Today I arrived at the office and realized that I’ve been with United Home Loans for 14 years. Baffled as to where time went, I began to reflect on the company that has been such a large part of my life.
Mike Dulla founded United Home Loans in 2002 at the age of 33, something that I couldn’t fathom doing at such an age. Just two years later, Mike took a chance on hiring me. He isn’t just the President, founder and boss, but Mike was my mentor when I started and is someone who has also become a friend. Looking back over the years, a lot has happened economically in the world since I began my career. We saw the peak of housing demand with new construction exploding, a growing housing bubble, the economic collapse, the Fed’s quantitative easing process that drove interest rates to historic lows, the refi boom, a Greece bailout, Brexit and now a housing market flirting to come back as strong as inventory allows. As a company, we’ve seen the good times, the tough times and the highly regulated times. Needless to say, United Home Loans has evolved with the times in its now 16 year existence.
As the housing market slowly becomes closer to “normal” – whatever that means, I can honestly look back and say that I’m both proud and lucky to be a part of the United Home Loans family. We have a unique culture devoted to customer service, but this standard isn’t so much preached as much as it comes naturally to those employed here. We have an enabling work environment ensuring that everyone is doing their best. We don’t just have the right people working here; we have the right people in the right roles. At its core, United Home Loans is made up of an eclectic group of individuals that seem to share in one basic concept; support. Its employees are like-minded, caring individuals, motivated with common goals and interests. People here support one another, pitching in where it’s needed. Clients who’ve entrusted us feel like they are working with a family owned and operated company, because we are – both literally and figuratively speaking.
April marked United Home Loans’ 16th year anniversary. We continue to grow, adding many new faces. Everybody brings their own unique personality, but everybody is committed to the positive culture of supporting one another. So as I reflect on the past 14 years of my life, I couldn’t imagine it any other way. While we have a great process in place for helping people achieve their dreams of homeownership, it’s the people that make United Home Loans a great place to work.