Reverse Mortgage Professionals on Partnering with the Progressive Side in 2025
“The easiest way to present this program is actually the purchase,” he said. “I think we’ve missed that over the years. And in fact, those of us in the reverse industry, myself included, incorrectly categorize the reverse for purchase as a little trickier because we were always used to the standard, traditional reverse mortgage with refinancing.
But the H4P is easier to describe, he said, mainly because it runs counter to some of the stigmas carried by the product category.
“The reverse of the purchase is all positive,” he said. “You’re helping someone get a home and eliminating most of the problems a family would have in getting a reverse mortgage.”
Changing the conversation
An improvement in this dynamic was also noted by Peter Sciandra, Executive Vice President of Reverse Lending Secondary Marketing at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. While Sciandra acknowledges that the dynamic still exists, he also said that some reverse mortgage professionals are simply more confident in their specialization to properly communicate what the HECM product can do for eligible borrowers.
This has led to parts of the industry becoming more isolated over time, he said, which may have led forward-thinking professionals to view the inverse product as too niche a product to engage in.
“I think this year we’re going to focus on figuring out how we can make things simpler – not just for the mortgage market, but for the general public,” Sciandra said. Often seniors get confused when they get advice and take a good look at the loan. They may feel like they don’t fully understand the product, and hesitation could lead them to decide against it.”
The industry, he said, can do a more efficient job by simplifying the language used to describe the product, while at the same time making it easier for forward professionals to originate reverse mortgages. This could mean providing additional support to professionals beyond what is currently available.
“Many forward-thinking makers don’t want to undergo extensive training or certification for a product they may only work with occasionally,” Sciandra said. “As an industry, we need to identify the changes we can make to better support forward-thinking creators and adapt the product so they feel more comfortable and willing to participate, and that’s up to us.”
An ‘exciting’ dynamic
Bee New US financing (NAF) reverse mortgage division leader Shannon Robinson said it was “exciting” to see the partnership dynamic evolve over the course of 2024. She expects this momentum to continue this year.
“The partnership is so strong and we will continue to leverage that opportunity in 2025,” she said. “Personally, I have been active in the market and working with our forward-thinking leaders. I participate in all our monthly and weekly sales calls with the leadership team. We maintain a very close relationship here at New American Funding.”
Robinson has also attended regional sales meetings in various areas where the company’s term loan professionals operate, and the inverse division also actively participates in these events.
“These sales meetings, which often bring together a hundred or more loan officers in a room, give us the opportunity to sit together,” she said. “We participate in breakout sessions, introduce ourselves, collaborate and discuss the customers we serve and how we can help them.
“I gave many presentations at these regional meetings, talking about our product and the possibilities of working with us. It has been a great way to foster collaboration and build relationships across divisions.”
