An Interesting Definition of 'Right Place at the Right Time'
The O.C. Mortgage Bust Jobs Dry Up In Subprime Heartland
By Dina ElBoghdady Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, October 13, 2007; D01
IRVINE, Calif. -- After more than two decades in the mortgage business, Tony Ventimiglio got his big break in 2001 when he accepted a managerial job with a lender here in the heart of Orange County for $225,000 a year -- more than double what he had made in each of the previous four years.
Ventimiglio nearly doubled his salary again two years later, this time at the now-defunct Homefield Financial, where he supervised 100 workers, including salespeople who routinely made $25,000 a month in commission.
"When I started working there in 2003, I was embarrassed because I was driving a Cadillac and the young office clerks were all driving Mercedes and BMWs," said Ventimiglio, 49. "There were a lot of people who knew nothing about mortgages. They were simply in the right place at the right time."
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