Meet Guillermo Castillo | Residential Mortgage Loan Originator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Guillermo Castillo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Guillermo, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born in Bogota, Colombia and immigrated to North New Jersey when I was a year and a half old. My family lived in apartments the whole time we lived in New Jersey. We lived in communities that were very racially diverse. It wasn’t until our church asked for us to move to Houston Texas to help the church in South Houston. It just so happened they did have a transfer option to Houston with my father’s employer, so we picked up and moved out here in October 2014. Moving to the suburbs of Houston was a culture shock for me personally. Seeing what families were like with home ownership, and living in a area where not everyone was trying to grow up fast at a young age, where kids can actually be kids. It was really awesome. Up to that point in my life, EVERYONE rented, everyone that I knew lived in apartments or rented from a duplex, triplex, or etc. Then one day, my family had the opportunity to Rent to Own. That was such a huge deal, that at 15 or 16 I had no comprehension the significance it was to my parents to be able to buy their home in the United States. To finally stop renting and paying someone else’s mortgage. Fast forward to today, I am a Residential Mortgage Loan Originator, or most commonly known as a Loan Officer.

My background and upbringing plays a humongous role in what I have chosen for my career. The passion that I have to help families become home owners, derives from seeing and experiencing everything that I did in New Jersey and everything that I learned and built here in Texas.

What should our readers know about your business?
I believe what sets me apart is my passion and drive. I hate failing, hate to not be able to deliver on my promise to my clients once I am able to Pre Approve them. Sending a pre approval letter to my referral partner or to the realtor my clients are working with is a promise to them. And as cliché as it sounds, promises are super important to me.

What makes me the most excited about my business is helping first time home buyers, creating that step of financial freedom and ownership really gives me a sense of pride to be able to help people like that.

I got to the point I am at because of working hard and gaining the trust of my referral partners. My business consists on referrals, and whether that is my Realtor Partners, previous clients, or family and friends. I believe them seeing my success has created more confidence in being able to refer more business to me. It wasn’t easy, but thankfully with the right guidance and support I was able to get to where I am today.

I have learned that knowledge is power, being prepared with as much information is helpful to be able to be the best professional I can be; for those who have chosen to work with me. I have learned that there are many avenues people can become home owners and that it’s my job to make sure I can deliver that to my clients; however complex their situation may be.

I want to world to know, to not give up ever. Sometimes the no, doesn’t have to be absolute. Sometimes it means not right now and you just have to work harder than others for it. But, homeownership is obtainable and I wholeheartedly will do the best I can to get you there or point you in the direction on how to get there.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would definitely say Galleria so they can see the grandness of it along with shopping. I would also say Kemah, seeing the board walk, the restaurants and activities would definitely be a place to take a friend. Mid town, and discovery green. Like try a really good restaurant and walk it off with Discovery Green, especially if there’s kids. To eat and drink I believe a pretty big staple for people to try is Pluckers. Everyone that has visited, has never not enjoyed themselves at Pluckers. Drinks would be cool to also take them to any of the brewery’s we have in the city. Another thing would be NASA, everyone always wants to visit the space station here in Houston. As well as the Houston Museum of Natural Science we love going there as well as everyone that has come to visit us. Couldn’t forget about the Houston Zoo as well.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I definitely would dedicate this to my family and my faith. From my parents and all their sacrifices it took to make a life for us here in the United States. My sister for always helping my parents and myself with anything and everything she could. My wife and kids being the motivation for me to never give up and strive to always do better. And last but not least my faith in Jesus, to never lose hope, always have compassion for everyone. No matter the background or situation. I want everyone to know they deserve respect and love.

Website: https://www.thrivemortgage.com/loan-officer/guillermo-castillo

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/guillermo.mlo/