Today we’d like to introduce you to Pete Fajkowski.
Hi Pete, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
First, I have two emails: The one you used to reach out to me (pete@austinmps.com) for the brokerage and another, pete@homestart.us for my new company.
I own two companies: Mortgage Portfolio Services (25 years) and HomeStart (14) years.
Mortgage Portfolio Services (MPS) was built on honesty and client focus, not high-pressure sales. Our team listens first – understanding unique circumstances before customizing solutions that support both immediate needs and long-term success. With our services being built on a referral-based business model and a history of delivering exceptional service, we take pride in the relationships we’ve built over almost three decades.
With MPS, a mortgage is as unique as the person it serves – it’s a stepping stone toward financial independence. We are here to guide, educate, and empower so that every client feels confident in their homeownership journey.
I believe mortgage lending is more than just a business — it’s a mission driven by representation, advocacy and education. As an openly LGBT entrepreneur, I founded MPS to create a mortgage brokerage where a massive portfolio of mortgage products, ethics and education come first. In addition, inclusivity, financial empowerment and outreach to underserved communities are paramount.
My journey wasn’t conventional. Growing up as a Gay teen in Boston, I learned firsthand the importance of resilience, integrity and standing up for underrepresented communities. Those early experiences shaped my approach to mortgage lending—building a company that prioritizes transparency, financial literacy and accessibility for all. After operating for only three years, MPS became the largest Gay-owned independent mortgage brokerage in Austin and ranked as the 4th largest mortgage company in the city. This ranking continued year after year. But the company could have been even larger if it had kept its Gay-owned identity out of the press.
First, visibility in business is about more than just identity, it paves the way for others. Second, if just one Gay teenager saw this success and chose to keep going, then every penny lost from being open would be worth it.
In a nation where over 40% of LGBT youth contemplate suicide, I have always believed that openly embracing my identity in business could send a powerful message – that you belong, you can succeed and you are not alone.
As a lifelong advocate for diversity and equity, I have worked to ensure that homebuyers from all backgrounds, including LGBT, Black, Hispanic, and immigrant communities, all have access to fair, honest lending solutions.
Beyond the mortgage world, my bilingual skills and international experience have deepened my ability to serve diverse clients. Having traveled extensively through Central and South America working as a translator and financial educator, I saw the economic challenges people face globally and how fortunate we are here. That passion for education is reflected in MPS’s client-first approach, ensuring that every borrower is fully informed, empowered and supported.
The focus of MPS’s mission remains the same: To serve homeowners with honesty, integrity and financial empowerment. If we achieve that and create jobs, contribute to communities and most importantly, help redefine what inclusion and success look like in this industry, then we have done something worth fighting for.
MPS is one of the largest independently-owned, national, boutique mortgage brokerages in the United States, with an extensive network of mortgage wholesalers, meeting the home financing needs of American homeowners in numerous states. MPS historically closes loans at a 98% closing rate and possesses one of the most comprehensive portfolio of mortgage wholesalers and home loan products in the nation, offering over 96% of all U.S. mortgage products in existence to its clientele. MPS as a brokerage was one of the first fully licensed mortgage brokerages in the country.
HomeStart is all about real estate and mortgage education for the general public. Few things feel as wonderful as learning something that has been kept from you for a long time. The real estate and mortgage industries are built on keeping the consumer unaware of how it all works. HomeStart – America’s first ever real estate and mortgage education site for consumers will give that feeling to a portion of the 365 million site visitors that occur in online real estate every month.
Simply put, HomeStart demystifies home ownership through entertaining, interactive video modules that are backed by proven methods of attention capture and retention. HomeStart’s proprietary Module-Based Instruction is an interface delivering efficient, digestible and fun infotainment in a TikTok manner, accommodating today’s shorter attention spans. Even better – all the education on HomeStart.us is free. We do offer consumers, real estate agents, mortgage lenders and businesses 17 products and services, but only if they need and want them.
We have about ten products for consumers, covering credit improvement, transaction stewardship and DIY mortgage options. We also have three products for real estate agents and lenders as well as another four for businesses large and small.
HomeStart is moving from a consultancy to the full educational site just described and launch is scheduled for late 2026.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
In 2009 after huge success we experienced the financial crash that almost wiped out the entire mortgage industry. But we never closed our doors and we survived.
Additionally, I had a lot of personal illness from 2010 to 2020 but I managed to continue to make sure my duties at both companies got done.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
When you have the vision of starting a business, you must move forward every day. If you don’t have money yet you can be defining products and services. If you don’t have staff yet, you can be on the phone or writing employment manuals. You can do one thing every day. Because doing something is better that waiting to get something so you can start working. Starting your business is a decision inside your head. Once that has been made, do something toward your business goals every single day until it’s a reality.
Pricing:
- The brokerage will do any mortgage from $100K to $100 million.
- HomeStart’s credit products start at just $43.30 for the ability to forecast which changes will improve your credit scores the most at a credit bureau.
- HomeStart’s transaction stewardship products cost as little as $999 flat fee in mortgaging and 1% for property purchases.
- For real estate agents, HomeStart offers 12 free, eager clients annually to keep using our platform. Other products cost as little as $38.00 a month.
- HomeStart offers display advertising on the HomeStart site for real estate agents, mortgage lenders and businesses nationwide, large and small for as little as $1.00 CPM.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mpsloans.com
- Other: https://www.homestart.us
