Meet Kristina, Your Own and Your Clients' Go-To Personal Mortgage Advisor, Who Never Drops the Ball and Always Closes on Time!

I became a mortgage loan officer officially in 2023. It seemed like the most natural and logical move as it combined my 20+ years in banking and finance with my 7+ years of real estate sales experience. As a realtor, I found myself educating my clients not only on the real estate process, but also on the mortgage process as well.

After a disappointing experience with a lender on my own transaction, I thought to myself, “What if I was not a realtor? What if I didn’t have a finance acumen? How would I have ever been able to know that this is not how the lending process should go?” And the answer to those questions is that I would not have known.

I would have over paid in interest and worse, my deal would have fallen apart right before close because of misinformation. This one event inspired me to become a mortgage loan officer myself and help other people avoid this mistake. Now I combine the best of all my worlds to be able to help my clients have an elevated financing experience.

After over 20 years in banking and finance, I decided that I was ready to step out on my own and build a real estate business. I was living in Houston at the time and became officially licensed in 2016. Since that time, I have practiced real estate in Texas, California and Ohio.

Currently, I hold an active license in Ohio where I help buyers, sellers and investors with their real estate properties. Working as a realtor in Cleveland, OH is particularly special to me because I am selling homes in the areas that I grew up in and am able to share my local knowledge and experience with those that I work with.

I love being part of the homeownership journey with my clients whether that’s buying their first home, selling their current home to downsize or upsize, or add another property to their investment portfolio. You can learn more about my real estate sales services at KristinaMorales.com.

I never expected to end up in Treasury. Treasury found me. In 2011, I was finishing up my MBA at The Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. I had already accepted a job offer to relocate to Silicon Valley and work as a Senior Analyst at Hewlett-Packard – which was the exact job I was hoping for at the time.

Then out of nowhere, I was recruited by The MetroHealth System to consider an Assistant Treasurer position. After much thought, consideration and time consulting my family, friends and mentor, I opted to take the Assistant Treasurer role and my treasury career was born.

Since then, I served as an Assistant Treasurer to two medical companies and ended my corporate career as the Assistant Treasurer of a publicly traded company in Houston, TX.

I began my finance career at an Asset-Based Lending company in Cleveland, OH. I started as the secretary to the Vice-President of the Cleveland office. The VP that I worked for was amazing. He allowed me to continually grow in the company.

My curiosity and ambition helped me grow my banking career from a secretary to the VP to becoming an Assistant Vice President myself. My 12-year banking career was very diverse. I worked in various areas that provided me with foundational experiences and skillsets that I still actively leverage today.

Some of those areas were: Asset-Based Lending, Commercial Lending, Syndicated Finance & Trading and Public Finance. While in banking, I had amazing mentors and leaders that believed in my potential, supported my ambitions, and helped open doors to opportunities that awaited me.