Be the Solution with Maria Quattrone

Mortgage Mom Mindset: How Deanne Katsaros Helps Buyers Win in Any Market

• Maria Quattrone • Season 1 • Episode 354

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In this episode of the Be The Solution Podcast, host Maria Quattrone sits down with longtime partner and trusted lender Deanne Katsaros, widely known as “The Mortgage Mom.” With more than 15 years in the mortgage industry, Deanne has built a reputation for guiding buyers through complex lending scenarios with confidence, clarity, and care.

This conversation goes beyond interest rates and loan programs. Maria and Deanne unpack the mindset, planning, and discipline required to succeed in real estate and mortgage lending, especially in challenging markets. From branding and leadership to financial planning and emotional resilience, this episode is a masterclass in being the guide — not just the service provider. 

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • Why “Mortgage Mom” Is More Than a Brand
  • People Don’t Need a Rate — They Need a Plan
  • Mindset Is the Differentiator in Tough Markets
  • Brand Power Comes From Authenticity
  • Why Growth Requires Getting Uncomfortable
  • Financial Discipline = Emotional Stability
  • 2026 Outlook: Confident, Strategic, and Optimistic


Best Quotes 

Deanne Katsaros:

“People don’t need a mortgage quote — they need a plan.”


Maria Quattrone:

“I’m not here to sell you a house. I’m here to guide you through the process.”


Guest Information

Deanne Katsaros — The Mortgage Mom
📍 Pennsylvania
🏦 Green Tree Mortgage https://mortgagemom.net/

Connect with Maria Quattrone:
Facebook: Maria Quattrone
LinkedIn: Maria Quattrone
YouTube: Maria Quattrone
Instagram: @maria_quattrone
TikTok: mariaquattronerealestate
Website: MQrealesate.com
Office number: 215- 607-3535

Maria Quattrone:

Be the solution podcast and I'm here with mortgage mom, Deanne Katsaros. Deanne welcome to be the Solution Podcast.

Deanne Katsaros:

Thank you so much. I'm super excited to be here.

Maria Quattrone:

Super excited. Today we're sitting here on December 20th. Lots happening. A lot is happening.

Deanne Katsaros:

And it's not just Christmas. That's true. Oh my god. Five days until Christmas. Five days. I'm not ready. Are you ready? Not convincing. Not convinced Maria.

Maria Quattrone:

No. Okay. But but but you know, I think we're gonna do uh our gift exchange after we're back from our adventure.

Deanne Katsaros:

Okay. So that's that takes a lot of pressure off. That's great. Yeah, that's great. And it's not about grip gifts anyway. It's not. It's not. It's about the season, it's about the solution.

Maria Quattrone:

So I know DN for probably it's been a while. 15 years, maybe.

Deanne Katsaros:

That's exactly what I think it is, is 15 years. Yeah. I I remember going into your office. I remember meeting you, and um, I just remember the big whiteboard with all your your listings and your buy-sides and your goals, and I was just super motivated by that on top of all the books that you were reading. And you really got me motivated to just to start reading at least 10 pages a day. And it's I've been doing it ever since. So I'm gonna commit this year to try to do a little bit more because it's the knowledge, just it's just empowering. So, but thank you for that. I really appreciate it.

Maria Quattrone:

The whiteboard, I still use a whiteboard. In fact, that blue wall that we had at the office is right now being transformed. That back wall, yeah, it's being transformed into a whiteboard. Yay! Yay, that's awesome. So everybody's gonna write, we're gonna track everything listings, production, write it up on the board. Yep, you better get your name, better be up on that board, yeah, for sure. Nobody wants her name not on the board, right?

Deanne Katsaros:

I want my name all over the board, all over the board.

Maria Quattrone:

So I'm gonna do a countdown or uh the our listing. So okay, committed, I committed to 200 listings taken in 2026 this year, amending at about a buck, 180. Ah, well, that's gonna be easy for you. Well, I also am committing to you know, bringing more people into our team, right, and bringing people into LPT Realty. So that's like basically with the time invested in the one versus the other, it's like double, it's basically double work.

Deanne Katsaros:

Okay, so definitely not easy, street. It's not easy, but I have confidence in you that you'll knock it out of the park, especially now. I mean, right? Do we you have the tools to be able to do that now?

