Synergy One Lending's strategy for 2024 is to grow its market share.

So when the opportunity appeared to absorb 11 former Draper and Kramer Mortgage branches that did not want to make the transition to New American Funding, Synergy One jumped at the opportunity to take them in. NAF announced on Feb. 1 that it bought the operations and staff from Chicago-based Draper and Kramer Mortgage, which according to its website has 60 branch locations and 450 employees nationally.

The branches joining SynergyOne are currently being onboarded, but the process has been fairly easy because of a "similar tech stack and culture," CEO Steve Majerus told National Mortgage News.

"We're trying to be very sensitive to our new teammates, who weren't looking to make a move to begin with," said Majerus. "Getting them onboard and onto our systems has been a full-court-press by all of our support teams to make sure that the experience is as effective and less turbulent as possible."

Incorporating these branches has expanded Synergy One's footprint into Ohio, Alabama, Texas, and Louisiana. As of Feb. 9, Synergy has a little over 200 sponsored loan officers, per the National Mortgage Licensing System.

Majerus says this is just the first phase of the mortgage shop's plans to grow.

"We think that we can grow in an outsized way relative to the rest of the market," he added.

National Mortgage news caught up with Majerus to discuss how the 11 branches came over, how this expansion benefits Synergy One and what its future plans are for expansion.