Meet Terry Gangaram, Founder of Drexel Mortgage Corporation

With 30+ years of real estate experience, Terry Gangaram founded Drexel Mortgage in 1995 to help Americans nationwide make their American Dream a reality. Starting with residential mortgages, Terry has helped thousands of homeowners buy their first house, investment properties, and commercial real estate to grow their business. Terry's team at Drexel is committed to finding you the financing you want for the home you want.

Learn more by visiting the websites for Drexel Residential Lending and Drexel Commercial Lending.

1. What made you decide to focus your career on working in the home mortgage field?

I wanted to help people become homeowners. Just like the American dream, I wanted to own a home rather than renting, and that's when I wanted to help others do the same. With decades of experience pursuing my entrepreneurial passion providing loans to clients, I built the Drexel Mortgage brand to become one of New York City's top mortgage providers.

2. What are some of the differences for consumers when it comes to working with a local agency like Drexel Mortgage rather than a large national company?

Drexel Mortgage offers great advantages with a hands-on approach to real estate. We're not quick to say no right away with a lot of red tape. For example, when it comes to credit, Drexel Mortgage works with the individual to repair their credit so they become creditworthy to become homeowners. We dispute charges, challenge charge-offs, and help fix delinquincies by advising clients how to prepare their credit for homeownership. Traditional lenders tend to cherry-pick who they want to work with, ignoring many borrowers who are only a few simple steps away from their own homes. We advise clients on a personal level to tailor-fit every loan for each borrower's needs. For example, we advise borrowers to have a co-signer, or have a family member assist them with the loan process to make the loan process comfortable and easy-going.

3. In addition to helping people who want to purchase a new home, what services do you provide for refinancing and debt consolidation?

Once people become a homeowner, they call Drexel Mortgage to utilize the equity in their home to purchase investment properties, consolidate their high interest credit card payments into one low monthly mortgage payment, or pay off bills. Refinancing has many benefits, and Drexel makes it easy for customers to refinance to renovate their homes, fix their credit, and even to finance major purchases.

4. Are there any common questions you get or misconceptions you regularly see regarding home mortgages and personal finance?

Being in the mortgage industry for decades, I've seen a lot of recurring mysteries and common questions. For example, people assume the mortgage process is a mystery that takes a long time. At Drexel, I make it easy for homebuyers to understand that buying a home is an exciting and simple process. Drexel understands buying real estate; mortgages can look like a daunting endeavor--after all, it's probably one of the biggest purchases a person will ever make. But the reality is, at Drexel Mortgage we take the time to assure you're comfortable with achieving your goals.

Another real estate misconception is that you need a lot of income with a huge down payment to own a home. With Drexel Mortgage, we put these popular myths to rest very quickly. I'm often asked what kind of houses are clients qualified for. Clients commonly think they need a high 700 credit score with 20% down just to qualify for a mortgage. Those days are long over, and today's real estate market understands that there are clients from all over the credit/income spectrum who can qualify for a home. At Drexel Mortgage, with flexibility to tailor loans based on the individual's needs we can provide loans to clients with a 600 credit score, with 3.5% down payment.

5. For people considering buying or selling a home in the Richmond Hill neighborhood of New York where your office is located, do you have any locally-specific advice?

New York City, where Drexel Mortgage is located, is one of the most sought after real estate markets in the country. New Yorkers are fast-paced, high-speed people who want it all yesterday. If you're buying a home in NYC, save yourself some time by getting pre-qualified first. Providing a Pre-Qualification is a free service we offer. We look at the income, assets, and credit of the individual to let them know what purchase price their income can support. Sometimes we can offer a pre-approval letter, to save some time for the realtors as well. With a pre-approval letter, the realtors, homebuyers, and appraisers can make fast, intelligent decisions to buy a home and start the loan.

Feel free to call me directly with any questions at (718) 441-1515, terry@drexelmortgage.com, www.terrygangaram.com.

Thanks, Terry!

Meet Jack Harris of City Mortgage Advisor

Jack Harris is an independent mortgage broker from Bournemouth in the UK. His new website City Mortgage Advisor has been set up to help first time buyers gain access to the Help to Buy Scheme, plus lets them request independent mortgage advice for when buying a home in the area. In this interview we speak about the website launch and his plans for the business in the future.

1. Would you tell us a little bit about your own background and how you came to work in the mortgage broker industry?

I studied finance at Bournemouth University, and after graduation, I started working for a mortgage brokers in the town. As with many people who run their own businesses, it got to the point where I wanted to be independent by myself and believed I could do it better. Because of that, City Mortgage Advisor was born, and I am now my own man so to speak.

2. What kind of services do you offer, and in what way do you differentiate yourself from the local competition. I'm thinking that mortgage advice must be a pretty competitive industry, right?

You are so right. It is ultra-competitive. But, I am firm believer that if you offer a quality and friendly service, then the rest will take care of itself. I am already getting referrals in from existing clients and am growing month on month so can't complain.

In terms of service, I am 100% independent. That means I can search the whole mortgage market to get the best deals for my clients, and am not tied contractually in to anyone mortgage lender. That's why people come to me: because I am a truly independent mortgage broker in Bournemouth.

