Reverse Mortgage magazine Nov-Dec 2020

Talking Heads Keeping my name in front of the referral partners has helped them think of me when they have a referral. RM: What changes to your business model do you antici- pate making in 2021 to stay competitive? BP: I want to increase my outreach to financial advisers. Because of COVID-19, borrowers are searching for ways to preserve their assets. Many of them are more receptive to reverse mortgages to help them achieve their retirement goals. RM: Are you seeing more financial advisers willing to look at the strategic use of home equity as a potential solution for their clients? BP: Yes, they are definitely recommending reversemortgages more so than in the past. Part of the change is that the brokers they work with—the financial services companies that they use to sell insurance, mutual funds, annuities and other retirement products—are no longer telling them that they can’t recommend reverse mortgages. Wade Pfau, Jamie Hopkins and a few other retirement experts have been instrumental in educating planners and brokers that reverse mortgages really are a good option for people. RM: How did the borrower experience change for you during COVID-19? Do you still meet clients face-to-face or do you use Zoom or other similar technologies? BP: I still meet people face-to-face, as much as possible, but I have used Zoom or mailed out packages and then walked clients through the documents over the phone. It has been a combination and adding Zoom has definitely been new. RM: Are the people who are comfortable using Zoom younger and living in cities, or are you meeting virtually with people of all ages and locations? BP: Throughout the years, I’ve always had people tell me that they can’t imagine going through this process without meeting face-to-face to go through the application documents, so that they understand them. With Zoom, we’re still meeting face- to-face. They have the documents in front of them. We go through each one individually, and I explain what it is before Talking Heads continued on page 14 REVERSE MORTGAGE / NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2020 13