Looking In

February 11, 2025 by

I’m a managing director and head of transaction management at Lument, where my responsibilities include managing the closing of loan transactions from the application stage through post-closing delivery. With almost 28 years at Lument and its predecessor organizations—and more than 31 years of industry experience—I’ve cultivated deep expertise in multifamily loan closings.

Our team is top-notch, and together we work extensively with a range of internal and external partners to ensure loan transactions align with established guidelines for closing and timely delivery. It’s really rewarding to play a vital role in supporting the broader organization in achieving its goals across all lines of business. I strive to create an environment where everyone feels encouraged to participate and share their insights. Every member is a fantastic person and employee—I try to celebrate a lot of their achievements, and I hope that some of our success is due to how I lead.

Lument’s welcoming, hard-working culture has provided me with opportunities to initiate change and grow both professionally and personally. I strive to be very open and transparent with my team to create a culture of empathy, and to be crystal clear about my goals and expectations. I also try demonstrating that we need to be adaptable and flexible, and when things don’t go right, to have the patience and understanding to take it in stride, regroup, and get back on track.

The company also encourages entrepreneurial thinking, which I appreciate. I believe people thrive when they’re empowered to make decisions and given the freedom to engage and perform their best work. I’m not afraid to approach my manager with an idea about how we might do something better or streamline a process—not only in my department, but Lument as a whole, because ultimately, we’re all one team.

Throughout my career, one of my proudest moments was when Lument was honored as the 2023 recipient of Fannie Mae’s Excellence in Operations Award. This recognition celebrated our outstanding performance across key operational areas, including master servicing, commitments, and delivery. What makes this achievement so meaningful is that it not only reflects the dedication of my department and team but also showcases the exceptional collaboration across multiple departments working toward a shared goal. This award is a testament to our strong internal relationships, effective leadership, and unwavering commitment to excellence in everything we do.

I’m also proud to be Lument’s main liaison with Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network, which provides women in our industry with valuable opportunities for networking and professional development. I got involved with the organization in 2020 and it was a terrific introduction to women like me who have had long careers in commercial real estate, yet haven’t always had secure footing, given that our industry has traditionally been male dominated. CREW’s seminars and events are great venues for meeting women in different real estate categories, to learn how can we support each other and celebrate our various career successes. We’re recruiting more young women to join our chapter within Lument, which we launched in 2023, and grow awareness of the many resources CREW has to offer.

One key lesson I’ve learned during my career is that the value of adaptability and continuous learning can’t be overestimated. Remaining open to change—be it in respect to new technologies, market shifts, or client needs—is essential to long-term success, as is relationship-building and gaining hands-on experience. Early in my career, I always made it a point to learn from more experienced colleagues, and then gradually use those lessons to expand my responsibilities.

Something that many people might not know about me is that I’m an avid snowboarder, along with my husband and three children. I was very hesitant to try it—I literally cried on the way to our first snowboarding vacation. The first three days were filled with falls, bumps, and bruises—I could feel every bone in my body. But what makes snowboarding intimidating also makes it exhilarating. It requires technical skill and focus and challenges you to problem-solve and make sharp, fast decisions. For those few hours, there are no distractions—it’s just us and the mountain.

Life At Lument: Vanessa Howes, Managing Director And Head Of Transaction Management - Howes Lal 977X532 2.10.25 Edited

November 20, 2024 by

I’m excited to announce President’s Picks, which will give me a chance to share some of the most valuable insights and business wisdom I have gained over the years from books I’ve read. This project has been years in the making. For those who don’t know, I played soccer through the end of my college career. That required a lot of travel: first in the car, then on team bus rides and long flights. And that downtime led me to pick up the habit of reading. I always packed a book for the road, typically leaning toward leadership, autobiographies, or finance-related stories. And I have continued to read, long after I hung up my cleats and gloves.

Many of the business books I’ve read are forgettable. Far too often, the themes are tired and the leadership advice repetitive. But there are some books that still really speak to me. One of these is Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World.

