Meet The Keith Ward Team
The Keith Ward Team of Cornerstone Home Lending is honored to serve the greater Houston, Texas area with their mortgage needs. Cornerstone is a full-service mortgage lender. We offer a variety of mortgage options, home loan programs, and competitive pricing from a wide range of national investors with in-house processing, underwriting, and funding.
We Want You to Get Home Happy
You can count on our team to answer all your questions and do whatever it takes to close your loan on time. Keith and his wonderful team strive to create a well-communicated, straightforward loan process for each client. They ensure that clients understand how everything is flowing and how the process is moving along every step of the way so that there are no surprises.
We Are Here for You – Even After Closing
We believe that mortgage loan financing is one of the most important parts of financial success. However, we realize that that is just one key piece of the bigger picture. Client and partner relationships are important to us even beyond the closing date.
We Strive to Have a Servant’s Heart
Born and raised in Texas, Keith loves his home state and is happy to give back to local non-profits. We’d love to hear about your community involvement ideas! Share them with us here and learn more more about Keith’s story and community support.
We look forward to serving you!
Keith Ward
NMLS #207949
Senior Loan Officer, North Houston
Keith Ward, Senior Loan Officer for Cornerstone Home Lending grew up in the mortgage business and has been a Loan Officer for over two decades. In that time, Keith has established a reputation with both customers and professional associates for his honest and straightforward approach to mortgage lending.
Keith sees his clients as individuals with specific financing goals, both long- and short-term. He and his team are committed to guiding their clients smoothly through the home-buying transaction. “We value old-fashioned customer service,” Keith says. “Honesty and integrity are more than just words to us – they are the only way we do business.”
His knowledge and experience combined with his personal values made Cornerstone the perfect fit for Keith. Cornerstone’s “Customer for Life” program provides state-of-the-art technology, in-house underwriting, convenient prequalification, a nationwide array of investors to choose from and expanded customer services unparalleled in the industry.
A native Texan, Keith was born in Bryan. He attended Southwest Texas State and Texas Tech University. As a member of the Knights of Columbus and 1st United Methodist Church, Keith is an active part of his community. He enjoys hunting, fishing and competition skeet and trap shooting, but most of all Keith loves spending time with his wife and their sixteen-year-old son.
At Cornerstone Home Lending, you will discover an atmosphere of enthusiasm, a spirit of dedication and a great desire to build quality relationships. Experience the Cornerstone difference.
Martin Lopez
NMLS #358349
Production Partner
Bio coming soon!
Diane Rifai
NMLS #204318
Loan Analyst
Loan Officer Diane Rifai has been a loan originator since 1999, and was a realtor with ReMax for 10 years before that. She brings this experience and knowledge to every transaction she does for her customers.
Working with buyers to find the right loan product for their financial situation can often be like solving a puzzle: gathering the details, figuring out how they fit together, and then finding the right solution for everyone. Diane is now registered to lend Nationwide Areas she primarily serves include Cypress, Houston, Magnolia, Spring, Tomball, and The Woodlands. However, she can do a loan anywhere in Texas, so do not rule her out when planning for that relocation or second home loan you need. It takes patience, skill and the ability to analyze many different factors - all things at which Diane excels!
When she is not working with her customers to get the right loan, or spending time with her family, Diane gives back to her community in several ways. Since 2009, Diane has been a Child Advocate (CASA) for Harris County. As a volunteer she represents children in the foster system as a Guardian Ad Litem. She also volunteers with PugHearts, a rescue group for pugs. In an emergency situation, you will find her as a first responder to her community as a C.E.R.T. volunteer (Community Emergency Response Team), associated with Ponderosa Fire Department. Giving time and energy to these causes makes her ties to her community stronger, and just like the effort she puts into every transaction for her buyers, you see her give 100% of her energy and commitment.
Having Diane as part of your home purchase or refinance experience is the smart decision – experience, patience, dedication, enthusiasm and knowledge - all yours for this major financial milestone!
Kirstie Skaggs
NMLS #1124514
Transaction Coordinator
Kirstie grew up in Austin, TX. around the mortgage business. Her first job in high school was working for a mortgage company as an after-school assistant alongside her mother. Her mortgage career officially began in 2001 as a loan processing assistant. Since then, she has worked for several mortgage companies in various capacities, always endeavoring to expand her knowledge and hone her skills as a mortgage professional. Kirstie's primary goal has always been to be as helpful as possible to the clients she works with and ensure that their transactions are closing correctly and on time. Working in the mortgage industry has genuinely been an opportunity to help Kirstie improve her own life, and she is grateful that it also provides her with the opportunity to help others improve theirs.
In Kirstie’s free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and exploring local antique shops around town. One of her guilty pleasures is watching Hallmark Christmas movies not just during the holidays, but all year long! You can always catch her with a great book in her hands over the weekend or checking out a new restaurant.