Sep 1, 2026 · 22 min · 9 segments
Saul Pinela is a Producer Branch Manager at Neighborhood Loans in Geneva, Illinois, just outside Chicago, where nearly 14 years with the company — and more than 22 years in the mortgage industry…
Tony ThompsonHost
Saul PinelaGuest
Speaking of the mortgage business, obviously you've been in, in a moment now, Saul, you know, the ups and downs and cyclicalness of our industry.
As you think about today from where you sit as a top performing originator, you know, you're also the number one, you know, DPA for Illinois housing, Ida, shout out to Ida as well up there.
Well, I know from what I see every day, just yesterday we had a couple families.
I had a family pre-approved for $195,000, but the price – that approval price is not going to get them anything in the areas where they want to buy it.
To get something at that price, they have to move out, you know, an hour and a half from the metro area to somewhere, you know, pretty far away just to get something affordable at that price range.
So I think affordability is definitely a big impact, at least in the communities that I'm serving.
And, you know, I was telling someone earlier, if you look back, though, even 10 years ago, affordability was still a challenge to a certain extent.
And so, you know, for me, I like to say, while we know that that is a challenge and certainly in higher cost markets, I consider Chicago a higher cost market as well in the suburbs.
sometimes that affordability is even, you know, accentuated even louder as well.
You've got a mix of business, past clients, realtors, referrals, you know, from the social on the internet.
What do you do and how do you stay focused doing the volume that you do consistently month after month, year after year, Saul?
Speaking of the mortgage business, obviously you've been in, in a moment now, Saul, you know, the ups and downs and cyclicalness of our industry.
As you think about today from where you sit as a top performing originator, you know, you're also the number one, you know, DPA for Illinois housing, Ida, shout out to Ida as well up there.
Well, I know from what I see every day, just yesterday we had a couple families.
I had a family pre-approved for $195,000, but the price – that approval price is not going to get them anything in the areas where they want to buy it.
To get something at that price, they have to move out, you know, an hour and a half from the metro area to somewhere, you know, pretty far away just to get something affordable at that price range.
So I think affordability is definitely a big impact, at least in the communities that I'm serving.
And, you know, I was telling someone earlier, if you look back, though, even 10 years ago, affordability was still a challenge to a certain extent.
And so, you know, for me, I like to say, while we know that that is a challenge and certainly in higher cost markets, I consider Chicago a higher cost market as well in the suburbs.
sometimes that affordability is even, you know, accentuated even louder as well.
You've got a mix of business, past clients, realtors, referrals, you know, from the social on the internet.
What do you do and how do you stay focused doing the volume that you do consistently month after month, year after year, Saul?
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