Mortgage Master has opened a new branch office in Chicago.

Mortgage Master has finally reached the Midwest. A regional mortgage bank and one of the largest privately-owned mortgage companies in the U.S., Mortgage Master recently opened a new branch office in Chicago with an anticipated office to be located in the Western suburbs.

The company has hired Brian Jensen as its Midwest Regional Manager to drive the company’s growth throughout the Midwest. Craig Achtzehn has also joined the company as its Area Manager.

Paul Anastos, the president of Mortgage Master

Paul Anastos, president of Mortgage Master, said the company moved into the Midwest because Chicago not only had a great urban market, but strong markets in the city’s suburbs. “Our expansion strategy is always the same,” he says. “We look for an area with good opportunities and with emerging markets, such as first-time homebuyers. We bring competition to the market and, who knows, that may push prices down.”

Mortgage Master has been around for 25 years and has about 250 loan officers, 33 branch offices and four operation centers nationwide. In 2012, the company funded over $7.3 billion in mortgage loans, up from just over $5.0 billion in 2011.

Jensen joins Mortgage Master with more than 21 years of mortgage industry experience, while Achtzehn has 11 years of mortgage and real estate experience.

Both Jensen and Achtzehn are in charge of attracting high quality loan officers and branches, expanding production volumes and market share in the Midwest while providing some of the lowest pricing and best-in-class service to borrowers.

Brian Jensen, who will be Mortgage Master’s regional manager in the Midwest.

“We want to hire people with good Realtor relations,” Jensen says. “The loan officers we bring in not only have key relationships with agents, but top agents. We are looking for seasoned people who are ready to advance their career who haven’t had a chance to do this kind of volume.”

Jensen and Anastos say they’re confident in attracting high-quality loan officers because of the tools Mortgage Master offers agents when it comes to several facets of their business. For example, a marketing tool the company has are agent profiles, where a Mortgage Master loan officer co-brands with the agent in the market, helping the agent brand him/herself, reach more customers and increase business.

“We are already fulfilling our short-term goals,” Anastos says. “We found good leaders, are getting the philosophy out there and are laying a good foundation. The second goal is to attract people who are the best fit for us, and provide good customer service to partners who want to give good products with good pricing.”