I was born on April 15th (tax filing day  ) 1964 (also my parent’s anniversary  ). I grew up in a small town you’ve never heard of (Saraland) down on the Gulf Coast of Alabama.
Yes, I’m a big Crimson Tide fan (Trojan fans, don’t hold that against me. Besides, you guys beat us last time).
I attended Christian school through the eleventh grade. My senior year, I attended Satsuma (public) High School because they were about to field their greatest football team ever (8-2-1 record) and I wanted to see if I could play at the highest level of high school competition (did ok, not great).
After high school I worked for my Father’s manufactured housing dealership (in those days, they called them ‘House Trailers’ ) for two years, saved my money, then went off to school at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Two years (and way too much fun) later, my savings were depleted and I moved back home to attend the University of South Alabama where I graduated in 1988 (Political Science and Communication Arts double-major).
Two weeks later, I packed my car and drove to Grand Rapids, Michigan to begin my first ‘post-college-job’ as a Regional Marketing Representative for Foremost Insurance Company.
Barely one year later, a headhunter contacted me about a job with Security Pacific Housing Services in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Back then, Security Pacific was the second largest bank in the country (later merged with Bank of America).
Wasn’t a hard decision. Nearly doubled my (paltry) salary, company car, expense account (plus the Michigan winter I had just endured nearly killed me ). And I had always wanted to experience living ‘out West.’
I relocated to San Diego in 1991 and over the next twenty years I worked for: Conseco Mortgage, GMAC Mortgage, Countrywide Home Loans and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.
(Please note: I didn’t move around so much between companies because I was a flake . In the real estate boom years, the big banks and mortgage companies offered high-producing loan officers very nice bonuses to jump-ship).
In 1996 I married the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid eyes on (She was my next door neighbor at La Mirage Apartments in San Diego . . . and no, I was NOT a ‘Peeping- Tom’ . . . but seriously, we’re talking movie star, Grace Kelly beautiful . . . still not quite sure how I landed her ).
Jennifer and I have three sons who make us incredibly proud (almost ) every day: Dillon – born in 1998, Austin – born in 2000, and Logan – born in 2002 (believe it or not, Jennifer – from the time we were dating – always said she wanted three boys . . . “too much drama with girls,” according to Jen . . . so, since she’s a girl, I guess that makes her an authority . . . and lucky for her, she got her wish ).
We moved to Temecula in 2004. We have two dogs – Dash and Daisy; three cats – Smokey, Mr. Socks, and Black Mamba (she’s as mean as a Black Mamba snake ); and two semi-productive egg-laying chickens – Sunny and Chili.
We love Temecula and could not imagine living anywhere else.
Update, March 2009
For the last several years leading up to 2007, my mortgage business was ninety percent based on ‘debt-consolidation refinance’ (helping people get out of debt and repairing their credit). When the real estate market began to deflate in late 2007 my business came to a complete stop (a couple billion dollars in real estate equity destruction in Riverside County tends to put the kibosh on mortgage refinance loans).
Fortunately, my many years in the real estate and lending industry gave me the ability and connections to transition to liquidating distressed properties (bank-owned homes) while maintaining my mortgage business.
Despite the hardships so many people have gone through, there is a flip-side to every thing. For me, it’s the satisfaction of helping so many first-time homebuyers who previously thought they would never be able afford a home of their own .
Whether it’s purchasing your dream home, obtaining financing, or increasing your credit/FICO scores, I’m here to help you every step of the way and very much look forward to doing so. Call or email me anytime.
Ken |
