Ken Perlmutter
In less than ten years, Ken Perlmutter’s vision and leadership has taken PERL Mortgage Inc. from a kitchen-table operation to one of the largest and most respected lenders in Illinois.
Perlmutter was born in El Paso, where his father served the military as a dentist – and later moved to Medway, Mass. He earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees (both in electrical engineering) from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. He moved to the Chicago area to conduct research for Continental Can Co., and then worked in sales for Allen Bradley – which later became part of Rockwell Automation.
In the early 1990s, interest rates were on a downward spiral. Perlmutter and his wife, Stephani, had become parents to their first of two sets of twins. They’d re-financed their home for the third time in two years. Envisioning college tuition bills ahead of them, Perlmutter began to broker mortgages on the side. The work was both profitable and enjoyable, and he put his mathematical assets to good use. He soon went into the mortgage business full-time and launched PERL Mortgage Inc. in December 1994.
“I love dealing with numbers, analyzing various scenarios, and finding the best way to help people out,” he says. “There’s such an amazing array of mortgages available on today’s market, and so many more people can realize the dream of owning their home. It’s a matter of finding the right fit for each individual.”
Perlmutter started PERL with one office employee and a slogan: Your Lender for Life.
His belief then – and now – is that honest, ethical treatment of his clients and employees will reap the greatest returns. That belief has served him well. With a roster of 100 employees and an industry-wide reputation for excellence, PERL Mortgage Inc. has the ability to link clients with hundreds of lenders and mortgage products. PERL has established marketing relationships with real estate developers and financial institutions including Magellan Development, Mesirow Financial and W Development.
Contact Ken at 773.413.6234.
Steve Laner
Steve was born and raised in the Chicago area, and attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison to study economics. His interest in finance led him to begin clerking as a runner at the Board of Trade. “I liked the fast-paced business,” remembers Laner. He entered the trading field, eventually trading for himself at the options exchange for the next decade.
After reaching a state of burnout, Laner needed a change. In 1997, he called an old friend at a mortgage company in Northbrook – and was quickly offered a desk. Though the business environment was vastly different from the world of trading, he caught on and made a smooth transition.
Laner created new relationships with building developers and dominated the new condominium construction business in Chicago. Within two years, he met with Ken Perlmutter and recognized an opportunity to expand his business. He joined PERL Mortgage as Partner and Vice President – and opened a PERL office in Deerfield, Illinois. Laner has been listed as one of the Top 200 Producing Originators in the country for the past seven years, and continues to nurture his business based on referrals from his vast network of builders, realtors and satisfied customers.
Contact Steve at 847.282.5030.
PERL Mortgage is an Illinois residential mortgage licensee (MB0004358) and equal housing lender