One of the things I like about Nine Lies is that it’s written for busy professionals. Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall take a storytelling approach, which makes for an easy read. They also incorporate tangible, actionable steps you can apply when interacting with your teams or thinking about your career. Even though it was published pre-COVID in 2019, I’ve found Nine Lies to be more valuable than ever as time goes by.

Nine Lies debunks several myths about leaders and leadership, especially the storybook view that leaders are supremely competent and confident individuals who are well rounded and great at all aspects of the job. In real life, no one can achieve this standard. A leader can be amazing at managing a group very effectively but have a terrible tendency for making small talk at happy hour. Trying to achieve this standard is a recipe for disappointment. It distorts how you should work and what you should strive for.

Some of the other myths Buckingham and Goodall highlight concern goals and plans, specifically the notion they often are outdated as soon as we have them on paper so there’s no point in making them. While change is inevitable, it doesn’t mean we should throw our annual goals and models out the window. There is a great deal of value in taking time to reflect each year and putting into writing what you’re working towards and how it fits into your larger strategy. But the authors also point out that you should not blindly stick to a plan when the world has moved in another direction. You should always be open to taking new data from markets and responding in the moment. I found Nine Lie’s approach to how you can be nimble and accepting of change – in part by enabling employees to organically align their unique strengths with the needs of the organization – to be illuminating.

I also found their approach to the elusive work-life balance refreshing. Buckingham and Goodall stress that it’s really up to you to create the work-life you want. There’s no balance that works for everyone. Your task is to figure out what you love about your work and find ways to do more of that. We all must love something about this business, or we wouldn’t be here. Making it work for us is what keeps us going.

I hope that this brief discussion of Nine Lies gives you a taste for some of the insights it offers, encourages you to pick it up, and apply its lessons. And I’m not the only one who likes it. Nine Lies has a 4.6 review on Amazon with more than 1,000 ratings!

President’s Picks is a book review and leadership advice column written by Tyler Griffin, president of mortgage banking at Lument. Email tyler.griffin@lument.com with any suggestions, comments, or questions.

November 12, 2024 by

I’m a senior managing director and head of real estate investment sales at Lument. As a leading multifamily lending platform, the company is charting a growth path for the future by offering clients an expanding array of complementary services and solutions—and one key component of that growth is a national market-rate multifamily investment sales platform, which we launched this summer.

After having spent the past 12 years overseeing the largest multifamily investment sales platform in the country, I joined Lument to develop and run this dynamic new facet of our business. Creating this nationwide platform is an ambitious goal which will take time, but being selective in who we bring on to be a part of this investment sales platform is critical. Right now, I am focused on sharing our vision with experienced multifamily advisors throughout the country, as well as building the foundation for this new platform. I’m lucky that Lument has infrastructure and resources in all the areas where we need support.

It’s an opportune time to be in the multifamily market, which has become much more competitive and institutionalized over the past 20 years. Between advances in underwriting and growing investor sophistication, it’s a different ballgame. Looking at the current multifamily market cycle, I am excited to see pent-up demand starting to turn into activity as investors adjust expectations and begin to jump back into the market.

We have a tremendous opportunity to leverage Lument’s debt platform for the benefit of our clients. With 30 offices across the country, Lument is a top agency lender and servicer providing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD/FHA financing. In addition, we offer balance sheet bridge, mezzanine, and preferred equity solutions, as well as a suite of debt capital markets products such as bank, debt fund, life company, and CMBS financing. The powerful combination of investment sales with this comprehensive range of custom capital solutions is unrivaled in the industry.

I have always been entrepreneurial-minded and enjoy the challenge of building out systems and infrastructure. The goal of developing an investment sales platform represents a tremendous opportunity. One of the reasons I was drawn to Lument is a corporate culture that encourages you to decide what you want to accomplish, put together a game plan for how you’re going to get there, and then make it happen. The colleagues I’ve already collaborated with have shown remarkable intelligence and dedication. Working with people who are so capable and with whom you enjoy spending time makes such a difference. It’s a very positive work environment, which is terrific.

