The initial reverse mortgage decision can be painful

You can see it on the face of many of my clients. The years have taken their toll: Arthritis in the knee;. Glaucoma (in the eye); The insidious assault of diabetes. The unyielding march toward decrepitude continues. The melancholy over the physical condition is not necessarily what keeps them up at night. Sometimes it is the sea of unpaid bills that causes the most pain.   

While a reverse mortgage could eliminate this pain, the process can inflict additional pain, when the senior makes a poor first decision. It is this decision that will determine whether the pain will stop. Too often our elders become afraid of the wrong thing. They worry about the things they shouldn’t worry about and summarily skip over the things they should be concerned about. 

Many seniors throughout the country are totally unafraid when the time comes to choosing a loan officer/company to work with. While this is the most important decision that one can make, it is often done in an incautious manner. The thinking, I suppose, is that one company is as good as another.  A loan officer is just like any other loan officer. The reverse mortgage programs are treated as a commodity.  The skills of a loan officer are treated as fungible. The mistake is that the HECM and proprietary programs are treated as a mere product that could be purchased here or there. It really doesn’t matter where.  BUT IT REALLY DOES MATTER.

Our elders, on the other hand often worry about a $30 servicing fee, or the fact that the loan is adjustable, or about the service set aside fee, or the settlement costs, or the fact that they have to have counseling, or that the interest is compounded, and on and on it goes. These things often become make or break items. A loan officer that knows his/her stuff can often get the senior to re-focus.  After discussing the program, along with available alternatives, such a person can put things into proper perspective.

Comments

[Robert Hopkins]

I am relatively new to Reverse Mortgages although I do have a good basic understanding of them,my main concern is the reputation, knowledge and integrity of our people. Therefore, I believe perhaps an outfit like the NRMLA or a seperate entity establish a program leading to Certification levels according to knowledge and integrity of the individual. Therefore, when we are invited in a seniors home, they can feel comfortable as to whom they are dealing with-the cream of the crop.