Mortgage Loan Originator · NMLS #139088
Forty years of files.
Michele Fulcher is a career mortgage banker. She has closed thousands of client loans, been nominated to a Who’s Who list of loan officers two years running at roughly $40 million a year, and spent part of that career running her own mortgage company.
One person, two names
Michele Fulcher was Michele Sims.
She originated as Michele Sims for most of her career and changed her name when she married a few years ago. Same person, same NMLS number, #139088. If you find a client review, a referral, or a record under the Sims name, that is her.
It is worth saying plainly rather than leaving people to work it out.
How she works
She reads the guidelines.
In her own words: she strives to match the best available loan program, down payment, and pricing to get a client to the end goal of property ownership. She thinks it is important to provide all the options, and to be educated on the underwriting guideline, so that everyone has checked that you can meet the requirements for a successful closing.
She reads underwriting guidelines and rate matrices so she can explain to buyers, agents, builders, and sellers why something is needed, and prepare them for it. That is what makes requesting documents up front possible, and it is why her files tend not to stall late.
She is well versed on FHA, VA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, USDA, Non-QM, closing in a business name, and new construction. And if she does not know, she researches it until she has the answer.
And afterwards
She picks up the phone.
She makes herself available after hours and on weekends, and communicates in whatever way works for you and for the other parties in the transaction. She will speak to a listing agent on your behalf to help make your offer the accepted one.
She uses her low NMLS number to show you are working with an experienced loan officer, so there is no question about who is handling the transaction. NMLS registration opened in 2008; a six-digit number starting with 1 puts her in the earliest cohort of originators on the registry. You can verify it yourself.
The arc
Where the forty years went.
- 2022 to now
Priority Home Mortgage
One of the originators who joined at the firm’s founding.
- 2019 to 2022
BM Real Estate Services, Hamilton Home Loans, Lower
Three firms, the same working team through all of them.
- 2015 to 2017
A.S. Financial Corporation
President and Owner of her own mortgage brokerage in Commerce Township.
- 1999 to 2010
Birmingham Bancorp Mortgage
Senior Loan Officer, a decade in one seat, and multiple trophies as the company’s number one originator by sales.
- The 1980s
Career begins
Every rate environment since: double-digit rates in the 1980s, the collapse in 2008, and everything after.
Licensed in Michigan and Florida. Serving Traverse City, Fife Lake, Kalkaska, Grayling, Cadillac, Roscommon, Houghton Lake, Kingsley, and the surrounding Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Missaukee, Wexford, and Roscommon county areas. Michele meets clients across the region rather than at a storefront.
The part she is proudest of
She built the whole thing, then chose the desk.
From 2015 to 2017, Michele was President and Owner of A.S. Financial Corporation, her own mortgage brokerage in Commerce Township. She calls it the highest achievement of her career: she started it, and she ran it.
Running it meant daily operations, marketing, and compliance. When the Michigan state auditor came, Michele was told to expect a week at minimum. She had her files, her signage, and her office organized and ready. The auditor was there a day and a half, and the audit came back clean. She was, in her words, over the moon.
Running it also meant less time originating loans, which is the part she likes best. So she closed the company and went back to it. She chose the desk over the corner office.
Common questions
What people ask before they call.
If yours is not here, it is worth asking directly.
Who is Michele Fulcher?
Michele Fulcher is a Mortgage Loan Originator at Priority Home Mortgage, NMLS #139088. She has spent 40 years in mortgage lending and has closed thousands of client loans. She was nominated to a Who’s Who list of loan officers two years running, closing roughly $40 million a year. From 2015 to 2017 she was President and owner of A.S. Financial Corporation, her own mortgage company. She works with experienced homeowners, first-time buyers, and real-estate investors across northern Michigan.
Was Michele Fulcher previously known as Michele Sims?
Yes. Michele Fulcher originated as Michele Sims for most of her career and changed her name when she married a few years ago. Same person, same NMLS number, #139088. Client reviews and records from before the change carry the Sims name.
What areas does Michele Fulcher serve?
Northern Michigan. She is based in the Fife Lake area and works across Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Missaukee, Wexford, and Roscommon counties, including Traverse City, Fife Lake, Kalkaska, Grayling, Cadillac, Roscommon, Houghton Lake, Kingsley. She is licensed in Michigan and Florida. She serves clients across the region rather than from a storefront office.
Why does an experienced homeowner need a loan officer rather than a bank?
Because on a second or third purchase the hard part is structure, not approval. Sequencing a purchase against a sale, deciding whether to keep the current house as a rental, pricing discount points against a break-even, and getting a condo or unusual property through review are all decisions made before underwriting, and they are where the money is.
What does Michele mean by reading the underwriting guidelines?
Each loan program publishes guidelines and a rate matrix setting out what a file must contain. She reads them for your specific program so she can tell you which documents are needed and why, and request them at the start. That is what prevents a file stalling late over something that could have been handled in the first week.
What first-time home buyer programs does Michele work with?
FHA, VA, USDA, and conventional loans through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, plus down-payment-assistance programs matched to what you actually qualify for. She will also run payment and cash-to-close estimates on real listings before you write an offer, and refer an insurance agent early so you have a real quote to plan around.
Can Michele help if my credit score is not high enough yet?
Often, yes. A credit simulator projects which specific action moves your score and by how much, so you spend effort on the change that actually improves your pricing. Sometimes rescoring after a correction or a paydown is enough. Sometimes waiting is the cheaper answer, and she will say so. A simulator projects rather than promises; the credit bureaus decide the actual result.
What is a DSCR loan, and does Michele do them?
Yes. A DSCR loan qualifies the property rather than the borrower: underwriting compares the rent the property brings in against the payment it has to cover. On most DSCR programs there is no employment verification and no personal income calculation, though requirements vary by program. It is useful when the write-offs that help you at tax time work against you in underwriting. Pricing and down payment differ from a primary-residence loan.
Can I close an investment property in my business name?
Yes, and there are three common reasons to. Keeping additional financed rentals off your personal debt load, holding liability inside the business for tax purposes, and staying anonymous to tenants who deal with a property manager. The entity structure itself is a question for your CPA and attorney; Michele handles the financing around it.
Does Michele work with short-term rentals in the Traverse City area?
Yes. Northern Michigan has a real short-term-rental market, and the financing follows the exit you plan at the outset. Note that rules are local: Traverse City licenses vacation rentals and restricts them by zoning district, so confirm the specific parcel before counting on that income.
How do I verify Michele Fulcher’s license?
Look up NMLS #139088 on the public NMLS Consumer Access registry. Her low number reflects how early she registered. Priority Home Mortgage is a dba of PFN Lending Group, Inc., company NMLS #103098.
When is Michele available?
After hours and on weekends, because that is when offers get written. She will also speak to a listing agent on your behalf to help your offer get accepted, and communicates by whatever method works best for you and the other parties in the transaction.
Where to go next