When facing a crisis, survival is usually the primary goal – but some go a step beyond.
“We didn’t just survive the mortgage meltdown. We thrived.” That’s what the folks at Home1st Lending like to say, and it’s that type of attitude that made the company the Orlando’s Sentinel’s 2022 Top Workplaces winner in the small company category.
Home1st Lending started in 2005 at the dining room table of CEO Theresa Lentini-Lopez and her husband and co-founder Pablo Lopez. Despite facing challenging economic times during the housing crisis, the company today has nearly 60 employees in Central Florida and more than 100 employees nationally.
“We pretty much gave up everything we had and were at risk of losing our home, just to get it going,” Lentini-Lopez said in an interview with the Sentinel in 2020.
“We started by caring about people and we continued that culture as we grew,” she said. “I don’t forget where I started.”
Home1st Lending likes to say that it isn’t your average mortgage broker.
“With our extensive and well versed experience starting at the top, with our CEO, our originators can help find the loan that is tailored to your needs,” the company said in its Top Workplaces entry. The firm said it maintains relationships with more than 50 of the top lenders including banks, credit unions and private institutions, helping make Home1st Lending a one-stop shop for its customers.
As a local family-owned and operated business, Home1st Lending places a great deal of emphasis on supporting and giving back to the Orlando community.
Recently, the company held a food drive with the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, which included not just providing supplies to those in need, but also having employees come in for a day of volunteering at the non-profit.
Home1st is also a proud supporter of The Gina McReynolds Foundation, a local nonprofit focused on providing assistance to families with members battling breast cancer.
There’s also a healthy aspect of giving back, like Home1st Lending’s yearly basketball game to benefit Lily’s Warrior Project, which helps children fighting cancer. Employees get in game-shape by being part of the company’s health and fitness Slack channel.
Home1st Lending said its mission is to be “the hometown lender providing you the service you deserve with the speed you desire.” It’s vision is to the the No. 1-ranked broker in the national by volume and reviews.
By being recognized as a Top Workplace in Central Florida for the third consecutive year, Home1st Lending is well on its way.
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