Maria Quattrone:

Well, uh, we have the tools. It's now I say I'm calling it Maria 2.0. Okay. I just came up with that about half an hour ago. So Maria 2.0, you know, we have all these amazing things that we already were doing um at Maria Quatron and Associates, right? And now that we're powered by LPT Realty, they're just giving us it's basically it's LPT Connect 2.0. Okay. They the platform allows us to to give a whole nother set um on the next level, right. For our listings, for uh our agents, for agents who want to join our community. And it's super exciting. Like, yeah, it's a great time.

Deanne Katsaros:

It is a great time, and and it's really not about leaving something behind, it's just about adding more horsepower.

Maria Quattrone:

100% adding more horsepower. I had to look at um the brand we were aligned with. Is it moving with the times or is it staying stagnant and dodgy and old? And it was. So I would I had to align with what is growing, you know, where are we going? Where do we want to go to? Um, and that's being, you know, a thousand production team. Yeah. No, I I I get it. I get it. And this the national and soon to be international platform allows us to do that um a lot easier, is what it comes down to.

Deanne Katsaros:

That's great. I mean, we're kind of aligned in the same way. I mean, we have the same theme song, which is Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now. We have the same, you know, I think we have the same mindset. You could stop me at any time, but you know, we were already successful. I merged about a year ago with um with a company. We didn't change our company. We're still Green Tree Mortgage, but we merged with HMA. Um, and what it did is it just allowed me to be able to serve more people better. And I feel that's the same, that's aligned with you as well. We just needed, you know, stronger ops, more products, you know, deeper support for the agents and our borrowers. And and that's exactly, I think we're aligned with the same reasons. Would you agree?

Maria Quattrone:

Uh a hundred percent. I mean, that's that's so important, the alignment, the alignment in in not just from a business perspective, but values, core values. You know, what do we stand for? People of integrity, you know, do I know that when you say you're gonna do something that you do it? And those things are things that you know they follow you wherever you go. Yeah, so regardless of affiliation, you know, it's about you know who we are, who we become along the way.

Deanne Katsaros:

That's right.

Maria Quattrone:

And and and and it's not a hard business, but it's a complicated business. Because there's a lot of moving parts.

Deanne Katsaros:

There isn't really you need to know what you're doing, you need to know what you're doing. You also have to have the mental capacity to be able to, you know. I look at it as a puzzle. Like, don't bring me a problem, bring me a puzzle. Because the puzzle we can figure out, and it takes a really strong mindset to work through that. And in our business, a lot of people get up give up, right? They give up right before they get to the finish line. I mean, this year I can't tell you how many deals we received from agents that weren't able to get to the finish line, but we were, and it wasn't just because you know, we're amazing and we had the products, but we had the mindset to walk through it. So, like you say, there's a business side, and then there's also that I I say it's personal because I take my business personally, my mindset, my education, my knowledge, um, the way that I treat people, the people that I want to work with, all that is about our business. I mean, we're not a nine to five business. People say, What are your hobbies? And I'm like, I do mortgages, that's my hobby.

Maria Quattrone:

And a lot of them. And a lot of them. How did you, you know, let's go back for a minute.

Deanne Katsaros:

How did you come up with mortgage mom? You know, it's funny because a my son is my business partner right now, which people think that, okay, now you're mortgage mom, but I didn't wake up one day and say, I'm gonna be the mortgage mom. Um, clients started calling me when they were in a panic mode or crying or celebrating. So the name actually chose me. And uh one of my clients I was working with, and we were working on her credit. She had a couple hiccups, and she went and did something, and I kind of yelled at her a little bit. She's like, Oh my god, you sound like my mom. You're like the mortgage mom. Like, yes, I am, and then it stuck from there. And how long ago was that? That was probably I'm gonna say 15 years ago, like between 11 and 15 years ago. Well, no, I think when I met you, you had that. I had that prior, yeah. So I don't know. I gotta a couple people have asked me, you know, when I became the mortgage mama, and I'll have to find out because I used to have um my theme used to be 101 like Dalmatians, and it was 101 reasons to work with Deanne Ketzeris. And then I would go to home buying seminars or um like at the mall or shows, and I would have the Dalmatian tablecloth, and everything was red, white, and black, like like 101 Dalmatians. And I don't know, it just didn't resonate with me until mortgage mom came along. Now I embrace it. I mean, people either people laugh. Oh, mortgage mom, that's cute. Okay, to some people it's cute, to other people, they're very grateful that they're working with me. So well, it's catchy, it is catchy. So, I mean, that's what a brand is, right? Yeah, I mean, that's people know, you know, people know who I am. And when my son is out, um, either out of closing or meeting new agents, and oh, you're you're you mortgage mom, you know. I mean, not everybody, but it definitely um it definitely helps.

