It was 16 years ago when Daniel Chookaszian, senior home lending advisor at Chase, first got his start, as he helped his best friend open a mortgage company in Chicago’s River West neighborhood. Much of the lending he did was in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Today, Chookaszian is lending across all 50 states while working out of Chase’s downtown Wilmette branch. He helps many Chase Private Clients and enjoys serving them as they sell their homes, buy new homes and purchase out-of-state properties.

“Clients trust me and get to work directly with me,” Chookaszian says. “My team supports the process, but clients know that they can always reach me, and they love that availability from start to finish of the process.” In addition, he harnesses the power of the bank by partnering with the Private Client Advisors and Bankers in his branch to provide a full service experience for their clients.

Currently, Chookaszian is excited about the Chase Agent Express program, which enables him to send qualified borrower leads to agents with whom he works closely. The company is investing heavily in this program, and with approximately 50% of the area banking with Chase, there is a significant opportunity for the agents with whom he partners to benefit from this program. “It’s exciting for me to see how I am able to send more referrals to agents than I even receive in some instances,” he says.

With his close-knit team that has worked countless hours together, Chookaszian is grateful for the many clients he has served — 135 of whom have left five-star reviews on Zillow for his service. This summer, he received the second straight President’s Club award from Chase for being a top-three loan officer at Chase in the Midwest. Even so, Chookaszian says, “Success is rented, and the rent is due every day. We can never rest on the past success. Instead, we need to look ahead and continue adding value to every client, business partner and team member every single day.”