Meet the Team

At Team Gwen it is our mission to…

  • Never stop learning
  • Celebrate wins and recognize the contributions of others
  • Respond vs React
  • Bring positivity to every interaction
  • Achieve success though helping others
  • Earn trust and honor our commitments

Gwen Swain

Gwen Swain

Producing Branch Manager

Gwen began her career at Waterstone Mortgage in 2017 and quickly rose through the ranks with ambition and hard work. In 2019, she opened her own branch of Waterstone in Eagle, Idaho, and in 2022 opened a second branch in Nampa, Idaho. Today, she manages her own team of 4 employees, and mentors an additional 7 loan originators at the two branches. She has a passion for coaching and loves teaching valuable courses to local Realtors throughout the year.
 
Gwen grew up in Northern Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C., and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from James Madison University in 2006. She then moved to San Francisco where she lived until 2010 when she relocated to San Diego, running her own small businesses in each city. In 2016, she moved to Eagle, ID with her two sons, Carter and Cameron. Raising her boys in Idaho has been a joy to her, all three of them love skiing, swimming, and a weekly sushi night. Ever the extrovert, Gwen also enjoys many social activities around the area with friends and family, especially Broadway musicals at The Morrison Center. If there’s a charcuterie board involved, she will probably be there.
 
Gwen prides herself in her determination and grit – exploring all mortgage products to find the most affordable solution to fit any buyer scenario. She has a vast wealth of knowledge and passion for educating her buyers so that they feel empowered with their financial future.

“We can’t say enough great things about Gwen and her team at Waterstone Mortgage! As first-time homebuyers, we were nervous about the process, but Gwen made everything so smooth and stress-free. From the very beginning, she took the time to explain all of our options, answer every question, and guide us step by step through the mortgage process.

She made it so that we understood exactly what we were doing at every step. We felt confident knowing we were in good hands. Thanks to Waterstone Mortgage, we are now proud homeowners!

If you’re looking for someone who is knowledgeable, responsive, and truly committed to helping you achieve your homeownership dreams, we highly recommend Gwen. Thank you for making this experience such a positive one!”Ashley D.

Rich Hermsen III

Loan Partner

Rich Hermsen joined Team Gwen as a Loan Partner from the world of corporate business analytics in the technology and consumer packaged goods industries. His forte is building relationships with his clients and fostering a smooth and enjoyable lending process.

Rich enjoys traveling with his wife, Erica, and daughters, Sienna and Sawyer, playing golf regularly (he is very good and that’s not just us being biased), and attending live music events. Rich was born and raised in the shadow of Mt. Rainer in Eatonville, WA. After graduating with his Bachelor’s of Arts from Western Washington University, he traded coasts for a Category Analyst position in New Hampshire before returning to the west as an Advertising Analyst at Yahoo, Inc in Santa Clara, CA. Rich and Erica started their family in the Bay Area, but moved to Boise in 2019 to raise the girls. Erica runs the EverWild Forest School which the girls currently attend. Camping is also a favorite pastime for them.
As a detail-oriented individual with a solutions-driven mindset, Rich has thrived at Waterstone Mortgage and become an integral part of a team that’s dedicated to going above and beyond to meet their client’s needs.

“Rich was an exceptional contact within Waterstone. He was always extremely quick to respond and very knowledgeable. If I did have a question that he felt Gwen was better suited to answer (this only happened once, and was likely due to me being a first time home buyer) he was honest about that and arranged a conference call with all 3 of us. Not only was Rich responsive and knowledgeable, but I feel like him and Gwen were both genuinely excited for our family. They would check in on us to see how the house hunt was going and were encouraging. I also never felt pressured by them whatsoever, which helped reduced stress in an already stressful situation. The market being as competitive as it is in Idaho currently; I know our family was not their only customer, but I would not have ever known that. Offer letters were especially important to get quickly, and they were on it. So quick in fact that my agent even mentioned how quick Rich was to respond, which made submitting offers quickly much easier. I credit getting our dream home to Both Rich and Gwen and their incredible service.” Ben R.

Rich

Samantha Moncada

Loan Partner

Sam has joined Team Gwen as a Loan Partner. Her passion lies in helping homebuyers navigate the exciting journey towards homeownership, ensuring they achieve their ultimate goal with confidence and ease. With seven years of experience in the mortgage industry, coupled with a background as a surgery scheduler for an orthopedic spine clinic, she brings a unique blend of organization, empathy, and attention to detail to her role. She has seamlessly slid into her role on Team Gwen like she has been with us forever.

Sam was born and raised here in the Nampa area, a true Idaho local on our team. Outside of work, you can find her exploring the outdoors (on a beach when possible), reading a good suspense novel, or simply enjoying quality time with her husband and three dogs. She is thrilled to be part of the journey towards making dreams of homeownership a reality for our clients!
 

