My Story
The short version of how I got here.
1992 — 2000
One bedroom in New York City
I was 10 when my family came to the US from the former Soviet Union. The five of us shared a one-bedroom apartment in New York City. My parents worked long hours, learned English on the side, and dreamed of owning a home — something that, for years, felt completely out of reach.
In 1997, we moved to Phoenix. Two years later, my parents bought their first home. I was a teenager, but I remember exactly what that day felt like. Watching them sign those papers changed something in me. I started reading anything I could find on real estate and how regular families used it to build something stable.
2008 — 2012
Twenty, in over my head
I joined the mortgage industry at 20. I thought I'd figured it out. Then 2008 happened.
I lost my job. I drained my savings. I went delinquent on my mortgages, my student loans, and my credit cards. For a while, I was the cautionary tale I now help clients avoid.
What got me out wasn't luck. It was reading — books on personal finance, real estate investing, debt strategy — and doing the boring work of paying things off, rebuilding credit, and stacking an emergency fund one paycheck at a time. It took years.
2012 — Present
Why I work the way I work
That experience is the reason I run my practice the way I do.
When a client sits across from me and says they're nervous about taking on a mortgage, I understand it — not theoretically. When someone tells me their credit is rough or their savings are thin, I don't write them off. I tell them what worked for me and we build a plan.
And when the math says now isn't the right time to buy or refinance, I say it out loud. I'd rather lose a deal today than put someone in a position that could cost them the house — or worse — two years from now.
I've spent 16+ years and 2,000+ closed loans operating that way. Most of my business now comes from past clients sending me their kids, their parents, and their friends. That's the part I'm proudest of.
