Before beginning her career in lending, Shelly Ave spent over 20 years in the visual display and architectural finishes industry where she sold to some of the largest retailers and design firms in the country. “That career taught me how to work creatively with every kind of personality and how to navigate large complex organizations,” she says. “Surprisingly, both skills transfer directly to the mortgage business.”
As a senior vice president of mortgage lending with Rate, Ave has built her practice on one idea: that every buyer deserves to understand exactly what they are signing. She specializes in clients that other lenders turn away, including first-time homebuyers, condo purchasers and complex files that require creative problem solving. “Clients come to me at every stage and I figure out where they are and what needs to happen next,” she explains. “My role is to get them prepared for the market and make them the most competitive, well-qualified buyers they can be.”
That commitment has earned Ave a place in Rate’s President’s Club every year since 2020 and recognition as a Scotsman Guide Top Originator from 2020-2022 and 2024-2026. “What matters most is that clients leave the process understanding what they did and why; not just relieved it’s over, but actually informed,” she explains. “Buyers who understand their loan are homeowners who make better decisions for the next 30 years. That outcome happens one client at a time and it never gets old.”
In her free time, Ave fosters mastiff dogs through her veterinarian. As a passionate mastiff owner for 23 years, she recently lost her 225-pound companion, whom she describes as one of the best creatures she’s ever known.
Rate, Inc. is a private corporation organized under the laws of the state of Delaware. It has no affiliation with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture or any other government agency.