“I was really impressed with Samantha Moncada. She was my first point of contact with Team Gwen and the main one I worked with during the loan process. She was very knowledgeable and willing to answer any and all questions I had. Including the hypothetical ones when I was finding ways to tweak the loan or budget. I also liked that her answers were to the point and easy to understand. You rock Samantha!” Kit G.

“Working with Team Gwen was one of the best decisions we could have made buying our first home. With such a daunting road ahead of the closing date, Samantha Moncada and Gwen Swain were guiding us every step of the way. I cannot believe how smooth the 30 day transaction was. Safe to say, I feel like I could do it all over again… and that is unheard of in the home buying world. That’s how easy Team Gwen made it for us. (The sales agent at Hayden Homes) could not believe how easy it was working with Team Gwen. In their own words, “I wish all my clients worked with Team Gwen!” Josue S.

Samantha, Loan Partner

Chelsea

Chelsea Oyler

Loan Partner

Chelsea brings over 20 years of corporate leadership, operations, and high-performance coaching experience to her role, where she leverages her expertise in building strong teams and driving results to help clients achieve their goals. When she’s not helping families secure financing, Chelsea enjoys golfing, camping, and white-water rafting throughout Idaho’s beautiful landscapes with her husband Tyson and their two children, Trey and Sloan.

Heather Coms

Mortgage Assistant

Heather is often your first point of contact on the team. She schedules loan applications for our referrals and manages our client database. She is the liaison to our realtor partners, assists with marketing campaigns, organizes events and follows up with our clients after closing with first payment reminders. She oversees operations for our Eagle branch and assists with new hire training.

Heather has nearly 30 years in customer service experience, including an 18-year career as a Hair Stylist. She spent 4 years working in the title and escrow world where she became familiar with many of the software applications and administrative duties that she handles now and has enjoyed learning and growing in her marketing roll. She is a real team player and is happy to help in any way she can.

Born and raised in western Washington, the PNW is in her blood. When she’s not spending time with her family and pets, she is probably having coffee with friends and singing along to the radio.
 

“Heather was always so kind when I called. She got the answers I needed, quickly. She was wonderful!”Katye P

Heather

kat

Kat Alexander

Loan Processor

Once we have a purchase contract, Kat works directly with the homebuyer to gather up any needed documents for our underwriters to ensure a smooth and quick escrow. She works with our closing department to send the final documents to the title company and communicates with all parties involved in the transaction. She is a valuable member of Team Gwen with years of processing experience. She is smart, quick, and great with our buyers and realtors.

Kat is an avid Kansas City Chiefs fan and frequently attends concerts of all genres of music. She has appeared as an extra in a Hallmark movie, which we were all pretty excited about. She loves spending time with her husband, two daughters and son, as well as friends and extended family. Her kids take after her in sense of humor, with big personalities (especially her son who is the youngest of the family) She’s also a killer karaoke performer!

“Awesome experience! I worked with Samantha and Kathryn, they were both very easy to work with and helped me every step of the way. This was my first home purchase and they made the process as easy as possible. Thank you!”Garrett W.

Brian Maxwell

Loan Partner

Brian Maxwell has over 15 years’ experience dedicated to customer service in key leadership, management, and sales positions. With a background in Real Estate, Brian understands the home buying & selling process, and his priority is guiding you through the steps of the lending process, in conjunction with your path to buying a home, making the process as smooth and simple as possible to help you reach your goals.

“Brian Maxwell was on top of his, and our game 100%.  The communication, coordinates, and above all, the big picture was always there. Brian made the whole home buying experience as easy as possible. Also when questions arose, he was always there to answer.” Rigo R.

Brian

Kristen Barisoff

Client Concierge

Kristen Barisoff is the Client Concierge for Waterstone Mortgage of Eagle, Idaho.  She comes with 20 years of administrative knowledge and over 10 years of Office management experience in the medical field. She will be answering the phones and pointing clients in the direction of who to speak with as well as keeping the day to day office operations running smoothly. Her end goal is to organize and see people happy.

Kristen was born and raised in Orange County, California and received her Bachelor’s Degree at Long Beach State University.  She is married and started her family in Paso Robles, California before moving to Meridian in 2019.  You can find her taking her daughter, Olive (10) to gymnastics and son, Porter (8) to baseball.  When she isn’t carting her kids around she enjoys family nights full of music and singing and competitive board games.

Kristen

Jessica

Jessica Naylor

Production Assistant

Jessica is the newest member to join Team Gwen! She graduated with her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology with a minor in Communications at the University of Idaho. Shortly after graduating from college, Jessica moved to Boise to get her real estate license. Gwen came to Jessica’s brokerage to speak about her expertise in the lending world, and Jessica was inspired by Gwen’s collaborative, resourceful, and incredibly responsive approach to lending – both with her team and with her clients. Jessica thrives on working alongside her team members by helping to gather documents, work up payments, and answer client questions as soon as possible. She has been working in customer service since she was 16, and loves communicating with clients and celebrating all the wins throughout the loan process.