Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anita Aguilar . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Anita thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made (either in terms of time or money)? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

The best investment I ever made was making the jump and teaming up with my husband to become business partners. For many people, working with their spouse is not something that they would be excited about, but Edgar and I knew that our skills complimented each other. Edgar was working in the mortgage industry for awhile before I decided to enter into mortgage loan financing in 2005. There were a lot of decisions that went into us teaming up and we were thrilled to bring our skills together to best represent our clients. We started working together at a previous company. Later, we knew that we were ready for something bigger and made the decision to open up our own branch together.

Anita , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I got into the industry when I teamed up with my husband in 2005. We eventually left the company that we started with and opened up our own branch together.

We specialize in residential mortgages- home purchases, and refinances. Because of our relationships with multiple lenders, we have a variety of different loan products that we can offer our clients. Everything from VA loans, FHA, Conventional loan products, and cash out refinances. But, what really sets us apart from the competition is our underwritten pre-approvals.

A traditional pre-approval, the lender is approving you based on your application, verifying some of your financial documents, and pulling your credit. This is done by the loan officer and will still need to go through underwriting before the loan officially closes.

In our underwritten pre-approvals, the borrower goes through the entire underwriting process before making an offer on a home. The advantage of this is that your offer looks much stronger to the seller, because they know that financing should not fall through. Also, because the loan is already underwritten, we can close a loan in as fast as 7 days.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients for me has always been referrals either from my past clients or my sphere of influence. I am honored to have a loyal client base who recommends me to their family and friends. I know that buying a home or refinancing can be an overwhelming process so I make sure that me or someone from my team is in constant contact with them throughout the entire loan process. Integrity, energy, hard work, and expert knowledge are important to me in every aspect of my profession! I think the fact that my clients know I genuinely care for them and have their best interest at heart is one of the reasons I have been successful through referrals.

In 2021, I personally helped over 300 families become homeowners or refinance.

Any advice for managing a team?

As a branch manager, I understand that I am only one person and can only do so much. Making sure that I have a stellar team to back me up is an integral part of providing specialized service to each and every client that we serve. Ensuring that the people who are on my team are well taken care of is extremely important to me. A happy employee is going to work hard for you and is going to work hard for your clients.

The best piece of advise I have for anyone trying to build up a team is put time and energy into your people. Give them the tools to make sure that they are knowledgeable and successful. Ask them questions, like what resources they need to be better at their jobs or what motivates them, and then actually listen to their answers.

Know you are in good hands with anyone from my team. Together, the team has over 70 years of combined industry experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://anitaaguilar.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anitaaguilar/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anita.g.aguilar
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com//anita-aguilar/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/cardinal-financial-san-diego-home-loans-san-diego?osq=anita+aguilar