Vice President of Mortgage Lending
Guaranteed Rate

It was a commercial lending class in college that sparked Damien Ramirez’s interest in the industry. “My initial studies focused on a career in accounting, but the professor made the class interactive and showed a different avenue for applying my love of math,” says Ramirez, vice president of mortgage lending for Guaranteed Rate.

Ramirez, who has worked in lending for 20 years, started as a banking credit analyst. “My background helps me understand and analyze the credit worthiness of a borrower,” he says. He encourages past clients to call him for anything real estate-related. “It has helped build trust, rapport and friendships with clients over the years.”

Recently, he was honored and moved when one of his first clients, a woman he helped to refinance a condo as she was going through a nasty divorce in 1999, looked him up because she was retiring. “As a 23-year-old rookie who did everything I could to help her ease into a different life situation after a 30-year marriage, she wanted to thank me for what I did 18 years ago,” he says. “It was the next step in her life, and she wanted me to be part of it.”

Ramirez always leads with Guaranteed Rate’s top core value: Putting the customer first. “I want to make sure that I am building a relationship, and that the deal is not just transactional,” he says. “We look at files with credit issues and borrowers who may not have the liquidity required to purchase a home. Guaranteed Rate has various loan programs, including down-payment assistance programs, that are available for these challenges.”

Married for 20 years, Ramirez attributes much of his success to the support of his wife and family. He enjoys volunteering at his kids’ schools, watching his daughter dance and coaching his son in baseball.