Quoc Do closed more than $138 million in 2017
For Top Originator Quoc Do, mortgages may as well be in his genes. His mother worked in real estate and his father was a loan officer, and he came about much of his industry knowledge organically. These days, Do is a Senior Mortgage Loan Officer at EverBank in Pleasanton, CA, closing more than $138 million in 2017 and making Scotsman’s Top Originator list for total volume.
Before becoming an originator, however, his specialty was marketing, systems technology, and internet security. He was successful during the dot-com boom, but after the dot-com bust, he realized that he no longer wanted to be at the whim of companies who could lay him off without notice. So, given his knowledge of the mortgage industry and a natural inclination for problem-solving, being a mortgage originator seemed an obvious fit.
“That’s how I got into loans, I wanted to control my fate, I was exposed to it from my parents, I saw that I had a natural tendency and gifting toward it, so I started doing it, and I started doing well fairly quickly. It’s a good fit.”
He calls himself a “natural teacher,” saying that one way to prove that you’re an expert at something is to be able to understand the particulars and then relay it in simple terms. And really, that’s what originators have to do all the time.
“I know loans inside and out, so when I try to explain it, I try to make it very simple. So I try to speak slowly, I think that’s really important because it takes time for people to catch up to what you’re saying, because for us, a lot of loan people, they say the same things over and over, it’s like a script,” he said. “We just kind of say it really, really quickly but clients for the first time, this is all like a foreign language to them.”
Do’s calmness and level-headed approach to doing business sets him apart as well. Deals can be unpredictable and sometimes mistakes happen at some point throughout the process. While others may get panicked or emotional over the deal, he said, especially when it comes to worrying about their relationship with referral partners, he takes it all in stride, knowing that that’s the game.
“I’ve done so many transactions that I know eventually, it all works out. I think part of it is just knowing, and having experience, knowing that it will work out,” he said. He tells clients, “we will get through it, you’ve just got to trust me, and we’ll get there.”
That same mantra could be used to assuage the current worries of originators, some of whom are struggling in the current mortgage climate, where business is a little bit harder to come by. But true to Do’s calm, cool, and collected form, he says that one of the best ways to improve on your business and originations in any market is to have a plan.
Do’s plan involves a lot of tracking, measuring and monitoring his three pillars of business: his business with realtor partners, builder contacts, and friends and family. He learned over the years that the best use of his skill set is not managing other originators, but he does have a team of people who he ensures are best suited for specialized tasks, so that he can focus his time on income generating tasks.
“A lot of loan officers, they don’t work every day, or they don’t go into the office every day. They basically, they live their life and when a loan comes in, they work. Whereas I’m very different, I come to the office almost every single day, I work until the day is over. If it’s slower then I think of other things to do to do things to keep me busy to ensure that I’m doing income-generating tasks all the time,” he said. “I’m always looking at threats . . . if [my business] is going to be slowing down in one certain area, I know I either have to focus more on it or divert my attention to another area to grow. So I’m always looking and analyzing my business to make sure that it’s going to be consistent.”
Outside of the office, Do credits the CrossFit program as contributing to his success. It’s an intense and challenging workout, one he engages in most days at 5:30 a.m. It energizes him and gears him up for the work that lies ahead.
“It gets my day started off right because that’s the hardest thing I’m going to do of the day. After that, everything else is easy.”
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