Need a mortgage for your new home? Lisa Schara and Alissa Pinkava have your backs.

The two Austin women opened up a branch office of Land Home Financial Services at 1700 17th St. NW in suite 6 last month. After three months of searching for the perfect home for their mortgage business, they settled into their new space with a four-member team ready to greet clients. 

Land Home Financial Services is a national mortgage company that provides different funding options and personalized service for clients and partners. Land Home also specializes in Veterans Affairs loans and is a VA automatic lender and have staff that get involved in community programs and organizations.

“Austin is a unique community,” Schara said. “Land Home has a lot more community-centered programs and the company has the same vision we had. We like to be involved as much as possible.”

Schara, who has been in the banking industry for 15 years, and Pinkava, who has been in for almost eight years, knew each other from having worked together at different financial institutions over the years in different capacities. The two would stay up late at night and talk about what they wanted to accomplish, and it was decided that they would go into business together. Now, the two work every day together; Schara as the branch office manager, and Pinkava as a loan officer.

“Being in the banking industry was not something that I grew up wanting to be in,” Pinkava admitted. “Actually, it was because of Lisa who got me interested in helping people buy their home and being part of the process, and that’s part of the reason why we do what we do every day.”

Schara specifically got into Land Home Financial Services because of her interest in helping homeowners find what they need in order to secure their house.

“I’m a problem solving type of person,” she said. “I love solving puzzles and trying to find what people need and finding the right loan product for them is fun. It’s so cool to be a part of someone’s life in that capacity and contribute in some way is really fulfilling.”

When Land Home Financial Services opened last month, Schara and Pinkava grew excited over the apparent revitalization of the plaza that once housed the former Target store that closed several years ago.

Now, having neighbors like Hobby Lobby and Ashley Furniture HomeStore opening, the two see growth in Austin’s local business scene and immediately saw an uptick in the amount of traffic that appeared in the parking lot as well as the foot traffic.

“It’s been a long journey,” Schara said. “The last three months had obstacles that we didn’t know existed, and we were learning the ropes and did as much research as we could. We hope to stay true to ourselves and what we wanted for us to get our end goal.”

The future for Land Home Financial Services was to continue building clients. When Schara and Pinkava decided to go into the mortgage business themselves, they knew it would be a risk, but it was a leap of faith they took together.

“We were a little nervous,” Pinkava said. “We’re starting fresh and starting over. It wasn’t a decision we thought of on a dime. It is scary. But, we are such a strong team, and we felt that Land Home would be a good fit and we are very lucky to have the team that we have.”