I’m holding up my glass (and by glass, I mean an F|A Network Tervis Tumbler) because some major “Congratulations!” are in order.
I’m happy and proud to congratulate one of our vendor partners, the Columbia, SC offices of Guild Mortgage, brought home their national brand’s, “Branch Of The Year” Award this year.
This may not be a big whoop to the regular reader of this blog, but it’s certainly a huge deal within the hyper-local real estate industry of Columbia, South Carolina.
Guild Story: A few years ago my friend and long time local lending partner, Heyward Cathcart, confidentially and confidently told me about his pending move from a HUGE bank (after the great recession) to Guild Mortgage. I probably said something to the effect of, “Man, I’ve never heard of that…but I support you.” Enter Mark Tibshrany, who was also making the move. Given his friendship, hustle, and client nurturing skills, Guild Mortgage became a vendor of our team.
A few years later another friend of ours, Owen Edwards, joined the team at Guild. That was an awesome move for Guild, Amanda and me, and the industry IMO. Owen is a stellar loan officer, and friend. We were happy when he joined Guild, and it only strengthened their relationship with Amanda, Elizabeth, Amy, and me.
Further still, other Guild team members Lauren Sawyer Wild, Athena Leventis, David Hyatt and I have all befriended each other and now do deals together. All top notch people and loan officers!
Truth told, we’ve all become Happy Hour buddies and enjoy the camaraderie and masterminding sessions on how to do our jobs better for our clients.
Guild Story 2: A loan officer that was being recruited by Guild, and has a relationship with Amanda called me and asked; “Man, in one sentence, how would you describe Guild?” My response without hesitation, “They close.”
To an industry pro like him, he knew that I was reeeally saying, “They close…On Time.” His response, “OK. Well, that’s about all I needed to hear. If that’s the first thing that comes to your mind, that helps a lot. Thank you.”
Guild Story 3: The F|A Network did a deal with a member of the Guild Team that wasn’t part of our traditional rotation of Guild lending officers. First thing out of one of our regular team member’s mouths that didn’t get the deal – “We’re just happy that y’all are working with another Guild loan officer.” That is a big deal!!!!
If you know how Amanda, Elizabeth, and I operate, the team/sharing attitude has served our careers very well and goes a long way not only for each other, but for our clients. Further still, as a Keller William’s Realtor, this is exactly the culture we adhere to.
All this said, I’m proud of my Guild Mortgage friends. Are they our exclusive lenders? No. Are we their exclusive Realtor folks? Of course not. That said, I need to give credit where credit is due, and being named National Office of The Year is a big deal. I’m proud to have Guild Mortgage as one of our lender partners.
Congratulations and Cheers to this awesome group of lenders and friends!
Thank you!
Franklin Jones
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