Joseph M. Murphy, Jr. co-founded ValueXpress LLC in 1995 and has been part of the management team that has guided the company for over 30 years. Mr. Murphy has an extensive background in banking and finance and is currently serving on the Board of Directors of OceanFirst Bank, a New Jersey based community bank with over $11 billion in assets.

Prior to OceanFirst, he served on the Board of Directors of Country Bank Holding Company from 2003 until the bank was acquired by OceanFirst in 2020. At Country Bank, Mr. Murphy held various leadership positions, as Executive Vice President in 1997, President in 2008 and President/CEO since 2012.

Louis Tallarini co-founded ValueXpress LLC in 1995 and has been part of the management team since its inception. He has held various executive positions in several ‘Value’ branded real estate companies based in New York since 1992. Mr. Tallarini has an extensive background in accounting and real estate management.

He started his career at the CPA firm Harris, Kerr, Forster in New York City.  He has experience in the audit and management of large real estate projects including multifamily, industrial, office, retail, parking garages, hospitality and healthcare.

Michael Sneden is Executive Vice President of ValueXpress.  For over 25 years, Mr. Sneden has been responsible for the origination and underwriting of loans primarily for the CMBS conduit market.  Mr. Sneden has originated in excess of $2.5 billion in commercial loans in over 500 transactions nationwide.  Mr. Sneden has closed fixed- and floating-rate loans secured by every income-producing asset type including multifamily (traditional, manufactured housing communities, student, underlying co-operative), retail (mall, community center, big-box, unanchored, single-tenant), office (urban, suburban, office suite, single tenant, office/warehouse), industrial (single tenant, multitenant, warehouse, light manufacturing), hotels (franchised full-service, franchised limited service, unfranchised) and self-storage.  Through this broad exposure, Mr. Sneden has experienced and solved every possible issue that can arise underwriting and closing commercial loans and brings those solutions to his clients.

Gary Unkel has been a member of the loan originations team at ValueXpress since 1999.  Since joining ValueXpress, Mr. Unkel has been responsible for the origination and underwriting of loans primarily for the CMBS conduit market.  Mr. Unkel has closed fixed- and floating-rate loans secured by every income-producing asset type including multifamily (traditional, manufactured housing communities, student, underlying co-operative), retail (mall, community center, big-box, unanchored, single-tenant), office (urban, suburban, office suite, single tenant, office/warehouse), industrial (single tenant, multitenant, warehouse, light manufacturing), hotels (franchised full-service, franchised limited service, unfranchised) and self-storage.

Mr. Unkel has also closed SBA 504, 7(a) and conventional commercial loans for Country Bank (a ValueXpress affiliate) and other community banks.

Mr. Unkel has an extensive accounting background and also serves as the CFO for ValueXpress.  Mr. Unkel is expert in all accounting software utilized by owners of commercial real estate including QuickBooks and Peachtree.  These skills allow Mr. Unkel to quickly understand accounting issues, solve them and accurately model cash flows for income-producing properties resulting in quick closings for his clients.  Mr. Unkel attended Saint Peter’s University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting.

Jay Bhakta has been a member of the loan origination team at ValueXpress for over 20 years, completing his first transaction from his dormitory room at the University of Southern Mississippi in 1997. Since that time, Mr. Bhakta has completed over 200 transactions nationwide focusing primarily on hotel loans.

Mr. Bhakta is a Lifetime Member of the Asian-American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) and has represented ValueXpress at every annual AAHOA National Convention

since 1998. Mr. Bhakta is expert in fixed- and floating-rate CMBS, SBA 7(a), SBA 504 and conventional loans for hospitality and other income producing assets, including multifamily, retail, office, industrial and self-storage properties.

Mr. Bhakta is well-respected member of the Asian-American community and brings vast financial knowledge of mortgage finance to his clients. Mr. Bhakta brings unique skills as an owner and operator of hotels as well. Mr. Bhakta received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Banking and Finance) from USM.

Leon Elliott has been a member of the loan origination team at ValueXpress since 2011.  Mr. Elliott is a 40-year veteran in commercial and residential real estate lending.  Mr. Elliott is based in the Boston, MA metropolitan area and is primarily responsible for commercial loan originations in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.

Mr. Elliott has originated CMBS conduit loans (all asset classes), SBA 504 and SBA 7(a) loans and agency multifamily loans. In addition, Mr. Elliott maintains relationships with community banks in New England to assist bankers with their CMBS conduit loan originations and placement of commercial loans with these community banks in situations where a community bank loan is a good fit.

Deb Oprean is a member of the loan origination team at ValueXpress.   Ms. Oprean has been working in the financial service industry for over 30 years.  Ms. Oprean has closed fixed- and floating-rate loans secured by all income-producing asset types with a particular focus on Self-Storage loans. Prior to joining ValueXpress, Ms. Oprean held

upper-level bank management positions at HSBC Bank and Bank of America.  Ms. Oprean has been involved with the American Bankers Association and provides consulting services to commercial real estate owners in the areas of marketing and finance.  Ms. Oprean earned a Bachelor’s degree from Niagara University.