Are You a Hermit?


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From a hermit to a social butterfly

Even without the advent of a new year, are entering a new era of reverse mortgage lending. More financial professionals are embracing the product, a new administration will be taking office that seeks to curb the powers of the CFPB, and interest rates are certain to begin to increase. As with any new era we are faced with both opportunity and challenges. The question is, what are you going to do about it?reverse mortgage news

Wise mortgage professionals have mastered the art of letting go of what they cannot control, and instead, work on what they can influence. Generally speaking, you can quickly determine who the successful HECM originators are by their activity. Honestly, some need to let go of their hermit ways, and go out into their city and community and mix it up. If you’re not visible, you’re not thought of. Sound harsh? It’s true. Call it selfishness, or call it reality but we are all busy living our own lives so we rarely think about those we don’t see on a regular basis unless it’s our dear mother.

Sitting at the office, sending countless emails and waiting for the phone to ring will not grow your business in 2017. In fact, your business will shrink as modest interest rate increases make prospects with high mortgage debt ineligible. You’ve got to get out. More specifically, you must get out and mix it up. Consider for a moment the…

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Good Grief, Groceries, GPS



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Tech Has Seniors Covered

gdeskGrief is difficult. Whether it’s yours, a friend’s, a business associate’s, or a client’s, few of us feel comfortable addressing grief head-on, and as a result we may either clam up or say something trite and stilted. Neither response is ideal for the one who is mourning.

Cyberspace to the rescue. The sympathy website eCondolence, which helps people do everything from compose obituaries to plan a funeral, craft a eulogy to choose an appropriate condolence gift, has recently expanded its offerings to include GriefDesk, a business-to-business resource that supports those who are supporting the mourners.

Solutions and Support for the Sorrowing

Designed with health care professionals and benefit providers in mind, GriefDesk might also be an excellent resource for reverse mortgage professionals to use and share with other senior support team members.

GriefDesk takes the educational information available on eCondolence.com and organizes it so that businesses can best support grieving families and employees. The GriefDesk solution provides companies the right to reproduce a vast library of educational content, customized web pages, e-newsletters and print designs to enhance bereavement outreach, as well as full-scale campaigns aimed at client engagement.

Though “engagement” may sound a trifle crass given the subject matter, talking about grief is vital for everyone involved. The site’s breadth of information helps those who work with and/or care about the mourner(s) to connect with them from a place of deeper understanding.

Below are some recent HECMWord posts on grief and grieving, accessible in one place to supplement the information on eCondolence and GriefDesk:

The Techno-current Accelerates in Every Realm

And it’s not just “semi-taboo” topics our cyber age makes more approachable. Apps are accelerating how we age in every imaginable way — except, fortunately, for actually advancing our years at warp speed. Consider:

Have you logged onto MySpace lately? How’s your Motorola cell phone working? These anachronistic questions point up an astonishing fact: a scant decade ago, MySpace was the premier (indeed, almost the ONLY) social network, Motorola did indeed have the top-selling cell phone, and “app” might have been an abbreviation, rather than what you installed and updated on your phone in order to work, play and connect.

Today’s seniors can see doctors via Skype, have their vitals monitored remotely, and get second opinions on serious medical issues rapidly, thanks to online medical records sharing.

“Home care” has taken on a whole new meaning, with discreet tech that ensures elders’ homes will alert family members or caregivers if there is a problem. Robot caregivers already exist, and we’re a hair’s breadth from self-driving cars.

The eight types of apps most useful to those 65+ (more than a fourth of whom owned smartphones by the end of 2014) include:

  • Ride-sharing: Lyft and Uber allow seniors to summon a car within minutes.
  • Meal delivery: UberEATS and GrubHub can deliver a senior’s favorite restaurant fare for a fee — especially helpful for those who no longer drive, or may not want to dine out solo.
  • Video chat: Skype and FaceTime make visiting with the far-flung grandkids so much easier!
  • Grocery delivery: Instacart and Shipt do the grocery shopping and bring a senior’s personal order right to their door.
  • Fitness monitors: Fitbit and MyFitnessPal monitor blood pressure and count exercise steps.
  • Butler on call: Hello Alfred handles the errands a senior cannot, or doesn’t want to do.
  • Medication management: Medisafe and CareZone ensure seniors take the right meds, and remind them about upcoming doctors’ appointments.
  • GPS: Google Maps and other GPS technology make navigating by car a breeze — and keep seniors from getting lost.

Whatever challenge or circumstance the seniors you serve may face, if you don’t already know of a tech solution, simply check online — or ask Siri. If there isn’t an app available right now, you can bet it’s on the near horizon.

 

HECM Terminology is Confusing at Best

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Our Name & Terminology May Be Turning Away Potential Borrowers

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Principal Limit Factor? Really?!

“Words have meaning and names have power”, said Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes. Perhaps this is something the reverse mortgage industry should strongly consider. The 27-year-old Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program is struggling to expand its reach in an ever-growing marketplace. Is our reverse mortgage terminology confusing older homeowners? Does our name need to be rebranded?

