Secure Choice Lending, Inc.
Built on faith, service and purpose.
I got into the mortgage business in July of 2016 while I was living in Hawaii, and the only reason I got in at all is because of my mentor, Tony Dias. I met Tony before I ever thought about a career in mortgages, and I truly believe God put him in my life. He's the one who brought me into this business and taught me the overwhelming majority of what I know about it, especially when it comes to serving veterans the right way. Tony started doing VA loans back in 2003 and is still doing them today. Even though we don't work together directly anymore, he's become something closer to a father figure to me, and a grandfather figure to my children. He played a pivotal role in getting me where I am, and he still does.
That's why VA loans have been the core of my business from day one. Ten years in, they're still the focus.
What I try to do differently is simple. I treat people like family. I tell them the truth about what's actually possible, even when it isn't what they want to hear. That's the reason I started my YouTube channel. I didn't want to run clickbait or hype people up with numbers that fall apart in underwriting. I wanted a place where veterans and military families could actually learn the mortgage process, understand their options, and feel confident making one of the biggest decisions of their lives. If you found me through YouTube, that's the work paying off.
Construction loans are a big part of what I do. Building a custom home through a VA One-Time Close is one of the most complex things a veteran can take on, and it's the kind of scenario most lenders either won't touch or don't understand well enough to guide through. I've built my process around making it achievable for the families who want it.
After ten years, thousands of families, and hundreds of millions in loans funded, the thing I'm still most proud of is how those clients talk about the experience. Not the numbers. The relationships.
The reason any of this matters to me goes back further than 2016. I grew up as a military dependent. My dad served in the Marine Corps and later the United States Army. Both of my grandfathers served, along with aunts and uncles across different branches. The two bases I remember most are Camp Pendleton from his Marine Corps years and Fort Riley from his Army years. Moving that often teaches you a few things early. One of them is how much a real home matters to a family. That's not an abstract idea to me. It's where I come from.
I met my wife Esmerelda in San Antonio, and we chose to raise our family in Texas because it's the right place for the kind of life we want to build. It aligns with our faith, our values, and our future as a family. This is home for us, and we're not going anywhere.
The most important thing in my life is my faith in Jesus Christ. He is my Lord and Savior, and everything I do is built on that. Right behind that is my family. My business comes after both, and I think being upfront about that order actually helps my clients. That order isn't something I figured out on my own. Tony taught it to me. He used to talk about living a life that's in alignment, and what that means is having the right things in the right order. God first. Family second. Everything else after that. When you keep it in that order, you actually know what your priorities are, and that's what makes it possible to serve each one the way it deserves. It's the framework I live by, and it's the same one I bring into this work.
If you're considering buying a home, building a home, or anything real estate related, I'd love to be a part of your journey.
Joshua Payne