Maria Quattrone:

Yeah, well, it's great because you know, you you're gonna you gotta tell people not what they want to hear, but what they need to hear so that they can either sell the house, buy the house, get the mortgage, or whatever it is.

Deanne Katsaros:

That's right. It's all about a plan. I mean, people don't need a mortgage quote, they need a plan. And that's what we try to do. We try to give them, you know, a plan for home ownership. And and it's not corny. I mean, I have people that I worked with, you know, three years ago that still haven't bought a house from me, but call me for questions or ask me how to improve their credit or or a budget. So, you know, it's not it's never a no, it's just not yet. And I want to help them with the mindset, you know, as well. I want them to understand and educate and and be confident, not only in purchasing a home, but but empowering them to be better as well.

Maria Quattrone:

Yeah, it's a journey, it's about the journey, it is about the journey. Because the journey doesn't end until it does. I mean death. Yeah, it is, it's about the journey. People say, Oh, you know, when you think you finally made it, you wake up and you're like, is this it?

Deanne Katsaros:

I don't think you ever make it. I think you don't, that's the whole point. Yeah, I mean, it's it's a constant, you know, it's like that shell game. They keep constantly, or even the the finish line, it just keeps moving. And I think that we create that. It would be easy to just say, all right, you know, we made it, let's stop. But that's not who you are, that's not who I am. You know, it's all about helping as many people as we can help.

Maria Quattrone:

Yeah, and I always say, I'm like, I'm the guide. Think of me as a guide, right? I'm your guide. Yeah. I'm gonna guide you, whether it's an agent or it's a seller, right? I'm gonna guide you or a buyer, of course. Sure. I'm gonna guide you through the process. Now, if you don't listen to the guide, you're gonna get lost on safari and you can get eaten by an elephant. I don't know if it's yeah, I the guide on safari, think about it. Your life is in their hand. If you don't pay attention to them, you literally can be attacked by an animal. Yeah, agreed. So I like to think of myself like a guide, like a safari guide. What I tell you, and you might, if you don't follow direction, you don't follow, you might get you might get bit.

Deanne Katsaros:

Yeah, that's uh that's a really good analogy. I think it's a little bit stronger than what I go by. I go by the B bus, you're either be on it or be under it. Oh be on it or be under it. Yeah, it's the B bus. You can either get on and go for the ride or you're gonna be under it.

Maria Quattrone:

Yeah, yeah. So, you know, we're heading, we're we're finishing off 2025. Good riddance, good riddance to 25. We survived 2025. Yep, you know, and there's something about that. There's a lot of people that didn't. Oh yeah, correct have left the industry. Um, so like 2026.

Deanne Katsaros:

We're now I had a thing for um let's thrive in 2025, right? That was my my catch. That was a lot of people's, yeah. And I think we did. I think we made, you know, we made a lot of we had a lot of growth. Um, we hired a bunch of people to be specifically on our team. Um, we've helped many, many people. So I'm extremely grateful for 2025. But in 2026, you know, my my word for 2026 is gonna be finish because I have, and it's a personal word for me because I have a lot of things that I've half started and then got distracted and now need to finish. So the only way my team in 2026 is gonna grow and become even better and stronger is with me finishing. But I realized that I don't need to finish my own. I can bring the team in to help me get there, which was a huge growth point for me in 2025. I thought I had to do everything myself. Wow. So that's why you didn't finish. That's why I didn't finish. Yep. Yep. I had the squirrel syndrome for a little while because I wanted to do everything. I was so excited about it. Um, and again, it's not just, you know, of course, mortgages were going to finish, but I'm saying, like on a on a personal level to help my team grow, to be a better leader, you know, to to help my community. There's so many things that that I want to accomplish in 2026. And I haven't come up with a word yet, you know, a catchy word business-wise for 2026. Have you? I have not decided on my word yet.

Maria Quattrone:

Yeah, I usually decide like this coming week. Right. Around Christmas, like usually around that. So when I'm we're on our adventure, I'll be deciding the word because I have no time to think before exactly the adventure starts. Yeah, it's just Christmas night. So you're not till then. Are you going on a safari? We're not going on a safari. All right, I just want to make sure. Not nope, I haven't done the safari yet. One day, one day. All right, no safari, but there I will make that decision and I will have that on the board. Okay. This year I had a little sticker right on my desk. It says focus is your superpower. I like it. Focus is your superpower.

Deanne Katsaros:

Yeah, I like it.

Maria Quattrone:

Your life, the life you want is on the other side of being uncomfortable.

