Rodolpho Miller, Quontic BankNew York, NY The New York Real Estate Journal recently sat down with Rodolpho Miller, director of new development at Quontic Bank.
Q: How did you get involved in real estate and finance? Tell us a little about your background.
A: I’ve always had a passion for business. I grew up in Bayside, Queens with my three brothers, and my parents. My father was a corrections officer at Rikers Island, and my mother was a small business owner. From a young age I remember helping her manage the business. By the time I was 13, I was helping my mother with accounting and management. In high school, I was eligible to graduate early. To gain some experience, I obtained an executive internship with Universal Music in World Wide Plaza. I was the intern for the director of sales for Univeral Lationo. Among my responsibilities were to help artists get situated in their hotel rooms and to ensure vendors had enough inventory in their stores. I also maintained records of all sales. All through the internship at Universal, my hunger for growth in business was growing.
Q: After your experience at Universal, where did you decide to go next?
A: I decided transfer to John Jay in New York City to pursue a career path to the FBI, involving government and forensic psychology.
Q: How did you go from pursuing a career in the FBI to mortgage banking?
A: During the summer of my second year in college, I went to a career night at a local real estate firm. I worked part-time there while I continued to attend college. Based on my new experiences in real estate, I decided to change my educational direction, away from government and forensics, turning toward business administration. I became a real estate agent, and had a very successful first year. Soon after I was introduced to the mortgage business. I saw the mortgage industry as a way I could make an impact.
Shown is Miller receiving the Excellence in Real Estate Award on October 19th from Michael Nussbaum, Publisher, Queens Tribune.Q: How did you transition from being a real estate agent to working with mortgages?
A: I worked for several small firms, and a few larger firms early in my mortgage career. I started in the business during the end of the real estate boom. I always tried to stay positive, and treated clients like family. My relationships with my clients built me a reputation for exemplary service, allowing me to weather the “financial crisis” storm. I have closed $750 million in mortgages throughout my career, and collectively over $1 billion with my teams. I was brought on board at Quontic because of my new development knowledge and my years of service for a large national lender.
Q: Tell us about the work you do at Quontic Bank.
A: I am the director of new developments at Quontic. I am in charge of growing our influence within this competitive market and to take market share. I also manage a division with the co-director of new development, Matthew Garland. We oversee a loan officer team of 15 and focus on growing the Quontic brand while obtaining new development projects. I have held management positions for over eight of my 12 years in finance.
Q: What sets Quontic Bank apart from other firms?
A: Quontic is a small local community bank, founded in Astoria, Queens. We are willing to be more aggressive than other lenders when it comes to finding “outside the box” solutions for our clients. We have only been around for five years, so Quontic is a relatively young firm. This year we are making a big push to make a splash in the market–over $1 billion. We are already considered to be a preferred lender on many projects in the city. We underwrite our own loans, and members of our senior management team have backgrounds in mortgage origination. Being a relationship-driven organization, our team members put our clients first, and do everything possible to get deals closed in a timely manner. We treat our clients like people, not like numbers or profit margins.
Shown (from left) are Quontic Bank’s: Aimee O’Connor, assistant; Anthony West, loan officer; Derrick Moore, loan officer; and Miller.Q: You are very passionate about the work you do at Quontic.
A: Yes, a main goal of mine is to assemble a national team with the power of Quontic behind us so we can make an impact on the market one deal at a time.
The main focus for me is projects from $3 to $10 million, which has a large gap in services offered in today’s construction community. We offer competitive rates where others in this space might be offering close to hard money figures.
Also, so many people have issues obtaining financing. I want to be able to reach this demographic and make sure the “American Dream” is possible for them too. Most banks offer only a handful of financing options. At Quontic, we offer over 30. We handle regular programs like FHA, VA and conventional, but we also take on the more complex financing options out there like commercial, lite doc., foreign national, SBA, the list goes on and on.
Q: When you aren’t working, what do you do in your spare time?
A: I live on Long Island with my junior high school sweetheart, Ginene. We have a four-year old daughter, Gia. I have been involved with martial arts/MMA since I was five years old and still train from time to time with my brothers. I also enjoy pick-up basketball, although my skills aren’t what they used to be!
Q: Are you involved in any real estate or community organizations?
A: I am part of PinkTie.org, a breast cancer awareness organization on Long Island. PinkTie.org works to bring real estate professionals together to support education and research efforts to defeat this awful disease. Networking events are held to bring our industry together while raising funds. I am also part of PinkTie1000, which is a fundraising initiative that takes 100% of donations and gives them to local organizations supporting finding cures for diseases like breast cancer, autism, traumatic brain injury, and more.
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