Rita came to the U.S. from Italy in 1997 to study law—but life had other plans. She fell in love, married Marcelo from Argentina, and they decided to stay.

Over the years, they built a number of homes, lived in them for a few years, and then would sell and start over—each time selling for a profit. Three years ago, they decided to make their passion for real estate development their full time jobs, focusing exclusively on custom modular homes. Rita and Marcelo design each property, send plans to a Pennsylvania manufacturer, and receive an 80% finished home delivered by flatbed trucks. Once delivered, they complete the homes with custom kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, and finishes.

Rita is a true believer in modular construction. Why? “Start to finish is much faster; we can manage the timeline; and we can contain the costs. The homes are much sturdier because they require 15% more lumber to withstand the transportation and they are ‘greener’—no warping, energy efficient, and built in factories.”

On working with Spring Garden Lending, Rita shared: “I was impressed. Sarah [Massey, Spring Garden Lending’s VP and DMV commercial lender] found me! Financing modular homes is more complicated; other financial institutions were slow and we needed more fluid financing. We had bought three lots and were planning to build on one of them from the get-go. Meeting Sarah and working with Spring Garden Lending has been an incredible experience. They are everything we need—fast, flexible, reliable and efficient. Sarah was always there. I appreciated the personal attention that she gave me and her interest in our project. As a matter of fact, she showed up at closing with an article that had been written about our company.”