Russ Fitzpatrick

Short Bio

Licensed Real Estate Agent and Broker for 40 years. Mortgage Industry Leader for 20 years.

Now full time living in Franklin as a local Mortgage Broker saving house buyers time and money.

One Minute Bio

Russell Fitzpatrick is a Fort Lauderdale Native and has been licensed and active selling Real Estate since 1986. He built a mortgage career while active in Real Estate Brokerage Operations and has been a branch manager at an independent mortgage bank managing 13 loan officers and the Realtors they serve.

Russ and Kerry built and managed a training network for over 100,000 Realtors and 8000 Brokerages across all 50 states.

Today he lives in Franklin NC and brings wholesale lending to WNC with CMS Mortgage Solutions. CMS lends in 20 states and has been operating for more than 20 years.

Longer Bio (if you're curious)

Russ met a top producing Real Estate Broker on a series of professional mentorship meeting that he set up when he was still in high school.

He met engineers and architects and contractors, he met a lawyer and a couple different medical professionals and made his way back to the Real Estate Broker in Margate Fl when he was just 18 years old.

He signed up for college and went but dropped out once he closed his first Real Estate transaction.

He bought his first house in 1986 too, just 18 years old he bought a 2/1 with a carport in Margate, where he sold Real Estate.

Russ did several rehab projects and had his first rental property before he turned 22 years old.

Russ got married , had 3 children and sold Real Estate every day while he raised his children in Coral Springs Florida.

Russ continued to do renovation real estate investing and held rental property throughout his Real Estate Career.

After about 10 years in sales he started to run a Team at Re/Max and reached #13 in production for the whole state of Florida and top 250 in sales volume in the country.

Russ opened his own Real Estate Brokerage at the end of 1999 and eventually employed more than 500 Real Estate Agents, he ran an in house mortgage partnership and owned a title company from 2000-2007.

In 2006 the Real Estate and mortgage industries crumbled. Russ lost his entire fortune and was foreclosed or short sold every property that he owned except his little cabin in Franklin, NC.

In 2007 in the height of the Real Estate crash Russ was renting a house with his wife and kids, they were just getting by and during the worst financial crisis, their marriage ended.

The winter of 2006, Russ spent a week in Franklin, alone and pretty broke. He sat in his cabin and wrote down 100 goals.

Russell quickly rose back to the top of his field and opened a Real Estate training company that generated over $6.5 million in sponsorship dollars over the next 10 years.

Russ married Kerry and traveled the world for another decade while running the Real Estate Training Company.

While running the training company, he was made branch manager of a retail independent mortgage bank in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

In 2021 during COVID, Russ and Kerry moved to Franklin, NC permanently and sold their Florida property.

They began buying rental properties in Franklin and nearby towns and identified an affordability crisis in WNC.

Russ reconnected with local brokers and builders and opened wholesale lending channels to serve the community.

In August 2025 Russ activated his NMLS Mortgage License in North Carolina and began writing mortgages for veterans and essential workers.

He focuses on first-time homebuyers, first responders, teachers, and healthcare workers.

Russ now teaches agents and buyers how to navigate homeownership and real estate investing.

Workshops Available