The son of a pastor, TD Bank’s David Edmondson originally planned to follow in his father’s footsteps by leading churchgoers closer to their spiritual goals. As fate would have it, he’s instead leading people on a different path by helping them toward their homeownership dreams.
“I had no idea what I wanted to do after high school,” Edmondson said. “So, I went into Bible school and graduated with a four-year Bible degree. I just thought, ‘Hey, I’ll do what my dad does.’ But I realized pretty quickly after graduating that maybe it wasn’t the best opportunity for my career path.”
Fortunately, one of his talents — even then — was connecting with people. “I connected with everybody. I was able to get my foot in the door with some jobs that I should have had no business being in, probably, based on my experience,” he said with a laugh.
What I talk about with clients, besides perhaps a spiritual aspect, it’s the most personal thing in their life — their finances.
Edmondson ended up connecting himself to a job as a personal banker, helping walk-in customers open checking accounts and referring business to other partners within the company. Once there, he found that one of the things he did well was identifying potential clients for the bank’s mortgage department.
He got so good at it, in fact, that management asked him if he wanted to try his hand at it himself. That was nine years and three companies ago, and he’s made the most of it since. “The Lord opened up some great opportunities,” he said. “One thing led to another and it ended up being a great fit.”
That’s putting it mildly. In 2020 at TD Bank, Edmondson and his team closed 445 mortgages for $322,696,530 in aggregate loan volume, good for 89th among all qualified producers in Scotsman Guide’s Top Originators rankings. That figure included $298,933,133 in purchase loans, placing him No. 9 in the nation on the publication’s Top Purchase Volume list.
And while his career path has strayed a little farther from the family business than he originally intended, Edmondson now prides himself in practicing a different kind of stewardship. “In both [being a pastor and being an originator], there is a lot of being able to talk to someone and for them to be able to trust you,” he said.
“They’re not spiritual goals anymore, but it’s definitely still very personal, right? What I talk about with clients, besides perhaps a spiritual aspect, it’s the most personal thing in their life — their finances. I uncover everything: all their credit, their assets, their income. Everything. It’s a very personal transaction, and to the degree that they’re laying out whatever they need to lay out, there has to be some sort of trust there.”
Every transaction is different, Edmondson said, but he especially loves working with people who may not think they meet the requirements for securing a home loan.
“If a client says, ‘I got turned down by another bank,’ I find that it’s a good challenge to see how I can make it work — and work for the borrower,” he said. “It’s such an exciting time when it does work out. They’re always so grateful and you feel like you’re accomplishing something at the end of the day, because the clients are fulfilling such a big dream of theirs.”
Not bad for a guy who claims he had no business doing what he did when he started. “It’s been a lot of hard work, and also a lot of trial and error,” Edmondson said with a chuckle. “But hey, here we are. Nine years later — overnight success, right?” ●
