Recognizing Florida’s Mortgage Masters

Tyler Nguyen Succeeds By Driving To The Finish Line

Tough times are not all bad for the profession

Tyler Nguyen’s path to becoming a “Mortgage Master” started when, as a Realtor, he was flipping homes. His real estate company did not have an in-house lender, so Nguyen, who always liked working with numbers, volunteered to learn the ropes.

“I took that opportunity to get my mortgage license and started my journey,” Nguyen says.

And just like that, a career was born in 2015. “It changed my life,” Nguyen, 41, says.

“Tyler is considered one of the best in the business, always finding solutions for his clients and going above and beyond to help clients obtain homeownership,” writes Pablo Cotto, Bluegrey Mortgage’s business administrator, in his nomination.

One of the traits that makes him one of the best is his perseverance. Some loans are trickier than others, Nguyen says, but he works on them until they are completed.

“I keep driving until I get to the finish line,” is how he puts it.

Nguyen says that the majority of the loans he and his team close are special in their own ways.

“This year we had a client that was referred by her son that we closed a loan for the prior year and also referred by the Realtor partner,” he recalls. “Her father passed away, and in his trust gave her the opportunity to take ownership of the home. Keep in mind, she’s in her mid 50s and never owned a home in her life.”

Nguyen acknowledges challenges during the process, but he was able to persevere and close the loan.

“She was so grateful, and we still keep in touch throughout the year,” he says. “During the loan process, what I enjoy is building rapport and getting to know the client on a personal level, and it is so satisfying once we make it to closing day.

“That’s why I chose to be a loan officer, to help these clients obtain the American dream of homeownership.”

One such satisfied client from Land O’ Lakes wrote this testimonial on Zillow in June 2022: “Tyler was a phenomenal expert mortgage broker. Him and his team getting our home closed in six weeks. Finally, we’ve got our dream home. Thank you so much!”

In a down market, Nguyen says, ”It’s important to show value to our partners. I have partaken in coaching for years now, and share that information and knowledge with my partners.”

Tough times are not all bad for the profession, he points out.

The mortgage business is all about relationships, he says. Good lenders and those just starting out should take the opportunities to forge new relationships that will endure beyond the lean years and pay off once the good times return. It is a time to master the basics of the business and how to build a client base.

“A challenging market can make you stronger in the long run,” says Nguyen, who is licensed in Florida, Colorado, Kansas (where he is originally from), Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

Nguyen has no secret sauce for managing through a down market.

“Honestly, I treat all my partners as extended family, and I always show my appreciation for their partnership. You build rapport, show the love, and build relationships. The way you treat people is paramount,” he says. “Being humble and hungry is our motto.”

And, “honestly, yes,” Nguyen would recommend the mortgage business as a career if someone sought his advice.

But Nguyen is adamant about one part of the business needs fixing: Appraisals. He would like to see better standards in appraising properties. “Appraisals are very spotty, very inconsistent,” he says. “It’s hard to say why.”

Nguyen says two appraisers can see the same piece of property and come up with significantly different values. “Mind boggling,” adding, “Appraisals should be science, not art. They should be consistent.”

Nguyen works long hours during the week, so weekends are reserved for his family.

“Spending time with my girls (two daughters, ages 8 and 10, and his wife) is what I look forward to the most,” says Nguyen.

Problem Solving Makes Rajin Ramdeholl A Master

For him, there is much more to the mortgage business than crunching numbers

So how did Rajin Ramdeholl rise to the level of a Mortgage Master? “It’s just circumstances, it’s just life,” he says.

It all started when Ramdeholl found himself at the age of 22 married and in need of a job. He enrolled in a mortgage training class at First Republic Bank in 2004, the only student among the 19 without any sales experience. But he was one of four hired after two weeks of training.

Ramdeholl then fell in love with the mortgage industry, a love that has remained constant to this day. “I look back at when I started, and I have the same type of excitement as I had then,” he says. “Every day is a new adventure.”

Ramdeholl, 41, feels it is his ability to be a problem solver that makes him stand out from the crowd. “Every day my job is to problem solve,” he says. “No two loans are the same.”

He enjoys being in the position to help people achieve their dreams of homeownership, especially first-time buyers. “I like the challenges when I put together that deal that shows my expertise, my ability to get those deals together,” he says.

Every day, Ramdeholl says, he hears stories of sacrifice from people who work tirelessly to scrape together enough money to buy new homes, for themselves or their children. Some of these people who migrated from other countries associate the American Dream with homeownership, and struggle to achieve this dream. “It hits straight to the heart,” Ramdeholl says

It’s no surprise to Jerome Jagmohan that Ramdeholl is being honored as a Mortgage Master.

“Rajin knows what works and what doesn’t when it comes to the mortgage and financial industry,” says Jagmohan, a branch coordinator for Meadowbrook Financial who nominated Ramdeholl. “Navigating the real estate market’s ups and downs for many years, Rajin learned that there is much more to the mortgage business than crunching numbers and calculating interest rates. It is about helping people realize their dreams.”

Ramdeholl acknowledges the mortgage industry is not for everyone. Those who enter the industry with thoughts only of financial gains for themselves will not last, he says. The enduring motivation must be actually helping people achieve homeownership.

That’s why Ramdeholl says he is thriving during these down times. “Our clients have so much confidence in us,” says Ramdeholl, noting doing repeat business or business with families and friends of previous customers. “My business has the referral base.”

Ramdeholl wants to make the mortgage business stricter and tougher to be licensed. “It’s not hard enough to get a license,” he says.

He would like to weed out those originators who do not have their clients’ best interests at heart, instead being in the business only to enrich themselves, selling mortgage products not in the best interest of their customers.

Ramdeholl is one of the top voices in the mortgage space on social media, Jagmohan says, with a following of more than 40,000 combined and growing, as well as being featured on a handful of podcasts. He is a sought-after TV and radio personality for his articulate and candid conversations regarding loans, educating consumers on how to protect themselves and what types of loans might be best for them.

Ramdeholl, who is licensed in Florida, New Jersey, and New York, has closed north of $1.5 billion in business from his 19-plus-year career, Jagmohan says. He employs his own team of 14-plus loan originators, underwriters, processors, and marketers.

Fluent Mortgage is Ramdeholl’s newest endeavor to set up offices across Florida to help residents obtain their dream of homeownership, Jagmohan says. A bulk of Ramdeholl’s business has been originating from Florida, given the popularity of the real estate market in the state.

For all of Ramdeholl’s long hours, balancing family and friends with his career is critically important to him.

“At the end what is it worth if I can’t spend time with the ones who are most important to me,” he says.