Deanne Katsaros:

I like that.

Maria Quattrone:

And being making a change is uncomfortable. Right? Making a change to an organization that LPT Royalty that people haven't even heard of in the Philadelphia metro market.

Deanne Katsaros:

Right.

Maria Quattrone:

You have the great Gary Mercer and his team who are in Westchester, who have joined uh about six months ago. But we're the first organization here and in Philadelphia, you know, that launched LPT Royalty, which is a national company, and it's going to be international. And it's super exciting and super scary, and more exciting than scary, but yeah, you know, it's change, and change is always things that come with change. I'm just like, that stuff, the back office. I'm like, whatever. I'm just gonna micromanage. Yeah, I'm gonna let it be whatever. Whenever it's done, it's done, and that's that, and I'm just gonna keep on doing me.

Deanne Katsaros:

And and that's all you can do, Maria. And I think you know, your name and and your brand is not built around a company, right? It's built around you and your company. So you could go to XYZ Realty that nobody's ever heard of and still be super successful because your passion, your knowledge, your goals, you know, they're all in line. It's you know, there's no greed factor in what you're doing.

Maria Quattrone:

So the the the thing is that people don't, consumers don't understand is that it's not about the company the agent is with. It's about the agent. A hundred percent company is for us. The company is for the agent. It's for what tools do we have to be more successful, to help our clients be more successful.

Deanne Katsaros:

Yep.

Maria Quattrone:

Like what tools do we have so we can better educate ourselves? What tools that we have so that we can streamline our operations? It's more agent-centric than it is, it's it's it's about the agent. And then the agent is the one that brings it to the consumer.

Deanne Katsaros:

Right.

Maria Quattrone:

So, I mean, I could be my own brand and it'd still be great. Yeah, we did this because there was there's greater opportunity for some other for some other business um revenue streams, right? That give us gives us you know more flexibility and allows us to keep, you know, if we're in multiple states, multiple licenses without having multiple logos and more different, you know, all different stuff. It's just all the same. So it's there's ease in that.

Deanne Katsaros:

A lot of ease. Yeah, it's you're absolutely right. And it's again, it's it's just all about it's about growth, it's about getting out of your comfort zone. You know, it's great to see that you're excited and motivated for this because um it it can be challenging, right? And and I think, you know, you love challenges, you love to, you know, figure them out. And and I think if you didn't, it would be a little bit stagnant. But, you know, it's all about making a difference. And I guess it just goes back to you, like being the solution for your clients and your agents as well, because you're extremely passionate about your agents as well. And and if I were to get into the real estate business or if I knew anyone that was getting their light, I would definitely refer them to you because of the training. And you're not just, you know, I told one of your agents the other day, like just grab on to the coattails and learn whatever you can because you're gonna be the best with her. She's not gonna let you fall through the wayside, you're gonna get the knowledge, and it's almost like you're the mom as well, right? You yell at them, you ground them, you you know, but it's all about molding them and helping them become a better person as well.

Maria Quattrone:

Well, I try not to yell at them too much, but I do I mean gently, you know, I do tell them the truth. Yeah, somebody showed up for an 11 o'clock at 11:30, and I said, Thank you so much, XYZ, for gracing us with your presence. I call, you know, I called him Prince, blah, blah, blah. Thank you, Prince, for showing up today. Right. You know, half joking and not half serious, but I was oh yeah, you gotta show up when you're supposed to. Yeah, you see, see, here's how I look at it. You're late for me, you're late for the client. And I have a problem with that because I gave you the client to work with. Right, right.

Deanne Katsaros:

This is common courtesy. Yeah, if this is how you're treating me, you know, no, I get it.

Maria Quattrone:

So, you know, but but we we do practice and we do drill and we do look, there's a lot to learn. These are newer people that a lot of them, not all of them, but you know, you gotta learn. Gotta learn.

Deanne Katsaros:

And part of it's a little bit of is growing up too. Yeah, yeah. And sometimes you gotta learn by actually doing it, falling down, making mistakes, and learn from the mistakes.

Maria Quattrone:

Well, I think if you do that's the whole thing, you are gonna make mistakes, you are gonna have like f ups and this and that. Yeah, and that's that should be an understanding up front, right? That you are going to mess up, you are going to probably make me your Dara or somebody mad, um, because you didn't listen, you didn't follow the suit, right? But you should know that you're gonna do it and that it's gonna be okay, and the world's not gonna end, but you have to learn from that and never make that mistake again. Right. The problem is that people think that they're gonna do this, this all perfect. It's not, it doesn't work like that. You don't even know what you don't know, right?

