Mortgage Cicerone: Tony Gallegos

by Brian Brady

Commercial Real Estate Finance Expert
Structured Debt and Equity
Licensed Real Estate Broker in AL, CA, and FL

Author website

Tony Gallegos posted his top bloggers’ list of 2007.

Many of the lists published are a beauty pageant and none, to this date, mean a whole lot to MY industry; residential real estate finance. Tony’s participation in MTG.net is a measured and intelligent position. It has to be; Tony is a senior executive for a big bank. While the originators were bickering with The X Broker, Tony was pointing out the strength of both sides’ arguments. When I chronicled the curse at Countrywide, the Countrywide employees went bonkers. Tony offered measured but cautionary advice to those folks about the reality that lurked in the bowels of the balance sheet.

If you’re a loan originator, Tony’s the real deal. He closed 400 units in one year. Here’s the trick; he did it with one processor, no team…just one processor. What this whole thing means, if you’re a loan originator, is that you listen to Tony Gallegos and you read The Mortgage Cicerone. If strength comes from restraint, Tony is the modern day Charles Atlas. While you won’t see him writing many opinion pieces (as bank executives shouldn’t), you will see him pointing you to relevant information…like a guide, a Cicerone.

The Mortgage Cicerone points us to three unsung voices in his 2007 list:

Joe Zekas from Yo! Chicago. I met Joe, on Active Rain, last year. One thing I’ve learned to dread is the Zekas comment; they’re always incisive and usually correct. Joe takes on the MSM in this post but don’t start cheering. Two of my favorite Zekasms are his take on treating people like leads and his rules for what NOT to do on a weblog. Even more astounding are: 1. some genius hasn’t called him arrogant and 2. there is no Fake Joe Zekas blog floating around the internet.

Brett Rogers, of BeatCanvas.org , offers intelligent commentary. His post, The Second Handers, summed up my thoughts about the rugged individualism that made this country great.

Dan Melson, of Searchlight Crusade, is one of the smarter mortgage writers on the internet. In the interest of transparency, his conspicuous omission, from my praise, is carefully crafted egoism. This time is as good as any to give my annual hat tip to San Diego’s top mortgage voice.

Special nods should go to the Athol Kay, The Bawld Guy, Maggie Dokic, and Greg Swann. When a mortgage guy includes REALTORs on his list, you’re doing something right.

I hope this list draws attention to the real talent in this space; Tony Gallegos. Often, brilliance comes from the ability to point, to highlight, to guide. Separating the wheat from the chaff is what a cicerone does. The Mortgage Cicerone does it with humor, eloquence, and aplomb.