One thing that my colleagues likely don’t know about me is that as of a few weeks ago, after living in Indianapolis for 25 years, my wife and I are now Manhattan residents. I’ve spent quite a bit of time in big cities during my career—when we got married, we were living in downtown Chicago—so we understand what urban living is all about. But obviously, New York is a different experience, no matter who you are. It’s an exciting new chapter, both personally and professionally.

September 25, 2024 by

I’m a senior director on Lument’s capital markets team, where I identify financing solutions for commercial real estate clients utilizing a wide range of lending sources, including banks, debt funds, conduits, and Lument’s proprietary capital. Prior to joining Lument, I focused on capital markets deals across virtually every sort of asset type and region in the U.S.

To be successful in the current environment–where there’s market volatility and guidelines have recently become more stringent–you must be able to offer an array of alternative financing, or else clients will take their business elsewhere. Lument has its finger on the pulse of the market: at a time where a lot of competitors aren’t looking to grow their brands, Lument has wisely gone in the opposite direction and expanded this team, which I believe will grow the business.

Since arriving at Lument, I’ve been able to focus fully on production, while in my previous role I concentrated more on the analytics side. Though production in general has its challenges, ultimately there’s a lot of opportunity in the market right now, so I’m excited to be able to fully focus my time on originations as we grow this business.

Many Lument colleagues from across the country reached out to welcome me and my capital market team members when we joined Lument, and now other producers nationwide are getting in touch, either to pick our brains or discuss co-brokering deals with us, which is terrific. I appreciate the entrepreneurial and empowering culture that Lument has cultivated. As a producer, I feel that my years of experience and market knowledge are valued and respected by leadership.

My team and I have hit the ground running and have already closed a few deals, which has been great. It was a pretty seamless transition, and we’re seeing business ramp up. Recently, a lender whom I’ve closed a bunch of deals within the past reached out about a previous client of mine was having an issue with one of his properties. He was sitting on a loan for quite some time without the certificate of occupancy needed to lease out the building, and eventually went into a Department of Buildings (DOB) audit.

His hands were tied for a very long time, and his loan was coming due. It was a bit of a fire drill, but I was able to get that to the finish line in about two weeks, before the close of the loan, which was a big win. It’s a good example of the importance of maintaining relationships in this industry: in business, as in life, if you treat people the way you want to be treated, they’ll likely reciprocate, and good things will happen.

One thing that my colleagues may not know about me is that I love to play sports, and I work out a lot. I’ve been doing CrossFit for two years now. I have a good friend who built a CrossFit gym in his house, so we work out together and push each other. Balancing work and home life is always a challenge–I have four kids, who take up the majority of my free time–but I try to get out there and stay active as much as I can.

July 10, 2024 by

I’m an associate on the conventional production team in New York, reporting to Nicole Goodman and Ian Monk. I work with originators on sizing and screening potential loan transactions and drafting loan submission packages, so I’m basically responsible for the journey of the loan from the initial request to sending it off to our underwriting team once the loan is secured.

Besides working alongside creative and knowledgeable colleagues, I really enjoy being involved in different types of deals, as no two are ever the same. We receive requests daily for those with specialized bar structures, repayment executions, affordability programs––the list goes on and on. This exposure has widened my understanding of the industry beyond what I ever expected. I’d argue that what we do is something of an art: we can review the financials to form a cohesive account of a property’s operating history, and make an educated inference on future performance as it relates to the senior loan transaction. I personally also enjoy putting together a package for a deal, because the storytelling is so fascinating.

Before I was hired three years ago, I interned during the fall of my senior year in college at Project Destined, a leading social impact platform that provides training in financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and real estate to students worldwide. I’ve utilized the foundational industry skills that I learned there since my first day in the Lument bullpen. Now it’s kind of a full-circle moment, as I’m the team lead for our internal Project Destined partnership team. I’m continually impressed by Lument’s desire to aid future housing leaders via initiatives like this one, as well as our internal Associate Development Program, which I’m also involved in.

