a one-time transaction: pick a loan, close, send a postcard in three years asking if you want to refinance.
That’s the model we’re not interested in. Our intent is to be the lender you call before you write your first offer, and the lender you call eight years later when life shifts and your financing should shift with it.
Same number. Same person. Eight years later.
How we work with clients
Six commitments. Easier to write down than to live, but we try to live them anyway.
Educate, don’t pitch
If you understand what you’re signing, you don’t need to be sold. Our job is to make sure you understand. The decision is yours.
Process expertise
Brian processed loans for a decade before originating one. We know what makes a file close cleanly — and what gets cleaned up at the last minute by lenders who don’t.
If it’s not right, we’ll say so
A refinance that doesn’t pencil out, a payment that worries us, a program that fits a different family better — we’ll tell you. Even when telling you costs us the deal.
No script, no chase
We don’t cold-call, we don’t mislead, and we don’t chase. If we’re right for each other, you’ll know in the first conversation. If not, we’ll point you somewhere better.
You don’t know what you don’t know
Down payment vs. cash to close. Why the 10-year Treasury matters more than the Fed. When DPA programs come with a hidden lien. We’ll explain the things you didn’t even know to ask.
The “mom” test
It’s the filter we run every recommendation through: would we put our own mom into this loan? If not, we won’t put you into it.
Our team
Two of us. On purpose. We stay small so the person you talk to on day one is the person who knows your file on day forty-five — and the same person you call for a question two years later.
Brian Mutter
Loan Officer · NMLS #1109257
Lynn Marie Oates
Loan Officer · NMLS #1495433
Pick whomever feels right. Both of us own our files end to end. No queues, no hand-offs.
Divorce mortgage planning
Brian holds the Certified Divorce Lending Professional (CDLP) designation and is a member of CPIM (the Council of Professional Investigators & Mediators). The financial mechanics of divorce — timing the refinance, qualifying on a single income, structuring an equity buyout, making sure the decree’s language doesn’t back you into a corner later — have their own rulebook.
For clients in that situation, we maintain a separate site dedicated to it: divorcemortgageplanner.com.
Where to find us
Forward Mortgage322 S. Main St. Suite 230
Rochester, MI 48307
(248) 956-0445 · text us