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One expert points out that home equity should be required to be utilized before certain individuals can qualify for Medicaid. Learn how the system discourages savings and what could be done.
Loan officer responsibilities and HUD Counseling
A quick look at how you can increase your success and build trust with your potential borrowers before and after required HUD Counseling for their reverse mortgage.
In the Leave It to Beaver and My Three Sons era, grandmas wore aprons, baked mouth-watering cookies, and indulged their grandchildren in ways mom and dad would not. Grandpa might have been a bit gruff, but his grandchildren knew his arthritis was acting up, and he loved them even if he couldn’t run and toss a ball like dad. Had reverse mortgages existed back then, our grandparents probably wouldn’t have known what to do with them.
Welcome to the third millennium. Lillian, age 83, sports fuchsia-streaked hair and a dry wit. After lovingly nursing her husband through a long illness, followed by a grieving period, she’s now so busy she doesn’t have a lot of time to chat.
She’s creating charcoal portraits of the hospice staff that cared for her beloved during his final weeks. (Lillian only discovered her artistic talent at 70, when she enrolled with her daughter in an art class). She also tutors several high school students, and participates in a discussion group at the local college. She often eats meals out because she hasn’t time to shop, cook, and keep up with all her activities. Fortunately, she has the financial freedom to enjoy her unorthodox lifestyle, unfettered my monetary concerns.
Lillian is by no means unusual among today’s dynamic elders. (See previous post, Marketing to the Mature Home Owner / Part 2 . Though some seniors may still live as our grandparents did fifty years ago, many more are coming into their own late in life, taking up hobbies they’ve just discovered, like Lillian, or those laid aside while raising a family and working long hours. The calendar may call them “old,” but they’re still giving younger folks a run for their money, pun intended.
The best way to reach these reverse mortgage prospects? Remember that people don’t usually change dramatically just because they age; they simply become more of who they’ve always been. So in marketing reverse mortgages to 70-plus homeowners, appeal to their independence and interests, engage their intelligence, and you’ll be rewarded with a concomitant interest in reverse mortgages — and some wonderfully unique new clients.
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Video grabs from WXYZ television in Detroit.
Original Story of eviction here. Updated story of eviction here.
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A business magazine recently ran this “humorous” column: “Middle-Age Texting Codes”. The list included such abbreviations as ATD (“At the doctor”), BFF (“Best friend fell”), BYOT (“Bring your own teeth”) and FWIW (“Forgot where I was”).
It’s doubtful these acronyms would amuse many people in their eighties, let alone someone who considers him- or herself middle aged. President Obama celebrated his mid-century birthday last month, and while he loves his BlackBerry, it’s unlikely he’ll be texting any of the above messages any time soon.
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The eldest of the approximately 79 million Baby Boomers reach retirement age this year, at the rate of about four million per year. For reverse mortgage professionals marketing to active adults 57-65 years of age — early Boomers who are planning work and lifestyle changes — respect is the keynote that will win their attention, and ultimately, their interest in qualifying for a reverse mortgage. As noted in the first post in this series, Marketing to the Mature Home Owner / Part 1, nobody becomes “old” overnight simply because they celebrate a birthday.
From the Baby Boom generation onward, the new American senior might best be defined by the Dylan Thomas poem, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”. They will forever consider themselves youthful, and as such, the marketing mindset that worked with previous generations must be modified if it is to succeed.
Younger seniors (many of whom prefer terms such as “mature” or “older adult”) will be interested in quotes for a reverse mortgage, not because they want to rock on the front porch (unless it’s with a guitar), but possibly because:
To make the second half golden for both your “younger” reverse mortgage prospects and your business, focus on how you can help these elders fulfill the next great adventure in their lives. That’s the spirit that will win their trust, because while denial may not be a river in Egypt, it flows through the fecund minds of the newly minted senior set.
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What if you went to the doctor and they didn’t know about a life-saving treatment that had been used for 20 plus years and you left becoming worse? That’s similar to the situation many retirees find themselves in when meeting with financial planners who either don’t know about, or misunderstand reverse mortgages. It is a potential solution that should always be considered and presented for the client (patient) to choose.
We look at the changing perspective of financial professionals and the need for our industry to spearhead an effort to educate the financial community at large about the uses and functions of a reverse mortgage.
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One of the most common questions I get as a reverse mortgage coach is “how do I formulate a plan”? Yes it can be a big undertaking but it doesn’t have to be so difficult and complicated that you end up not doing a plan at all (you know when something appears just too difficult we end up doing nothing at all because we can’t get started). I like to break a plan down into manageable steps.
For instance, if I was looking at the marketing segment of my plan today, I’d focus on referrals. Why? Very simple- the answer is staring right at you! The big banks have for the most part, left our industry. What does that mean for me? Opportunity, plain and simple. There is a significant opportunity for you to take advantage of this reality. Where are all the reverse mortgage borrowers going to go now that the big banks are no longer offering reverses? Well they may as well come to you!
What are you doing right now, today to ensure that you get a share of this business? Are you utilizing your CRM? There is one activity you better be implementing at once if you are going to attract these customers. Not sure what that is? Look around, it’s right there in front of you, right down the street. Just take that one step, get out there and help some seniors and pick up that is waiting for you….today.
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an increase in referral phone calls from non-reverse banks and financial professionals. Many of these referrers had sent their clients to Wells Fargo & Bank of America based on their well known brand and geographic convenience. Today reverse mortgage originators have a unique opportunity to step in and provide an attractive solution for senior service providers. Many lenders are already seeing the phone ring from those who had referred to Wells & B of A in the past looking to remaining lenders.
