Robert Guth is all tied up in the mortgage business

Robert Guth EVAN WILLIAMS / FLORIDA WEEKLY Two years ago, Robert Guth was traveling in China, looking for a new project to pursue. His life as a mortgage broker in Lee County fulfilled his monetary goals, but he hadn't played in a band for almost a year, and the absence of that lifelong passion left him restless.

Then it hit him: Mr. Guth returned to his home in Lehigh Acres with plans to design and sell his own line of neckties: The Robert Andrew Guth World Collection. It might also be an opportunity, he realized, to support a charity.

"I decided I wanted something to help me fill a void that I had," he said. "I'm the type of person that always needs to be creating, whether that means writing, playing music or painting. (And) I wanted to give back, even if it's on a small level."

The ties are designed by Mr. Guth and, and are produced inexpensively in China. He sells them for $10 apiece on www.tieparadise.com, choosing to donate all the profits to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Mr. Guth decided to support cancer research because the money helps such a broad range of people.

"Cancer is a horrifying disease that doesn't discriminate," he said. "There's no ethnicity that is immune from it. It affects the elderly, the overweight. It affects any age group. It could happen to me."

In a troubling coincidence, but one that drove the point home, Mr. Guth's sister was diagnosed with cancer only last week. The doctor told her she has possibly weeks to live.

"This has nothing to do with starting the ties, but there it is," he said.

Mr. Guth, 38, grew up in Lansing, Mich. with his parents, three sisters and brother. He started playing guitar at age 12 and began listening to bands like Rush and Van Halen. Eventually, he taught himself to sing, as well as play bass and drums. He also had "a long, blonde mane," which is trimmed back to a neat crew cut now.

His parents, who worked in law enforcement, moved to Cape Coral in 1982 and Mr. Guth set his sights on rock stardom. After graduating from North Fort Myers High School, he played for rock bands, covering Top 40 hits or originals, in bars like Salad Days, a defunct club in downtown Fort Myers; and Mulletville, a bar in Matlacha.

"I wanted to be a rock star," Mr. Guth said. "It kind of sidetracked me when other people were going to college."

Nevertheless, he attended Edison State College before being recruited as a mortgage broker while working for a real estate education company to make ends meet. Mr. Guth has been a licensed mortgage broker for nine years and started at First Capital Lending Corp. in Fort Myers last year.

You'll always find him wearing a tie, of course — "I owe it to my clients to look my best" — and he calls himself "the hardest working man in the business."

"If people trust me with all their personal finances, I owe them the confidence of going beyond the call of duty and offering them superb customer service," he said.

So far, it's paying off. He's seeing more and more homes sell, recession or not. At First Capital, there were 756 pending home sales in January and 953 in February.

"Loan sales are up," he said. "Home sales are as high as they've been since 2005."

Mr. Guth cites falling home prices, lower interest rates and President Obama's $8,000 tax refund for first time homebuyers as triggering the higher sales.

"Now you've got the teacher and the guy who works at Blockbuster who can afford a home," he said.

That is, of course, if the jobs are available. But he conceded that there are fewer loans available in general and tougher standards for getting those loans in the wake of the downturn. As a result, fewer people who want loans will be approved for them. Mr. Guth's solution?

"We have to work harder," he said.

He also still finds time to develop a new style of tie now and then. Currently, he has 25 styles to choose from, made with a polyester/silk blend.

"I wanted a tie that you can wear in church, in big meetings, to a nice restaurant, where you want to wear it," he said.

Mr. Guth was a tie collector before he designed his own line of them. But it's not all about ties and mortgages. The music isn't over, either. In a nod to times past, he offers his services as a DJ (call 770-6741) for weddings and parties. He also likes to dive, fish, snorkel, and has a 180-pound Great Dane named Clyde.

And in October, he tied the knot.

"She's the closest example of a perfect person I know," Mr. Guth said.