Nothing prevents Chunda Zeng from responding to clients and prospects in a timely matter, not even a 16-hour difference in time zone. Zeng, a senior home lending advisor with JPMorganChase, was recently vacationing in Japan and still managed to promptly reply to all inquiries. Much to his delight, nobody even realized he was out of the country. Mission accomplished.

Seven years ago, Zeng was working as a banker, with the ability to originate loans, when he discovered his passion for home loan origination — a niche that has him excited to go to work each day. “The moment I made clients become the owner of their dream home was priceless,” he says. “As of today, I still wouldn’t trade it for anything else.”

Zeng specializes in Seattle’s Eastside area. He brings a unique background to lending. Zeng has a linguistics degree and worked in the tech industry as a language expert, localization specialist and quality-assurance tester. “Having interacted with high-tech people as colleagues helps me connect with them as a home lending advisor,” he shares. “They like my quick responses and that I’m always available to them. Also, a lot of them like my transparency on pricing and their qualifications.”

While it took courage to return to work at a big bank, and he was hesitant at first, his year-to-date applications and production volume have assured him that the move has paid off. He has an assistant and a loan processor who take care of the backend so he can do what he does best: focus on sales. The majority of his business is referral based, from past clients, friends, co-workers and even prospects who went somewhere else.

Hyper-informative and entirely transparent, he prepares clients to make the best-informed decisions by setting expectations upfront and educating them about the process.

Outside of work, he loves to travel.