For many years I have chafed at the term ‘reverse mortgage’ opting instead for Home Equity Conversion Mortgage, considering widespread product confusion and lingering misgivings born from negative media stories. Even better perhaps we should adopt “Equity Release Mortgage” as our new flagship name as our counterparts in the U.K. and Australia have branded a similar offering. During the NRMLA annual meeting in Chicago, some members argued that the name “reverse mortgage” carries a negative connotation, in the sense that a person is moving “backward”. Create your own user feedback survey

Beyond the argument that our product needs a new name, is the confusing and often contradictory terminology in the HECM itself. The principal limit, while known within our industry, is completely foreign and alien term for older homeowners who have only been exposed to standard mortgage terminology in their working years. Some industry members argue that ‘available proceeds’ is more descriptive. Maximum Claim Amount, or MCA, is another example of industry jargon thrust upon HECM borrowers. Instead, some suggest renaming this to the ‘FHA Lending Limit’. The fact is that mortgage applications are loaded with an alphabet soup of acronyms. With HECM loans layering another set of loan terms, confusion is sure to follow, not to mention increased consumer uncertainty…

Download a transcript of this episode here.

Looking for more reverse mortgage news, commentary, and technology? Visit ReverseFocus.com today

Don’t Worry, Be Active


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Why Action Defers Anxiety

If there is one trait nearly every mortgage professional has mastered it is the art of worrying. Typically our worry as reverse mortgage professionals centers on the fear or rising interest rates, industry regulations, and our industry’s overall outlook. This week we examine how to transform our worry in to action.

reverse mortgage newsDespite being a highly-organized individual, I still grapple with worry. Last year with a looming deadline ahead I had an epiphany. As I began to chip away at my unsavory project it hit me- a phrase that was almost audible in my mind- “Action Defers Anxiety”.

Salespeople run on a volatile mix of intellect, drive, and emotion. It’s the emotional additive to our fuel mix that can often create problems. We typically relish the emotion of a closed deal, a funded loan, or a successful meeting but overlook the impact that negative emotions, chiefly worry, have on our business.

Let’s be honest, the more closely you follow the news, the more prone you are to worry. The trick is not to let the news sabotage your daily activity. A Swedish proverb cautions “worry often gives a small thing a big shadow”. Are you worried about rising interest rates, potential HECM product changes or the real estate market? Does FHA’s recent report to Congress concern you? The good news is there are some practical steps you can take to transform your anxiety into positive action.

1. Get it out. Keep a journal of your worries in a notebook. The mere physical act of writing it down helps us remove the negative thought from being top of mind. Later you can review your worry list to only realize how few of your fears ever became reality.

2. Stay active. The worst thing you can do when worrying is to slow down. Why? Slowing down your daily activity will only give your mind more…

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November Top 100 HECM Lenders Report

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Download your November 2016 Top 100 Retail HECM Lenders Report Here.

This Report Does Not Include Broker or TPO Data


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This report was compiled from data courtesy of Reverse Market Insight.
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Inside Out



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Memory Care from the Future Past

One of the greatest challenges of caring for people with memory loss is entering their world, so that interactions — and the places they live — truly serve who these elders are as people. Since someone may be in good health when they apply for a reverse mortgage and experience cognitive decline in subsequent years, (or their spouse may be the one affected) it behooves loan originators to be aware of evolving housing options in memory care.

A home that evokes yesteryear

The CEO of one assisted living corporation listened deeply to what his residents were telling staff, with both their words and their behavior, and began to understand the enormous impact environment has on those who rely on external cues to guide their lives.

The result is so far beyond the box it literally turns dementia care housing inside out. Lantern, aptly named, designs insides that look like outsides, complete with sunrise and sunset, moon and stars, and quiet neighborhood streets with front porches reminiscent of the 1930s and ’40s, when many of the residents were young — all within the facility. The innovative memory care design also includes carpet that resembles grass, aromatherapy for brightening brains, and appropriate day and evening sounds.

As the day evolves, the digital sky transforms to keep residents’ biological clocks in sync, while the timed release of aromas such as peppermint and citrus help improve cognitive functioning. With exercise and engagement, the unique living design may go a long way towards forestalling further decline.

CEO Jean Makesh says, “One of the frustrating shortcomings of most nursing facilities is that they create conflicts, with unnatural environments and schedules, and they try to solve them by throwing antipsychotic and anti-anxiety medications at patients. In other words, when someone has severe dementia, we often give up on them. From there, they stop getting the engagement their brain needs to thrive.”

While his unique design is not a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, it’s a quantum leap in the right direction.

Smart homes for seniors, not Millennials

reverse mortgage newsIn fact, smart homes themselves ought to be designed with seniors in mind, rather than young people, argues Swedish designer Kevin Gaunt. And he’s not talking about thermostat controls, but alleviating what he perceives as the number one challenge of aging: boredom.

Gaunt imagines the smart home of the future as having “the equivalent of a fuse box full of bots, each of which are denoted by simple symbols (a stack of coins for banking, or a bag for shopping) and can link their functionality together to battle boredom in the elderly.”

His vision contains quite a bit of rascalry, as this short video demonstrates: a shopping bot orders the senior client a skateboard in lieu of flowers, the socializer bot alerts her when a pesky neighbor is about to ring the bell, and, perhaps most poignantly, the personality bot mimics the bad puns her departed husband used to make.