3. Can you explain a little bit about the Help to Buy Scheme in Bournemouth and what this entails?

Sure, in the UK, just like the US we saw a large economic downturn in the last decade. As a result, people, especially young people and first time buyers, were unable to get enough of a deposit to buy a new home. The UK Government launched the Help to Buy Scheme which means that first time buyers can now get onto the property ladder with as a little as a five percent deposit.

The Help to Buy Scheme in Bournemouth is only available for first time buyers and on new-builds, so I partner up with property developers in the town to open up this possibility for my clients. It's a great scheme and has helped hundreds of young people in the town so far. I offer advice on this and help those buyers get onto the market where otherwise they would struggle. It's the part of my job that I love the most to be honest!

4. So what's Bournemouth like as a place to live and work in?

It's a beautiful part of the UK. It has sandy beaches (award-winning I might add) and great nightlife, and is right next to the forest which means some great days out when not working. I have a young family, and during the summer we spend as much time outdoors as we can, whether that's camping or down on the beach with friends.

5. In terms of the business, what plans do you have for that and your own website, City Mortgage Advisor?

I want to continue the growth. At the moment I am putting the final plans on a new office location which will be more centrally located in the Bournemouth town centre which should make things easier for me in terms of client acquisition.

For the website, I am currently getting my online marketing manager to develop out new pages to target other geographic areas within a 30 mile radius of our office premises. I also plan to begin doing Skype and video consultations online as I feel that this is something that you don't often get in the mortgage broker market. Hopefully this will translate into more business if it means I can work with more potential clients online rather than with a physical office appointment.

Thanks so much for your time today. As a final word, what piece of advice would you give for other people reading this interview who might want to start their own business?

Don't be afraid to take the jump. Without fail, every single business owner I talk to who has done the same has said that it was the best decision that they ever made. Starting out on your own can be a scary concept, but unless you do it, you will never know. I didn't think I was going to be a mortgage broker in Bournemouth when I was a kid growing up, but I sure as heck wouldn't change it!

Thanks, Jack!

Excerpt from The Secrets of An Intelligent Consumer by Leon Forte

The author of The Secrets of An Intelligent Consumer, Leon Forte was trained as a mortgage banker and has worked as a mortgage broker. He has also owned several businesses. He has turned his years of experience with how people handle their money into a straightforward, helpful book about personal finance and living comfortably without overspending.

Learn more on AuthorsDen, and visit the Amazon page for The Secrets of An Intelligent Consumer to read the first ten chapters of the book for free. The excerpt on Amazon provides the general premise of the book; to understand the full details of this useful approach to wiser spending, you can buy the complete e-book for Kindle for $4.99. A shorter excerpt of the book appears below.

Take Back Control of Your Wallet and Your Life

Many of your financial problems are thrust upon you by greed. I believe in the system, but corporate greed is always on the lookout for more ways to reach into your pocket, leaving as little as possible in exchange. The greed of banks sucks the money from your pockets. Wall Street's greed never gives the working stiff a chance. It is as though having more is not enough for them. They want even more than that.

Government's greed, or should I say politicians' greed, tilts the game against you. Then, they take a big chunk of the money you earn and give some of it back to the banks and Wall Street. They waste much more of it leaving the public in the lurch and pat themselves on the back for doing such a great job. It shouldn't be a big surprise that somehow they get richer and you become poorer. Welfare for the poor is minuscule compared to corporate welfare which goes right into the pockets of the greediest and wealthiest among us.

Let's be honest with ourselves as well. Our own greed plays a major part in destroying our financial well-being too. You were influenced by all the lies that were forced upon you without your knowledge, but in the back of your mind you knew that it couldn't be right and something was out to get you. You paid no attention because it felt good and were caught up on some level of the game.

You can't have it all. You can't have it any time you want it, but you sure tried.

Many tried hard even though they probably knew that they really couldn't afford it. You just wanted to feel good about yourself. Much of that was thrust upon you by greed, ploys, cons and gimmicks to get you to spend an enormous amount of money when you didn't have to and couldn't afford to. You just felt that you had to so you would be happy or at least be happier. What then happens is that it takes the chance you have of attaining happiness and diminishes it so that it can seem out of your reach. That's how it works. You bought into it. You're a member of a big club. I was right there with you.

Some of us didn't even have the opportunity to try to feel good by overspending. That made many miserable simply by always wanting and never believing we could have even a little. That's a lie too. You just need to know how to manage money and your limitations. You also need to be An Intelligent Consumer so you can feel like you're in the game by having more spending power.

Defend yourself against all that you are up against. Knowledge is the key. Why wasn't this taught in high school? Put in the time and effort to become An Intelligent Consumer and forget living above your means. Use money very wisely to get the most that you want. Then, you have done something to help yourself by protecting yourself from the forces of greed. Then, you have actually taken matters truly into your own hands and stopped that "blame game." Then, you'll have at least a chance of becoming happy. It is our basic right to pursue happiness.

As An Intelligent Consumer, you'll live far better than someone with the same income that hasn't a clue. Those that wish to usurp your financial well-being while enriching themselves will have a harder time trying. The forces of greed have little power against free will guided by knowledge. Remember, you're the boss. If the general public at large were all to use the recommendations in this book, they would literally change the way stores do business. They would change the way advertisers advertise. They would put banks on alert. Most large corporations would need to regroup. They are all nothing without you. This would all be to the public's financial benefit. However, you must be aware and forever vigilant. Madison Avenue, banks, and retail board rooms will not let having your guard down go unnoticed.