Deanne Katsaros:

And there's too many moving parts. I mean, that's why I love this business because every single deal, every single person, every single conversation of is different, right? Other people, sure, everybody wants to buy a house, everybody wants to sell a house. But when you dig deeper and you earn their trust and confidence in what it's really all about, that's when you become an agent. You know, when you open the door, walk them around, you know, eventually, you know, you're a robot doing that. But if you're talking to them and, you know, how would you decorate this room and how many children and all that, that's when you become and you understand the business because it's all about family involvement, it's about the personal touch, you know, and it's about understanding what that person's goals and you know wants and needs are. So I agree.

Maria Quattrone:

I mean, it has to come down to you really being the guide for that client, right? The guide. I I look at it as more of a guide than an advocate because our our job is they is you to sell them home, find a home for them to buy based on what they said to you, right? Right, and go through the process. So 2026, what do you what's your feeling about the market? Are you thinking it's gonna be boom or bust?

Deanne Katsaros:

Well, that doesn't either way, we still do business. Oh, either way, it's not gonna change, you know, how I'm gonna do business at all. You know, maybe we'll roll up our sleeves a little bit higher if it gets tough. But, you know, even in 2025, we we had a great year, and that's from people that were still sitting on the fence, people that wanted to wait. They weren't sure what the market was gonna be. But when you when you have a conversation and you find out what their goals are, you know, you can you can make that happen for 2026. You know, I'm still, I think it's gonna be a great year. I really think it's gonna be a great year. I think the rates are gonna come down a little bit, but you know what? I don't sell rate. People come to me and they say, well, you know, I want to be under 7% on a $400,000 house. Okay, why? Why do you want it to be like that? They don't know what the payment even is. So when we go through and actually analyze each each deal and it makes sense, you know, then that's a win. But I'm super excited about 2026. Um, you know, I don't think the rates are gonna come down to the to the threes or the fours. I don't think we're ever gonna be there. But it's it's all about what you're comfortable with and what that more that monthly payment is, obviously. But from I think we're gonna have refines. I think people are gonna be able to, you know, expand um their wealth and maybe get some investment properties or a duplex or triplex. Um, I think it's gonna be a good year in 2026, especially if the income tax goes away. Wow, that would be huge. That would be huge.

Maria Quattrone:

Yeah, well, lots there's gonna be a lot of things that are happening in our great country here in America. Yeah, people have no idea yet what's coming. I know, but it's gonna be fabulous. It is gonna be fabulous, it really is. It's gonna be fabulous for for all Americans. Yeah, yeah. So I'm very I'm hopeful for uh 2026 is gonna be a phenomenal year. Um, 2025 was a great year in a lot of ways. Um, it was a tough year, but it was also very good because it gave me an opportunity to sit back and not only realign our brand, but reevaluate the way that we handle our listing business. And I streamlined it and changed it. And so this is gonna be a much better uh way, I believe, uh, to go about the business. It's a lot, it's a lot more work up front for us. However, I think it's gonna get us the best result and the client the best result, which is really what it's all about.

Deanne Katsaros:

I just I totally, totally agree. And I just think you know, you have to once in a while, and that and again, it's what you talked about earlier, getting out of your comfort zone. Sometimes you have to take two steps back to be able to take three steps forward. And if you have the right values and the right mindset and the right goals in line, it's gonna be a win-win for everybody.

Maria Quattrone:

Yeah, 100%. 100%. Well, I'm excited. I'm excited for our partnership and working uh with the mortgage mom team and lots of fun stuff coming up for 2026. And I wish you, Deanne and Tommy and Pete, the whole family and your organization, uh, John and Green Tree, a beautiful Christmas. Thank you. New year, and I'm looking forward to doing a lot of the great things together.

Deanne Katsaros:

I am as well, Maria. I think we're we're gonna have a great partnership. We're and you know what? We're gonna have fun. We're gonna have so much fun helping people and just getting it out there. I mean, that's what I think we need to do. I mean, we I want to shout off the rooftop of everything, all of our goals, all of our personal business. I mean, they're all aligned, but you know, you now have a sparkle in your eye. I can see the excitement on your face, and I just can't wait to watch the journey. And I'm so honored to be alongside with you. And I know you have a great support system with Chip and Darren, Eliza, and everybody. You have a great team, and as well as your sisters, too. So um very blessed. I think we're both blessed to to be doing this journey.

Maria Quattrone:

So yeah, we are. Yes, we are. We are we are ready to rock and roll.