Our Team

Alexander Kim, NMLS #393715: Mr. Alexander Kim Founder/CEO is a God loving family man, an American patriot and advocate of small business and real estate ownership. His entrepreneurial spirit was put into practice during his early childhood years (since 7 years old) helping out at his parents’ beauty supply business in Baltimore City, Maryland. Alex served as an active duty military member during his attendance at the United States Coast Guard Academy, where his leadership training led to mastering his “Sail Ship” mentality. He was later recruited into the real estate industry in 2003. During his tenure in the mortgage, credit consulting and real estate business he was able to assemble a team of leaders who later founded HomeFirst Mortgage Bankers.

With an emphasis on teamwork, communication, and integrity, Mr. Kim serves his team with the highest level of care. He believes that, “If I can do it, then anyone can and if I don’t do it, nobody will”.

Denise Nguyen: Denise is the Founder/President of HomeFirst Mortgage Bankers and serves as Head of Operations and Senior Underwriter.  With nearly 20 years of experience underwriting conventional, government and portfolio products, she has been instrumental in developing HomeFirst’s operations staff into an exceptionally knowledgeable and skillful team.  She has previously held senior underwriting positions at Bank of America, HSBC, IndyMac, Countrywide, and Land Home Financial among others.

“First in Service”

Jeff Blaxland
CPO/CMO
NMLS #514358

Jeff is one of the west coast’s top Loan Originators. He offers the best possible rates for Conventional, FHA, VA, Jumbo, Down-Payment Assistance and many other products. Jeff loves to spend time with his wife, twin daughters and son, grilling, volunteering, playing with his kids, practicing jiu-jitsu and watching the Lakers and Dodgers with his family.

Emmie Tran
COO 

Emmie is the Chief Operations Officer here at HomeFirst Mortgage Bankers. She’s been in the mortgage industry over 10 years and loves coming to work every day knowing that she gets the chance to help her clients attain their goals of home ownership. When not working, Emmie loves to cook, travel and spend time with family.

Hanh Nguyen
CRO

Hanh brings 18 years of mortgage industry knowledge to her role at HomeFirst. She believes the life lessons learned as a child from her parents have shaped her into the person she is today both personally and professionally. She works diligently to empower the team with knowledge so they can thrive and be more effective workers.

Daren Nam
CUO
NMLS #284410

Daren is the Chief Underwriting Officer at HomeFirst Mortgage Bankers, where he oversees the operations of the company and establishes polices that promote company culture and vision. In his spare time, Daren enjoys spending time with his family doing outdoor activities such as Fishing, Camping and Hiking.

Edmond Han
CIO

Jimmy Le
CTO

Jimmy is very ambitious and ultimately the jack of all trades around the office and plays a very pivotal role with the company. Jimmy loves to play basketball and run when time permits. He’s currently engaged and loves to travel throughout the world with his better half, Emmie.

Richard Hong
CFO

Richard has been in the mortgage industry since 2013 with the bulk of his experience being in the accounting department and secondary marketing department. In his free time, Richard enjoys the simple pleasures of life.

Judy Sayavong
Documents MGR

Judy joined the Homefirst Mortgage Bankers team in 2015. Her current position is a Doc Drawer in the Closing Department. She continues to learn daily and is proud to be in an industry that helps others achieve their dreams of owning a home. Judy loves to spend time with her family and traveling.

Minh Nguyen 
Processing Manager
NMLS #919460

Minh is a Junior Underwriter for HomeFirst Mortgage Bankers and has been in the mortgage Industry ty since 2012. He is very grateful for the team he gets to work with and is still passionate about is work. He enjoys working out, playing music, traveling, and spending quality time with his wife & their dog Nemo.

Steven Knipping
HR DIRECTOR
NMLS #384283

Steve is the Director of Human Resources as well as a Senior Loan Officer. His goal is to bring talented loan officers and teams on-board as smoothly and efficiently as possible. He enjoys spending time with his family, hiking, reading and following his favorite LA area sports teams.

Steve Gribben
GEN. COUNSEL
NMLS #896086

Steve is one of HomeFirst’s three original founders and currently serves as an advisor to the firm. He brings to HomeFirst a unique perspective on secondary markets and new product development, which is drawn from his time working in executive management in the securities industry and as an attorney for various real estate and financial services companies. Steve received his B.A. from USC and his J.D. from UCLA. His is also a real estate broker and holds multiple securities licenses.