Meet the Team

About the Team

Brock VandenBerg, President

Brock VandenBerg established TaliMar Financial in 2008 during the height of the housing crisis to provide real estate investors a secure source of financing for their real estate transactions. TaliMar Financial quickly became one of the leading hard money lenders servicing residential and commercial fix and flip loans, bridge loans and new construction loans. Mr. VandenBerg’s real estate career started in 2001 with KeyBank’s Private Equity Group. At KeyBank, Mr. VandenBerg worked closely with leading real estate developers and institutional investors to fund more than $200 million in mezzanine debt and joint venture equity investments. After spend over 5 years with KeyBank, Mr. VandenBerg was appointed to a three year engagement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), where he supervised the orderly dissolution of failing banks. His responsibilities also included the sale of more than $500 million in performing and non-performing loan assets on behalf of the FDIC.

When not in the office, Mr. Vandenberg plays competitive tennis and spends time with his wife and three children.

Sarah Zybura, Director of Operations

Sarah Zybura is a native San Diegan and holds a B.S. in Organizational Leadership. Ms. Zybura joined TaliMar Financial in late 2014 as a loan processor and has handled various aspects of loan closing and servicing.

Her primarily responsibilities in TaliMar Financial include the underwriting and funding of newly originated hard money loans and raising capital for the growing loan portfolio.  Since joining, Sarah has been involved in placing over $200 million in first and second trust deeds.

When not in the office, Ms. Zybura enjoys spending time with her husband and their dog, Augie.

Brandon Warnke, Account Executive

Born and raised in San Diego, California. Brandon Warnke has been involved in the private lending industry since 2017, including working with one of the largest industry events servicing the private lending industry and originating both conventional and private money loans. Brandon is an optimistic and enthusiastic sales professional with over 20 years of experience in sales and customer relations. He is skilled at developing the right action plan for each of our borrowers’ needs and handles the due diligence and loan review process to ensure a smooth closing. Additionally, he is passionate about growing and maintaining strong relationships centered on transparency and trust with our clients.

Outside of work, he enjoys training Brazilian jiu-jitsu, traveling abroad and helping out at his dad’s brewery, Bitter Brothers Brewing Co.

Cara Bridenbaker, Loan Closing Specialist

Cara Bridenbaker has been involved in the real estate lending industry since 2006. Her experience includes loan processing and coordinating loan closings for mortgage companies such as Lending Tree, Intercontinental Capital Group, and Mr. Cooper.

Her primary responsibilities include managing the loan closing process. This includes auditing loan files prior to close to ensure they meet underwriting guidelines, coordinate loan document signings, and ensure the closing parties following all funding requirements.

When not closing loans, Ms. Bridenbaker enjoys hiking and spending time with her family.

Jermalyn Navarro, Loan Servicing Specialist

Jermalyn Navarro has been with TaliMar Financial for over three years assisting with post closing, loan servicing and investor relation functions. Her primary functions include ensuring our recently funded loans are boarded in a timely manner, handling day-to-day loan servicing tasks, and ensure new investors are added to our platform. 

Ms. Navarro enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband and two children.

 

Adela Solís, Marketing Director

Adela Solís brings energy and vitality to TaliMar Financial in overseeing the company’s marketing and advertising initiatives. She works closely with our loan origination and investor relations team to develop a marketing strategy that best communicates the value proposition we offer our clients. 

Her responsibilities include providing direction, guidance, and leadership to the marketing department in building brand awareness and positioning, developing and optimizing our marketing efforts, managing advertising campaigns, and monitoring our social media content. 

When not formulating competitive marketing strategies, Ms. Solís enjoys traveling and playing with her Labrador Yalú. 

Chris Escobar, Loan Processor

Chris joins TaliMar Financial with over 15 years of experience processing in residential and multifamily lending.  As a Loan Processor, she managed each loan from initiation to closing for various loan types, which included Coventional, VA and FHA loans.  She also worked in Internal Asset Review where she helped managed the bank’s loan portfolio by analyzing operating statements, rent rolls and income.

Outside the office, Chris enjoys spending time with her family and their dog, Cuco at home and outside in beautiful San Diego.  She loves watching her kids play soccer and dancing hula with her friends.

Susan Jones, Investor Relations Specialist

Susan Jones is a SoCal native and joined the TaliMar team as our Investor Relations Specialist in January 2024. She has been working within the investor communication and processing world since graduating from California State University, Long Beach with a B.S. in International Business. As our client base continues to rapidly grow, her primary role will be assisting investors throughout the onboarding process, as well as serving as their point of contact during their entire relationship with TaliMar.

When not in the office, she enjoys spending time at the beach, learning about ancient civilizations, and traveling whenever she can with her family and two dogs, Daisy and Joy.

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