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Meet the Team

Michelle L West, Vice President NMLS# 269669

Michelle has always had an interest in the finance and lending field. Born and raised in central Missouri, she has lived here her whole life. Michelle graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a BS degree in Personal Finance and also graduated from the Leadership Columbia program, which provided an in depth education about the city and local businesses. She married her high school sweetheart, Karl, and they will have been married for 25 years this December. In May of 2000, Michelle and Karl purchased land and built their forever home in Hallsville. Both of their children graduated from Hallsville Public Schools. Kammeron went on to be a heavy equipment driver and Bailey is currently attending Central Methodist University. The Wests enjoy growing their own vegetables and spending time with family and friends. Michelle began working at Mid America Mortgage, Inc, NMLS #1142067 as a receptionist her senior year of high school and moved into loan processing after a year. She worked there until she graduated from college, moving on to work in the banking and title insurance field, but eventually returned to Mid America Mortgage, Inc, NMLS #1142067.

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Jeanie Byland, Exec. Vice President, NMLS# 269847

On June 1, 1984, Jeanie was there with Ralph when Mid America Mortgage, Inc, NMLS #1142067 first opened its doors. Thirty-three years later, Jeanie is now helping make loans to the children of some of her early borrowers. Jeanie has assisted in making many special memories by helping people realize their dreams of owning a home. Growing up in Moberly, Jeanie always wanted to be a teacher. She graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in Elementary Education, and today, she feels that she is still teaching, by educating her borrowers about the importance of good credit, owning a home, and helping them get the best loan for their needs. When not working at Mid America Mortgage, Inc, NMLS #1142067, you can find Jeanie volunteering and selling souvenirs for Special Olympics, or even competing with her daughter as a Unified Partner. Jeanie has also been a member of the Special Olympics Missouri Board of Directors since 2006.

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Ralph D Gates, President, NMLS# 269681

Ralph attended grade school and high school in Edina, Missouri and graduated with a B.S in Agriculture from MU 1969. He began working at Farm and Home Savings in 1968, served in the US Army Reserve from 1970 to 1976, worked at First National Bank from 1971-1984, then started Mid America Mortgage, Inc, NMLS #1142067 in 1984. Ralph is also a graduate of National School of Real Estate Finances at Ohio State University. His current hobbies include shooting, hunting, skiing, and fishing. He was also a past member of the following organizations: the Governors advisory council on agriculture from 1976-1980, MO residential Mortgage Board under Governor Carnaham, and is a past president of Boone County Farm Bureau.

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Scott Smith, NMLS# 541789

Scott W. Smith hails from Maysville, a small farm community located in rural northwest Missouri. Go Wolverines! Scott grew up farming with his dad and uncles, raising row crops, cattle and hogs. Scott still owns the family farm and rents out the crop land. He attended Mizzou and completed a degree in Finance and Real Estate. Scott started in banking and real estate financing in 1994, and really hasn’t considered doing anything else since. He enjoys working with a diverse group of borrowers and financing residential properties at all price points and is known to exhibit empathy, flexibility and creativity when unique financing challenges present themselves. The robust resources and shared culture offered by Mid America Mortgage, Inc, NMLS #1142067 allow Scott to fully leverage his wealth of experience to ensure an optimal borrower experience. Scott has been married to Ashlee for 20+ years, who is Director of Development for Ronald McDonald House Charities. She previously coordinated events for MU Advancement. Son Kellen is a junior at Rock Bridge High School. He shoots shotgun competitively and is exploring a career in engineering. The household is completed by two elderly lab mixes, Sadie and Boone.

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"I have had mortgages since 2004 in Columbia and have gone through a couple of banks, but over the last several years, the last couple of houses have been with Mid America Mortgage. Michelle has told us many times, 'I am not going to put you in a situation I am not comfortable with you being in, regardless of what it means for our company'.

Heidi always has a smile on her face and when you walk through the door, they recognize you and say “Hi”. I definitely recommend anyone who is in the home buying, purchasing, refinancing, upgrading business to go to Mid America Mortgage, ask for Michelle because they are going to be the best person you can work with."

John

"When we were 18 and 19 years old no one wanted to help us get started. But Michelle took us under her wing 6 years ago next month. There is a lot of people out there that could of taken advantage of us many of times because we had no idea what was going on. For Michelle to stand beside us and walk us through, and not let us get into something that could get us in a lot of trouble means the world. We thank Michelle and we are extremely blessed to be able to work with her and her team. I have never even thought about talking to another lender and will always be loyal to Mid America Mortgage."

Cody and Morgan

Selling our home of 17 years and building a new home was a very emotional time for our family. We were ready for the next adventure in our lives but knew there were numerous steps involved. The search for a mortgage officer was simple, Michelle was our choice. Her guidance and knowledge made the process as easy as possible. When we had questions, she was always there to give us an answer and discuss our options. The employees of Mid America Mortgage like Michelle will keep us returning for our mortgage needs.

Chad and Julee

"I knew Jeanie Byland for a long time. She made the process so easy. One of the things I probably appreciated the most was that she didn't want to spoil the excitement of closing on a new house by showing up on closing day finding out that we owe a lot more than we thought. They were upfront with that information right from the get-go, and that’s because it’s just like they say, ‘They wouldn’t put you in a loan that they would be comfortable taking themselves.’”

Jamie

"I’m a very loyal customer at Mid America Mortgage. I have an addiction to building houses and designing them, and they are always right there with me every step of the way helping me get the best loan product and the best rates whenever I am ready to build. They make sure you don’t get a loan that you can’t afford. The whole process was very smooth. I would recommend Mid America Mortgage to anyone because they are always there to teach you, help you, and make it easy for you every step of the way."

Kate

Michelle, I want to thank you for all of your efforts on the loan. I never knew how much information the needed! I appreciate your personal nature and ease of working together. Thank you for making this happen! :)

Amy

"They really explained the process to us very well and made us feel very comfortable, specifically Jeanie Byland. I have never asked a question that I felt dumb about. They really wanted to educate us and have been fantastic. The interest rates changed one day and they called me to say, ‘Hey we might ought to look into refinancing your loan’. I really felt like they had our best interest at heart."

Steve

"One of the main things that I loved about Michelle was she was so organized. She would meet us at any location she needed to, and to be honest she had the absolute lowest interest rate. They were always very transparent with fees so there were no surprises. Michelle was always super easy and we would always run in talk to her even it was for a few minutes. The best thing was the process was very, very smooth."

Chris and Jamie

"My wife and I have moved around quite a bit with my job so we have been through the process before, but we have never had anybody help us as much as Michelle West Mid America Mortgage did. We needed a loan for a new construction home and they were able to help us out with all of our needs and make us feel comfortable with what we were doing moving forward. They did a good job of walking us through the paperwork to make sure that we were pre-approved for a certain amount."

Jason

"My family owns Tiger Ice Company. My experience with Ralph at Mid America started with Tiger Ice because we needed to expand our facility. When we went in to talk to Ralph at Mid America, he pretty much was straight up with us and told us we needed to go back to the drawing board. We came back with new numbers and a new plan, and we built the facility and everything was fine. Our dream of that would not have been possible at all without Mid America Mortgage and Ralph. They don’t tell you what you want to hear, they tell you the truth and that's what we weren't getting from other banks."

Andy


Phone: (573) 875-1100
200 E Walnut St, Columbia, MO 65203