First and foremost, Teresa Giannini will always tell the truth. “If I can do it, I’ll get it done, but if I can’t, I make sure everyone knows upfront,” she says. As vice president of mortgage lending at Guaranteed Rate Affinity, Giannini serves clients in Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan and specializes in Conventional, FHA, VA, jumbo, purchase, refinances and renovation Loans.
Ranking as a top producer yearly since she began her lending career in 1988, Giannini has encountered every lending scenario in the book, solving each one head-on. “If a solution is possible, I’ll find it,” she insists.
Prior to becoming a mortgage banker, Giannini first owned a hair salon in Jefferson Park before transitioning to the hospitality industry. She worked part-time at the Chicago Hilton as a server after graduating college and interviewing for jobs. “There was a mortgage banking convention at the hotel one night,” she explains. “A group of mortgage bankers came in when we were hoping to close, and the other server and I flipped a coin to see who would stay. I lost, and it changed my life forever.”
Citing 2020 as the apex of her professional life both as a lender and as the co-owner of two bars in Chicago, Giannini notes that her success wouldn’t be possible without her team. “They allow me to spend more time meeting and talking with clients and structuring their deals,” she says, adding that her business continues to grow thanks to referrals from Realtors, attorneys and past customers who appreciate her honest and thorough approach. “So many have become my lifelong friends,” she remarks.
Giannini is on the board of directors for the Grand Corridor Chamber of Commerce and the Harlem Avenue Little Italy Business Association. For the past 22 years, she’s volunteered as a religious education teacher for third graders. She loves working with children and has received much more from them than she gives.
Guaranteed Rate, Inc. is a private corporation organized under the laws of the state of Delaware. It has no affiliation with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture or any other government agency.
