Credit.org rolls out a newly reverse mortgage-e-learning platform
Online Reverse MortGage Academy
Credit.org’s Reverse MortGage Academy wants to “enable you to understand the benefits and risks of a reverse mortgage with confidence, so that you can make informed decisions about your financial future,” the organization said about its offer.
To gain a better understanding of what the company hopes to achieve, HousingReverse MortGage Daily (RMD) spoke with Chief Innovation Officer Robin Hillary.
Hillary said that the company has held reverse mortgage advice sessions for years, but the potential need for such a product has increased despite a persistently low adoption percentage. While organizations are typical of non -profit at the end of an inverted mortgage workflow, the new academy wants to turn it around, she explained.
“Reverse MortGage Academy […] At the start of the journey of a homeowner, our services place to understand, from an unbiased source, which is an inverted mortgage, if it is suitable for them and the advantages and disadvantages, “Hillary said.” All those things help them to be more trained about the product before she speaks with a lender. “
For lenders it has the potential to generate a hotter lead. A potential borrower who followed the course has a higher level of understanding the requirements, obligations and other attributes of the loan, she said.
“At this point the understanding of the product is already more complete, and now it’s time to get into the details,” she said. “That is really the reason why we thought there was a clear niche in the way in which inverted mortgages are presented to consumers. Nowadays that model really produces only about 2% of homeowners who are willing to view an inverted mortgage, or to actually convert in it.”
From the side of credit.org, it is of the opinion that a well -trained consumer of the qualifying age who is willing to listen to reverse mortgage product details’ is a larger target market, especially if you think of the economy today and how these seniors influence, “Hillary said.
Credit.org is also in a unique position to possibly strengthen the reverse mortgage recording due to the status as a non -profit. Hillary said it also has an obligation to offer more objective information about loan products and what they entail for potential borrowers.
The landscape of the estimated penetration of 2% in the wider mortgage market “brings a non -profit in a really good position, because much of the skepticism arises when reverse mortgages came out for the first time, and the bad reputation they won,” she said. “Credit.org does not matter whether the person ultimately gets a reverse mortgage or not.
“Our only focus is to ensure that the consumer is well trained about the product, and that from a non -profit base is really a safe place for consumers to come without any pressure.”
Advantages of non -profit product education
After absorbing the e-learning course, a “student” can choose to continue and continue with a reimbursement-based counseling session that is encouraged to participate in friends, family or other trusted advisers.
“I think a non -profit organization presents a whole new way to look at the training of an inverted mortgage, where it starts at the start of the trip, and we will also be there at the end,” she said. “So if they decide to continue to a lender and to eliminate that reverse mortgage, Credit.org, as well as all other non-profit organizations, are at the end to offer the HUD-certified counseling.”
The course is Available online In both English and Spanish, and it gives priority to interactivity to keep the user involved. Hillary said that interactivity often serves as a way to overcome possible technical obstacles with which some older customers can be confronted.
At the end of the day, Hillary added that the simply getting more people to understand the details of an inverted mortgage can be a powerful tool when closing the enormous wave that exists between inverted and traditional forward mortgages.
“The inverted mortgage industry has a great product, especially during economic uncertainty, but they have to innovate and try new ways to involve consumers to go beyond the 2% conversion rate,” she said. “I believe that this new model will generally benefit the industry, because having a well -trained consumer traditionally leads to a higher conversion rate.”