Lument’s exemplary work culture is what motivated me to join the company, and makes me excited to come to the office. It’s deeply collaborative and encouraging––I know I can always connect with someone, either on my team or outside of it, and work with them to sort out any challenge that I’m facing. Everyone is welcoming and generous with their insights here, and I’m never hesitant to reach out for help.

I’ve also found our corporate culture to be very inclusive–which is the opposite of what I expected to feel as a Hispanic woman, especially when I was searching for a job in commercial real estate after college. I almost started to believe that there wasn’t a place for me in this industry, but Lument quickly helped me realize that was the furthest thing from the truth. I’ve definitely been given the chance to prove myself here. Lument also fosters a safe environment that allows us to speak freely from our individual perspectives, and clearly values our respective opinions.

One of my proudest accomplishments at Lument so far is my work with Project Destined. Besides acting as team lead, I’ve also served as a mentor and judge during our fall internship program. The program is structured as a “Shark Tank”-style competition internship, in which participants present what they learn based on a commercial real estate case study. As a judge, I ask the participants questions and rate their presentations based on certain criteria. In these roles, I’ve been able to provide students with industry insight and knowledge that I had sought when I was an intern there.

Something that my colleagues may not know about me is my passion for solo travel. I’ve taken six solo trips since my first one in 2019, before I joined the company–primarily to Europe, and also to Jamaica, which I really enjoyed. I encourage everyone to travel alone at least once, whether it be a weekend trip an hour away or a six-hour flight across the world. I’ve not only been able to experience new cultures and landscapes, but I’ve learned more about myself than I ever had before.

May 28, 2024 by

I’m an associate director on the conventional production team, reporting to Andy Warnock, one of our originators. I’ve been his dedicated analyst since 2014, focusing primarily on market-rate multifamily housing. I do anything he needs to bring in loans for Lument. From preparing the preliminary analysis through engaging the loans, I help to quarterback that process (alongside Gerry Wallace and Hunter Holton). The lion’s share of the work is upfront, in securing the loan. Once that happens, it shifts over to our underwriting team, then through the closing process and afterward. Throughout the process, I act as a liaison between the client and Lument’s team to resolve any issues that arise.

The most satisfying element is when we can use thoughtful analysis to provide clients with outside-the-box solutions. Obviously, there are guidelines and requirements for originating loans through government-sponsored programs we work with, like FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. That said, we still find creative ways to arrive at the best solution for the client while adhering to the necessary parameters.

I’ve been at Lument nearly 20 years, and one of my proudest accomplishments during these two decades has been my transition from one side of the business to the other. I joined RED Capital Group, Lument predecessor, in 2004 as an accountant. In 2013, when ORIX USA moved most of its accounting roles to Dallas, I stayed in Columbus and applied for an analyst position, despite my complete lack of experience on that side of the business. Luckily, I was offered the job–and soon afterward, in 2014, when the company decided to pair some loan originators with dedicated analysts, I began working with Andy. Since the start of this second stage of my career, our team has closed nearly $4 billion in loans–another point of pride for me.

Lument’s corporate culture is very welcoming and ambitious, which I appreciate. As colleagues, we truly care about each other, which is a vital first step towards our success. It’s a great group of people–in general, there’s a consistent emphasis on helping one another to grow. When you’re doing mortgage lending, business can ebb and flow due to outside factors like inflation interest rate fluctuations. But that doesn’t keep us from pushing ourselves to do our best.

Something that many people might not know about me is that in another life, I would have loved to be a professional golfer. I’m also a huge ultimate frisbee fan––I played through college on the club team and have played in the Columbus summer league since 2005. One thing that’s great about it is there’s no age limit––a lot like golf! I have a daughter who’s eight, and my wife has started to ask me if I think I’ll be able play until my daughter might want to join the league when she turns 16. Hopefully I can hold out another few years after that until my other daughter, who’s four years younger, can join too. I also look forward to them joining me on the golf course!