120+ Loans a Year, One Relationship at a Time: Abdul's Path from Nigeria to Chicago Broker-Owner

Abdul Erinfolami is the Founder and President/CEO of Loan Spot Inc, a mortgage brokerage he built from his living room in the Chicago area, now closing around 120-130 loans a year. Abdul immigrated to Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood from Nigeria in 2003, joining parents who'd arrived in the late 1990s — seven people sharing a two-bedroom apartment, with his mother working as a nurse. He started working at 16, spent four years as a personal trainer, and entered the mortgage industry in January 2019 at age 22, a year after buying his own first property. In this episode of Chasing Excellence, Abdul joins host Tony Thompson to talk about why he named his company Loan Spot — simple enough that, in his words, "it has loan in it" — and why he still treats every relationship, not just every deal, as the real product he's selling. They cover his structured weekly rhythm (agent touchpoints, follow-ups, pre-approvals, post-closing calls, and VIP networking, each with its own day), why he tells new originators not to quit after two years, and how he reframes Chicago's low-inventory market as opportunity rather than obstacle. 🔑 What You'll Learn: Why Abdul believes "people do business with who they like" more than any pitch How he structures his week around relationships — agent touchpoints Monday, follow-ups Tuesday, pre-approvals Wednesday, post-closing calls Thursday, VIP networking Friday Why over 80% of new originators quit within two years, and why "it's a contact sport" you have to keep showing up for How he reframes today's low-inventory Chicago market: "transactions and deals are still being closed — they're either gonna be closed with you or without you" Why he still teaches new agents to make 20 contacts a day, even as lead-to-close ratios have gotten tougher since the pandemic Connect with Abdul Erinfolami: https://loanspotinc.com/ | https://www.linkedin.com/in/abdul-erinfolami-65ba5b184/ Subscribe to Chasing Excellence for more conversations with the mortgage industry's top producers and broker-owners.