Darius Askaripour’s Informal Introduction: A Young Mortgage Entrepreneur

Thursday, February 15, 2007 at 02:59pm by Darius Askaripour in Start-Ups

It’s so difficult these days to find a platform in which a person can convey their thoughts without ridicule or chastisement. You see my fellow entrepreneurs, I spent countless hours scouring the Internet for a place in which I could house my weekly article; an article that would address the concerns of my clients, peers, and the general public.

Many of the websites I came across lacked creativity or the ability inspire the reader. Other sites held off on innovation or sincerity, like these aspects weren’t a necessity. It wasn’t until my brother, David, sent me an update for Mindpetals, did I truly take the time to fully absorb the literature and concepts of this cutting edge phenomenon…young people, entrepreneurship, and cooperation. This site was alive…MindPetals…infinite ideas to bloom. This is the place I could call home.

Please excuse me, for not informally introducing myself. My name is Darius Askaripour, but please call me Dari; think of me as a neighbor. I own a company called Vitruvian Lending, which is a home finance and credit repair firm. We fight for the little guy, the oppressed, and the ones who dare to dream but just need a little helping hand.

Some time ago, and it truly seems like decades, I worked for a small finance firm, which was owned by two misguided men. The company was very small, only about 10 employees, which soon turned to just one. There was no support system, organization, or direction, which drove all hopeful loan officers right out the same door they walked in through. Yes, I was the last man standing. Yes, I was new to the finance field and naïve. I was swollen with hopes of success and motivated by the possibility of what could be.

There were so many clients looking to do business with me that I had to work 12 hour days. The funny thing is though, all of these deals were dieing before they closed because I was inexperienced and the men responsible for my finance education were lacking themselves.

After months of relying on the owners for guidance I realized that they knew less than I did, so I taught myself everything. I began to capitalize on my errors. Everyday was trial by fire. I learned from every mistake I made, from every moment of doubt I found success, from my defeats came triumphs. The first 4 months were painful because I drove 50 minutes to work in rush hour traffic, each way, and never made a penny! Can you believe that I was actually in debt, from going to work?!

Months passed by and as winter began to give way to spring; I began to feel like a few of my deals were going to sprout. I remember my mother used to say, “You sow what you reap”. Well I was sowing so much and reaping so little I began to question her sanity. Things were so rough that I actually went to my employer to ask for a $300 advance so I could make ends meet. Luckily I was fresh out of college and still living at home or else I would have been out on the street.

Around the 4th month a miracle happened and I actually closed a very small deal. There was $900 coming into the company and my split was 33%…I was going to get $300!!! Or so I thought, I remembered that I borrowed $300 and was actually not going to get a penny. I worked so hard on that file and even though I didn’t walk away with anything at that moment I received confirmation from the powers that be, that I actually could make money in this business.

Throughout the next few months I began to close deals and my paychecks were beginning to increase and become more frequent. Things were looking up but to no avail, the owners of the company made some huge mistakes. You see they hired without any regard for quality control; all they cared about was quantity. Any and everyone that came to the office looking for a job was hired on the spot. The place was a mad house and the leads I was getting began to dwindle. The bosses lost control of employees; there were no set hours so people were coming and going as they pleased.

After doing some extensive research I learned that the only way to truly surpass mediocrity in this business was to have officers below me. So, I approached my bosses and asked them if I could recruit employees myself, train them, and obviously retain a small percentage of what they brought into the company. Well the bosses, who lacked foresight, and were bleeding thousands of dollars a month, said I wasn’t ready for something like this. Oh how wrong they were!

Within 3 weeks I left the company, started my own, and took 2 of their employees with me. They were left with just one loan officer two weeks after I was gone. That was some time ago and it feels like centuries have passed since that day I walked out those doors. No more splits, no misdirection, and no more shackles and unmotivated confused higher ups.

It’s funny because one of the bosses contacted me last week and told me that their company was failing, that they were in desperate need of loan officers and deals. This man who once led me astray actually asked me if I could throw him some business…like it was going to benefit me in some way. It was a sorry sight to see. He still didn’t have a clue how to market, or how to truly educate a client. They were still unorganized. I would have thought that something would have clicked by now. I guess when you in a room full of darkness, it’s impossible to find the light switch.

Since the inception of my company, I have gone through many different phases. The initial vision I had has been altered along the way. In the beginning I had aspirations of having an office with hundreds of loan officers. I now will never have more than 20 employees at any of my offices. This is done so that each loan officer and processor is given enough support to do their job correctly, overhead is at a minimum, and this creates a family environment where we all strive for the same goals.

I thought I would cover every corner of this market, but I soon realized that spreading yourself too thin can be destructive, so I stuck to my niche, and I rarely leave it. I am a specialist and work primarily with clients who have “disrupted credit”, bankruptcies, divorcees, or serious debt issues. I am also a marketing consultant for loan officers and brokers within the industry.

You see at my old company, I experimented and spent months perfecting a formula that could raise credit scores rapidly, so previous clients that were constantly being turned down, now were given an opportunity to own a home. I guess starting out the way I did I was forced to learn more than the average mortgage broker. I had the luxury or misfortune to see how not to do things.

Today’s market is spiraling out of control and my company has actually thrived because we are small, mobile, manageable, and the quiet eye in the storm. We can do business in 38 states, are organized, efficient, and educate our clients about every aspect of their very personalized deal. In a world where honesty seems like a rare commodity, we not only do what we say, but we prove it to you. A client never gets lost in the vanity or pompous nature of large companies with us. It’s about the long term, ongoing relationship. It’s about making a dream or desire come in fruition.

So there you have it. That’s my story…my informal introduction to my readers. Every week I will post and address a question asked by one of my clients, a peer, employee, mortgage broker, loan officer, or Mind Petaler (you) interested in the loan/mortgage business. I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, one where we can both learn from each other.

Darius Askaripour is the founder of mortgage company, Vitruvian Lending.

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