“As chips and production costs become cheaper, and technology in our everyday objects becomes more ubiquitous,” it’s likely that a shift to elder needs will supplant the focus on youth as early adopters, observes Gaunt.

Considering that there is fast becoming an app for almost every aspect of aging, making the home front as senior-supportive as possible just makes sense as the next Internet of Things frontier.

The HECM May Have to Move Out of FHA’s MMI Fund

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Will the HECM move back to the General Insurance Fund?

HECM & General FHA MMI Fund
HECM & General FHA MMI Fund- Click to enlarge

While the overall FHA MMI (Mutual Mortgage Insurance) Fund is showing positive signs of recovery, the HECM portion of the fund has been much more volitaile than the traditional mortgage segment. With the latest actuarial report showing a negative  economic value some are calling for the HECM to be separated into its own fund…

Becoming Bionic


PRC Title settlement reverse mortgages reverse mortgage newsLong before “android” referred to a mobile operating system, it described an AI on the TV series, Star Trek: The Next Generation. In one episode, the android, Commander Data, created a child. The results were amusing, because, while the young android may have been an artificial life form, she possessed the learning curve of a human infant when it came to understanding behavior — or how to eat.

Viewers accepted the premise that one android could create another since Data’s “positronic” brain was no match for a puny human one. And this was taking place in the 24th century.

While it’s true that Data evolved considerably during the show’s seven-year run, eventually even acquiring a sense of humor, at heart (or whatever mechanical substitute was embedded in its place), Data was still a highly developed AI.

But for humans, the moment has arrived: it’s now possible for people to become bionic — which is especially good news for seniors.

No Skeletons in the Closet

One company innovating for people who’ve had strokes or spinal cord injuries is Ekso Bionics, a global pioneer in the field of robotic exoskeletons. These products unlock human strength and potential, amplifying mobility and endurance. In 2016, Ekso Bionics received the first FDA clearance exoskeleton for use with stroke and spinal cord injury levels to C7.

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Ekso Bionics exoskeleton

Watch this incredible 3-minute video, in which an Ekso Bionics patient says, “I was walking before, but nothing like this.”

Of course, it always helps to go straight to the source, or in this case, to have the source come to you: a 92-year-old former Army occupational therapist who became an industrial designer by default. When Barbara Beskind couldn’t reach foods in the very back of her refrigerator, she installed a lazy Susan on the inside shelf. Because she has macular degeneration, Beskind also attached small tactile “bumps” to certain buttons on her phone to make it easier to answer and make calls.

Clearly, Beskind embodies the ingenuity to adapt to her evolving needs. And now, she’s helping gerontologists hack the trials of aging.

Then there is the new breed of medical device companies, which go a step beyond walkers and shower chairs. While a senior’s exoskeleton is being constructed (or if they only need mild assistance at this time), Vive Health offers everything from lumbar support cushions to safety alarms, arthritis compression gloves to balance discs, and much more.

Emotional resilience

And perhaps “bionic” applies to marriage longevity as well, especially in retirement. One couple recently celebrated their 77-year union. The pair of centenarians “have their own sense of humor, which we enjoy,” says their eldest son, himself a longtime senior at 76. One of the couple’s eighteen grandchildren offers this insight: “They care for each other from the bottom of their hearts. They live and breathe each other, so I think that has kept them going. They are very caring, loving and giving.”

We may have to wait a few more years for androids of Data’s caliber to become commonplace. But bionic seniors of every stripe are possible now. So if someone who looks part Borg contacts your office for a reverse mortgage, you’ll be prepared.

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FHA Fund Update Reveals Longterm Projected Losses

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FHA’s Recent Report Paints a Sobering Picture

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While it may have been unwelcome news, the recent announcement of FHA losses for the HECM portfolio should come as no surprise as loans terminate from the bygone era of a more generous HECM program. FHA’s Annual Report to Congress, published November 15th, coincided with last week’s gathering of industry professionals in Chicago at the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association’s annual meeting.

As the Federal Housing Administration began substantial reforms to reduce the risk of the HECM program, many industry participants were critical of the changes which restricted access to the program with lowered lending ratios, fist-year distributions limits, and financial assessment underwriting guidelines. However, looking at the cohort of HECM loans in 2009 through 2010, it becomes readily apparent why the agency took such rigorous measures to change the underlying assumptions of the reverse mortgage as the report shows the forward mortgage portfolio is shows an economic value of $35 billion, while the HECM portfolio is a liability with its economic valuation of a negative $7.7 billion. The actuarial review, upon which the report is based upon…

Download a transcript of this episode here.

Looking for more reverse mortgage news, commentary, and technology? Visit ReverseFocus.com today

Meet The Wizards of Sales Engine

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A sneak peek inside our development studio

229950We seldom get the chance to see the people who build the technology we use each day. Such is the case with Sales Engine. This week we meet Blair and Julian. Not included in this episode is our Chief Technology Officer Mark Lockett, Caleb and Abraham. Today we recognize and thank our dedicated, talented and innovative developers.