Combining both hard and soft skills will yield the best results for clients, says the 18-year veteran
As an 18-year veteran of the mortgage industry, Russell Laing, partner at Texas-based Vista Lending arm of Network Funding, cited his inherent interests as the foundation of his success.
“I enjoy numbers and people,” Laing told MPA. “Mortgage loans require both.”
These inclinations have served him well in a career that has spanned various capacities in institutions as diverse as the Bank of America, Chase, BMC Mortgage, Southwest Bank Mortgage, and Capstar Lending.
With such a long tenure in the mortgage space, Laing certainly had his fair share of interesting clients.
“I worked with an actor who was in the movie Road House,” Laing recounted. “He lived in California and was also in one of the biggest punk bands in [Los Angeles] in the 1980s. It was really interesting to talk to him, and funnily enough his stage name is ‘John Doe.’ He was buying in Austin [Texas] because he wanted to relocate here eventually. It took some work verifying his being in the acting guild, but it was funny to work with someone I had watched in a movie.”
A consistent top producer at Network Funding, Laing had a total volume of $95.33 million and 294 closed loans in 2019 alone. The fruits of his long-term success were hard-earned, however, with the most critical period of his career only a little over a decade prior.
During the Great Financial Crisis, Laing said that he “got on the phone and called all my past clients to generate leads and new business. It was a challenging time.”
Laing said that this robust background and some well-honed people skills have helped him though all the rough patches so far.
“I am an analyst so I love working with numbers. I also love looking for client solutions to problems – both my analysis experience and problem-solving [skills] help me find great client solutions to issues.”
