Reverse Mortgage magazine Nov-Dec 2020

“I’MUSEDTO belonging to a lot of different organizations— financial planners, CPAs, attorneys in estate planning, chambers of commerce. That’s where the CRMP comes into play. People at that level want to see some designation behind your name.” That is how Susan Perry, founder and president of Capital Funding of Laguna Niguel, CA, describes the value of being a Certified Reverse Mortgage Professional. Her approach also explains why her reverse mortgage orig- ination business is now “100 percent referrals.” Susan was raised about 80 miles north of her current location up California’s state Route 1 in Malibu. “Yes, I was a surfer girl,” she says. She attended Pepperdine University, overlooking the Pacific beaches there. After college, Susan ended up work- ing in politics in Washington, DC. “But then I was assigned to a campaign back in Orange County, so you can say I took the long way to get back to Southern California,” she recounts. After her stint in politics, Susan went to Western State College of Law in Irvine, CA, and spent six years with a firm practicing business law. “The whole time, though, I was intrigued by the mortgage business, and I picked up a large mortgage broker client. The people working there seemed to be enjoying a better life and better lifestyle than we were. Eventually, I went to work for them as in-house counsel.” Susan’s intrigue with the mortgage business contin- ued. Around 30 years ago, she began Capital Funding. For the first ten years, the office was in the Newport Beach area, before mov- ing to its present loca- tion in Laguna Niguel. Around this time, she had her first foray into reverse mortgages. “Actually, I answered an ad in the newspaper to go to a seminar on reverse mortgages at a local hotel. This was about 16 or 17 years ago. Financial Freedom was looking for brokers. I said to myself, ‘Hmm, this sounds very interesting.’ I liked hearing a lot of people’s stories, and I really saw a need here,” Susan says. “While it is really great to help someone buy a house, I thought it was even more of a service to help someone keep a house and stay in their home. The process was so difficult back then— there was about a 12-page loan approval.” But Susan had an inherent advantage from the start, given her experience with lengthy and complex legal documents. She pursued the Certified Reverse Mortgage Professional, or CRMP, designation for the knowledge base and the credentials, because people trust professionals more if they have done that work, she says. While Capital Funding offers a wide range of mort- gage and refinancing services, Susan concentrates exclu- sively on the reverse side. Business has been brisk in the midst of the pandemic. “Quite frankly,” Susan observes, “I’ve seen a real increase in business. There’s also been a huge uptick on the Education and Networking Cleared Path to Great Career A Chat With Susan Perry, CRMP By Mark Olshaker CRMP: Across the Kitchen Table Susan Perry 16 REVERSE MORTGAGE / NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2020