A warm welcome to GoPrime’s newest employees!

Courtney Shortt
Loan Consultant

Courtney is joining the GoPrime team as a Loan Consultant in Apex, NC, and the surrounding areas. Born and raised in Fayetteville, NC, she is a military brat and an alumna of East Carolina University. After graduating in 2017 with a Bachelor’s degree in business, she accepted a job in sales and management. She relocated to Uptown Charlotte in 2019 and is loving life in the city.

In 2020, Courtney made a switch to the mortgage industry and began working for an online mortgage lender in the Fintech industry. She has experience working with borrowers on FHA, conventional, and jumbo loans for the purchase of primary, secondary, and investment properties.

She loves working with borrowers and educating them on the steps involved in the mortgage process: from the beginning of her clients’ house-hunt all the way to when they are handed the keys to their new home. Her goal is to ensure that the process is efficient and convenient for the borrower from start to “Clear to Close!” She thrives on the rewarding feeling she gets when she sees how happy her clients are when hard work turns to successfully procuring a mortgage.

When she isn’t working, Courtney loves to explore the food scene in town, trying new restaurants and cafes. She enjoys reading, cooking, running, and spending time with her family – especially her newborn niece.

Parker Knudsen
Loan Officer Assistant

Although Parker, our newest Loan Officer Assistant, was born in Colorado, he has always had personal ties to North Carolina. Both of his grandmothers lived in North Carolina, and he spent much of his time there making memories and enjoying the vegetation he couldn’t find in Colorado. After graduating from Fort Lewis College in 2014 with a Bachelor’s degree in International Business, he decided to make the move to Asheville. He traded in his breakfast burritos for chicken biscuits, and has never looked back. Parker has had a varied work career in which he has managed hotel staff and a visitor center within the National Park System, he has worked in fine dining, owned his own business, taught English abroad, was a lead inspector for several civil engineering firms, and has most recently found his desires taking him down the mortgage/real estate industry path.

After experiencing a stressful first homebuying experience in early 2021, Parker saw an opportunity for improvement in many areas, including communication, clarity of information provided, loan processing timeliness, and general professionalism. He knew that he could bridge these gaps in the process for clients himself, and saw a great chance to do so by joining the West Asheville branch of GoPrime. He decided to take matters into his own hands and wants to help his own clients get into their dream homes by making their transitions as comfortable and worry-free as possible. He is excited to help homebuyers make their dreams a reality.

Although new to the mortgage industry, Parker has climbed the corporate ladder to lead, supervisory, to leadership roles in all of his previous positions. During his tenure as a civil engineering inspector, he was tasked with overseeing many multi-million dollar construction projects in both Colorado and North Carolina. He worked hard to obtain over 10 specialty certifications in just three years, and became knowledgeable in many areas of the horizontal and vertical construction processes. Put simply, he saw a challenge and took it head on.

Parker is bilingual and has spent time in both Colombia and Thailand. He loves connecting with other cultures in and out of his community, and volunteers frequently, including teaching on the Southern Ute reservation, working with Latin immigrants to help them understand their rights, translating parent-teacher conferences for Latino children, tutoring English, and teaching outdoor education to children. He plans to use his Spanish speaking skills to reach out to Latin communities around Asheville and Western North Carolina.

Accomplishments, such as mastering a second language, buying his own home, taking care of his grandmother with dementia, and raising two incredible dogs (Tao and Kona), provide a great sense of pride for Parker. Asheville holds a special place in his heart because it’s where he met his wife Karly. The two of them enjoy hiking with their pups, working out, scuba diving, snowboarding, attending live music shows, renovating their home, watching documentaries, creating art, and cooking international cuisine.

Rachel McManimen
Direct to Consumer Resource Analyst

Rachel is our newest Direct to Consumer Resource Analyst. She is a born and raised Charloteean and, like most of her family, attended UNC Charlotte, where she achieved both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree. She joined the mortgage industry in 2020 right in the midst of the refinance boom with historically low rates. She is passionate about educating her clients on the loan process and consulting with them on their rate options.

Rachel works hard to help her clients meet their goals and to empower them in achieving their financial goals. She finds fulfillment while helping others on their path to homeownership, financial freedom, and debt consolidation – even helping them to find the funds to make updates or complete projects on their home. She thrives off of feedback and praise received from happy homebuyers, and has helped dozens of clients select the loan product that suits their needs and goals. Her favorite project thus far was working with an elderly couple, one of whom was legally blind and hard of hearing. Once closed, they praised her patience and willingness to go the extra mile and help them achieve their refinance. She was even presented with the 2021 Leadership Award for her partnership refinance cohort of approximately 75-80 people.

Rachel observes public distrust towards loan officers, and believes it is largely due to lack of consumer understanding of the loan process. She strives to change this common misconception by educating and encouraging her buyers. She enjoys building relationships with her borrowers and helping them to not only identify, but to also achieve their goals. Prior to entering the mortgage space, Rachel received a degree in history and worked at the Carolinas Aviation Museum. While there, she helped to care for the aircrafts and artifacts, sometimes even giving “Miracle on the Hudson” tours to visitors. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her friends and family rooting on the Carolina Panthers, Hornets, Knights, and Checkers sports teams. In addition to watching sports, she also is a regular at her fitness studio, loves reading, and enjoys trying new restaurants in the area.

Ana Contreras
Disclosures Associate

Ana joins the GoPrime team as our newest Disclosures Associate. She has been working in disclosures for about three years now, after transitioning from an escrow officer/closing agent.

She feels great pride in her ability to learn and retain new information quickly. She feels grateful to have learned so much on the lending side of the industry that she feels will assist her in her role with GoPrime.

Ana splits her time between her home in Redding, California near Sacramento, and in Reno, Nevada. A lover of all things outdoors, she spends much of her time hiking and exploring lakes. When not at lakes or on the trails, she can be found in another favorite pastime: biking with her daughter.