The trend of one-stop shopping has reached the Lawrence real estate industry.

Officials with Coldwell Banker/ McGrew Real Estate and the Lawrence office of Sterling Capital have created a new Lawrence mortgage company, Midwest Sterling Mortgage, that is based in McGrew’s office at 1501 Kasold Drive.

It marks the first time a Lawrence real estate company has started a mortgage company and located it inside its offices. Gary Nuzum, managing broker with Coldwell Banker/McGrew Real Estate, said the reason to start Midwest Sterling Mortgage was simple.

“It is all about this idea of one-stop shopping and convenience,” Nuzum said. “Why do people go to Target and Wal-Mart? It is because you can get a lot of stuff done at one place instead of going to five different stores. That’s what in-house lending is about, too.”

Chris Forbes, branch manager for the mortgage company, said the office allows home hunters to more easily learn about financing options at the beginning of the real estate process.

“What this allows us to do is take the mystery out of the home hunting process from the very beginning,” Forbes said. “For example, this way the consumer knows from day one what range they ought to be looking at. You hate to have someone looking at a $200,000 home when they only qualify for a $150,000 home.”

The idea of real estate companies getting into the mortgage business is becoming a trend in other communities. National numbers weren’t immediately available, but Nuzum said in the three years his company has been researching the idea, it has come across many examples.

“Home Real Estate in Lincoln, Neb., has seven real estate offices, and they have a mortgage office in every branch,” Nuzum said.

Midwest Sterling Mortgage is a new mortgage company in Lawrence in partnership and with offices at Coldwell Banker/McGrew Real Estate, 1501 Kasold Drive. Coldwell Banker/McGrew Realtor Cindy Thompson, left, visited Tuesday with Barb Forbes, of Midwest Sterling Mortgage.

Forbes said he was uncertain whether other Lawrence real estate companies would follow suit. He said mortgage companies are hesitant to do the deals unless the real estate company is of a fairly large size. With about 65 agents, McGrew is the largest real estate company in Lawrence.

Nuzum, though, said there was plenty of incentive for real estate companies to explore the possibility of entering the mortgage business. He said in addition to added convenience for customers, the deals could give real estate companies another revenue source during a time when the real estate industry is becoming more competitive.

Nuzum said it was too early to speculate how much the new business may increase revenues at McGrew, but he said it could be substantial.

“It could be very profitable,” Nuzum said.

The deal with McGrew does not change anything with the existing Sterling Capital Mortgage office at 1000 Iowa.

Forbes said he remained branch manager at that location as well but that McGrew does not have any ownership interest in that business.