Avatar's Blog

I spoke to Max today. He lives and works in New York City. Max is a business loan broker. Many of the readers of this blog are loan brokers, so I thought you'd be interested to know....

I 'met' Max in the aisles of a supermarket while I visiting my mother in Hamden, CT. We had spoken on the phone about a loan scenario before I left Seattle a few days before. I told Max I'd be in the NYC area and he suggested we make time for a cup of coffee. A pleasant offer, but there was no time for that. My mother was ill and I was there to care for her, not visit or conduct business.

Nevertheless, as I strolled the aisles, picking up foods for the weekend, Max called my cell phone. He didn't want to talk about the loan scenario. He just wanted to see how my mother was doing - and how I was doing. I was floored. I barely knew this broker, but here he was, checking in on me late in the evening when he no doubt had better things to do. We chatted about family for awhile. I learned about his wife, his children, and his dreams for their future. When we hung up, I had a new friend, not just a broker who needed a deal to be done.

In the end, the deal didn't close - the borrower faded away as happens in so many deals. But Max kept in touch. Now and then he'd call with a deal and after awhile, we would call just to chat and see how business and family were doing. We’ve never met in person, but I know how hard Max works to make personal contact with his clients, to bring a superb level of service, knowledge, and professionalism to his work every day. He is a credit to the profession - the kind of man who deserves to hit it 'big'.

Well, Max called today. He had big news - the holidays are coming. All his children will be with him for the day. And his youngest - a toddler - will be having his birthday only a few days before. It is going to be a busy week at Max’s house next week.

I smiled. Big news indeed, of the best kind. Max knows how to live, love, and cherish the finest things: his family and his friends. Finally, Max told me there was more news. News he didn't dare to breathe of or think of yet. He was about to close a really big deal - the kind most brokers only dream of, or perhaps don't even dare to dream of. It is scheduled to close next week.

Well, Max - congratulations! It couldn't have happened to a better broker or a better man. From all of us in the business of serving the nonconforming business loan market, our heartiest congratulations to a man who deserves to reap the reward of a career well made and a reputation well earned.

Here's hoping more of us will do as well in 2006!