Today we’d like to introduce you to Lane Gonzalez.
Hi Lane, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My mother, Jackie Gonzalez, has been in the mortgage industry for almost 30 years. My father was in education for +20 years. My parents gave me a strong foundation from which to explore the world both personally and professionally. My mother always said I’d be great in the mortgage industry, but I needed to grow up a little bit first. After going to back to school to get my Masters in Education, I taught middle school Science for a few years at emerging and innovative charter schools in the Nashville Area. Serving the community has always been a silver lining in my life. As long as I can remember, I’ve enjoyed being of assistance to those around me who most needed it. Around 2019-2020, the mortgage industry was starting to boom as rates started falling, and my mom was becoming inundated with business, a large portion of which was Spanish speaking. She called me the Spring of 2019 and said she thought it was time. Not all the way grown up, but closer than before, I began working in the mortgage industry with Mortgage Investors Group under the caring eyes of president and long time family friend, Chrissi Rhea and my mother Jackie Gonzalez. Under their tutelage, and the pressure of the 2020 great interest rate decrease, I learned the ins and outs, trial by fire. I learned this responsibility is so great and tremendous that anything less than 110% was a direct disservice to the community, families, and generations to come. My new role ignited every torch that meant something to me, Community driven, complex, mathematic, impactful. I had found my calling and my niche providing the best possible service to the community of Spanish speaking families in East, Middle, and West TN. Year after year, my volume increased. With the addition of my father, Jesus Gonzalez to the family business, we had come full circle. Now, I’m speaking Spanish every day with families who are buying their first home ever. Their dreams are coming true and I have the honor of playing a small role in that. I feel very grateful for the family who raised me and still is in many ways. I feel grateful to the late Chrissi Rhea for believing in me and giving me this life changing opportunity. After Chrissi’s passing, we decided it was time for a change and now operate a family branch, the Gonzalez Group, and are powered by Kate Dekay’s Eustis Mortgage, a family company who aligns most with our vision for what this industry means to the community and families we serve. Kate and her team have given my family an incredibly supportive and encouraging new home with Eustis Mortgage in the last year.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I knew this role was a tremendous responsibility, but there’s nothing like 7 nights a week on the phone with anxious families that will drive the point home. I remember the first time I heard the excitement/anxiety in a family of 4 living in a 2 bedroom apartment learning they had just been fully Approved to buy their first home. Pure joy. Equally as impactful are the conversations cycling through Plan A, B, C, and D knowing they have the ability to buy this home, but due to cultural differences, understanding it was an uphill battle. You can never have enough communication or planning. I think the biggest challenge was not being affected by the families’ heightened emotions. In the beginning, it would be difficult to sleep because of a rookie error that I had made. Luckily, I had the best, most experienced team by my side to help me through those moments. Now, I’m much calmer. With careful and detailed planning on the front end, I know there’s a solution even when it doesn’t immediately present itself. The anxiety of an error made clouds the solution creating process. Learning to breathe through that, has not only been tremendously beneficial personally, but also to my clients who most need it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m most proud of my family and our team. It is an incredible honor to be able to work along side your mother and father, changing the world one family at a time. I believe our clients feel our commitment to them comes from the heart and so do the realtors we work with. Over the years, we have to specialize in down payment assistance programs that offered both at the state level and national level. These programs allow buyers to buy their first home with 0% -1% down. With the assistance of the seller, this means that many of our clients are able to hold on to their life savings and close on their new home need less than $3,000. Sometimes they don’t bring anything, but their license to closing. THDA is a state program that offers down payment assistance and is arguably the most popular option for buyers looking to saving on down payment assistance. I was the #1 THDA Lender in East TN in 2024 meaning I closed the most amount of loans out of every other loan officer in East TN with THDA down payment assistance. I was also the #2 Spanish Speaking THDA loan officer for the entire state of Tennessee in 2024 as well! This along side the steady increase of my volume over the last 6 years have been amazing milestones for myself and the team we have here that it takes to make it all happen.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Responsive. From my conversations with clients and realtors, so much of the time, Loan officers don’t pick up the phone or text back ever. The word No, is tough word for me to wrap my head around when it comes to this industry. Buying a home is one of the most exciting, nerve wracking decisions someone can make and “No,” or “Not Possible,” just doesn’t cut it. It’s either yes, this is possible, congratulations, or not quite yet, but if we follow steps 1,2, and 3, we will be a much better position to qualify in 3 months. Let’s plan to check back in then. Being responsive and actually caring are priceless.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.eustismortgage.com/en/gonzalez-group/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gonzalezgrouptn
