Realistically, where does the reverse mortgage industry stand today?
It’s been a staple in most industry news and blogs lately: reverse mortgage lenders diversify, private loans incorporated into sales strategy, how to reach financial professionals- all while ironically, reverse mortgage loan volumes have fallen despite the ever growing needs of seniors. But here’s the good news. You are still needed, desperately in some cases, by tens of thousands of older homeowners.
Just this week I received a call from a relative who wanted me to speak with their daughter who was considering a reverse mortgage. A second opinion to provide some peace of mind. That conversation reminded me that there are still many who would stand to benefit by eliminating their mortgage payments. In her case a $400,000 home with a $150,000 mortgage balance and a $745 P&I payment. Her situation is not uncommon.
So what is the world in which we live as reverse mortgage professionals? Before you answer…
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An optimist believes he/she can see the future. A realist knows he/she cannot by simply looking back on years of experience. Yet the realist knows that if the 16 ounce tumbler is half empty or half full all that means is that generally there is 8 ounces of liquid and/or ice available in that glass.
We need to understand that our industry as to HECMs is in a more perilous position than at almost any other time. There is now anecdote that a significant number of HUD personnel are less hopeful about the the survival of the program due to its many efforts and failures to correct the loss situation of HECMs in the MMIF; this is a rather new development. Even Peter Bell when it came to implementing the changes that NRMLA presented to HUD added in parenthesis, the word hopefully.