09/11/2026
🇺🇸 25 YEARS LATER • NEVER FORGET 🇺🇸
There is something deeply personal about this September 11 anniversary for me, and also something I have never really put into words about the history of Mach Mortgage and Enigma Real Estate.
The companies themselves would not officially open and operate until more than 20 years later.
But looking back today, I realize that their roots began at almost the exact same time.
I had just moved to Miami only a couple of weeks before September 11, 2001.
There was no Mach Mortgage.
There was no Enigma Real Estate.
There was no company headquarters, no team, no brand, no licenses hanging on the wall, and no roadmap showing where the next 25 years would take me.
I was simply working.
I was working at two hotels in Miami, trying to establish myself in a new city and build a life from very humble beginnings.
Then September 11 happened.
The world changed overnight.
Working in those hotels gave me a front row seat to something many people never saw.
Miami was and still is one of the most international cities in America.
People were suddenly stranded thousands of miles from home because flights were grounded.
Some could not return to their countries.
Some stayed far longer than they ever expected and eventually ran out of money.
I remember people trying to trade suits, jewelry, belongings and whatever they had just to pay for another night in the hotel.
Businesses stopped receiving shipments.
International travel virtually disappeared.
People who owned second homes in South Florida could not get here.
Tourism stopped.
Hospitality suffered.
Businesses struggled.
People were frightened and uncertain about what tomorrow would look like.
I watched firsthand how one event could affect not just New York or Washington, but families, businesses and communities more than a thousand miles away.
And without realizing it at the time, those experiences were teaching me lessons that would stay with me for the rest of my life.
People matter.
Home matters.
Financial security matters.
Community matters.
And when someone's life suddenly changes, having someone willing to help them find a way forward matters more than almost anything.
More than two decades later, those principles would become part of the foundation of the two companies I am blessed to lead today.
🏡 Mach Mortgage
🏡 Enigma Real Estate
Two completely different businesses, but both ultimately built around one very simple purpose:
Helping people move forward.
Helping someone find a home.
Helping someone finance that home.
Helping families create stability.
Helping investors build something for the future.
Helping people navigate stressful situations when the path forward is not always obvious.
When I think about where these companies are today, I never want to forget where their roots really started.
Not in a fancy office.
Not with investors.
Not with a giant staff.
Not with millions of dollars in transactions.
They started with humble beginnings in Miami.
They started with working two hotel jobs.
They started with watching people struggle and realizing how quickly life can change.
They started with learning to work hard, adapt, serve people and keep moving forward when nobody knows what tomorrow will bring.
And they grew through more than 20 years of experience, failures, lessons, relationships, persistence and refusing to quit.
September 11 will always mean something far greater than business to me.
Nearly 3,000 innocent people were taken from their families that day.
Thousands of firefighters, police officers, EMTs and first responders ran toward danger while others were running away.
And in the years that followed, I would meet many first responders who eventually relocated to South Florida.
Some suffered from respiratory illnesses, cancer, trauma and other conditions connected to what they experienced and breathed at Ground Zero.
Some of those people are no longer with us today.
Their sacrifice deserves to be remembered forever.
So this post is not about celebrating how far two companies have come.
It is about remembering where we came from, what shaped us and why serving people matters.
Twenty five years ago, I could never have imagined where life would eventually take me.
I certainly could not have imagined that more than two decades later I would be leading a mortgage company and a real estate company of my own.
But I can look back now and recognize that some of the most important foundations were being laid during those very humble days.
Work hard.
Take care of people.
Never take tomorrow for granted.
Keep going when circumstances change.
Remember where you came from.
And when you have the opportunity to help another person build a better future, do it.
Today, from everyone at Mach Mortgage and Enigma Real Estate, we pause to honor the innocent lives lost, the heroes who answered the call, the first responders who continue to live with the consequences, and every family whose life was forever changed on September 11, 2001.
Twenty five years later, their courage continues to remind us that buildings can fall, circumstances can change overnight, and plans can disappear...
But the human spirit can rebuild.
That is something America proved after September 11.
And it is something I have carried with me ever since.
🇺🇸 We Remember.
🇺🇸 We Honor.
🇺🇸 We Never Forget.
Mach Mortgage, Inc. | NMLS 2487234
Enigma Real Estate
Ray Combs | NMLS 1458928
