Jan-Feb2020

Talking Heads people to understand until we explained that their home was now worth $200,000. You had to compare apples to apples. It was a hard sell because of the closing costs, but they really needed the cash. I still believe that this is a needs- based product, and those needs are constantly evolving. RM: Reverse mortgages were so new. How did you sell them? VW: I worked closely with the bank’s community dev- elopment officer, who had relationships with local non- profits and the departments of aging in New Jersey and New York. I worked with Fannie Mae’s local partnership office. Back then, you could take people out of foreclosure with a reverse mortgage. We worked with Fannie Mae and the New York Mortgage Coalition to help people who had gotten themselves into predatory loans. It took a village to sell this program. It wasn’t just us. It was the local community groups. It was about education and making people who worked with seniors aware of reverse mortgages. There weren’t a lot of people doing reverse mortgages, but the fact that we were Bank of New York helped tremendously. I learned what seniors’ biggest needs were. I stopped several foreclosures, sometimes when the sheriff was knocking on the person’s door. It was a different animal back then. All you had to be was 62 and have equity in your home. Unfortunately, because the max claim amount was so low, there were people who lived in $300,000 homes whom we couldn’t help because their mortgage balances were too high. RM: How has your sales approach evolved over time or hasn’t it? VW: The changes in 2017 led us to do more business- to-business (B2B). We’re educating and working with elder law attorneys, builders and realtors. Our senior clientele is more educated. They already know about reverse mortgages. Some of them still think the bank owns the house, but they are aware of what it is. Television advertising changed this industry dramatically. The commercials with Robert Wagner opened this business up because they reached more people. Before then, it was all grassroots, which was slow and difficult but very personal. RM: In addition to originating your own loans, you’ve been a successful sales manager. How do you assemble and manage a successful sales team? Are you mostly a hands-off manager who lets loan officers do whatever they want, or do you carefully monitor them? VW: I am not a micro-manager. I am there to support them and lift them up. I do occasionally go out into the field with them. Reverse mortgages can be difficult to close when you’re working with needs-based borrowers. They require more effort. I am there to support, coach and motivate my loan officers. I share my experiences. I encourage them to interact with their peers. I do team calls. It’s important for my team to know that I am there for them and to help them develop their territory. RM: You said reverse mortgages are more difficult to close since 2017. Is that because of Financial Assessment or some other reason? VW: Sometimes the closing costs can be $25,000 to $30,000 depending on the state. If you’re a senior living in a $500,000 home who’s looking to pay off a $50,000 loan and have a line of credit, it becomes more challenging to rationalize getting a reverse mortgage even though they aren’t paying those costs out of pocket. That customer has gone away. They are looking to do other things. The underwriting rules have tightened up and rightly so, because there needs to be more responsibility of why they’re doing it. This makes their life better instead of just doing it because you can. RM: What attributes do you look for in a new hire? VW: I look for a good work ethic. A potential candidate must be empathetic when the time calls for it. He or she must be well-organized and able to work independently. And the person must be accountable, not only to me but to themselves. If they have reverse mortgage experience, that’s a plus, but being a forward loan officer is also a plus. RM: At RMF, your sales territory stretches from Maine to Florida. What are the biggest challenges managing an area that large? Are the sales strategies that you use in New York, for example, different from Georgia and Virginia? Talking Heads continued from page 13 14 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2020