OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS, COVID-19 has scrambled the way reverse mortgage professionals do business. Along the way, professionals have picked up new tools and techniques. They have discovered new ways to network, for example, and new ways to track the moving parts of a lending process that is increasingly digitized. Networking is perhaps one of the areas most affected by the pandemic. Lenders have had to find new ways to reach potential borrowers—or lean more heavily on existing ways that match the new environment of decreased social interaction, according to several top producers who shared some of their insights during NRMLA’s 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting held in the fall. Personal connections may have been harder to make but they did not lose their importance for Catalina Gonzalez, a branch manager in southern California for Open Mortgage. She just found new ways to develop and nurture them. For example, Gonzalez says, she reached out to clients and asked them to invite her into their churches, senior centers and other social groups. “And because they loved my service and our relationship that we had, they welcomed me to those groups,” Gonzalez says. Gonzalez also has struck up relationships with bankers, who might refer people who don’t qualify for forward mortgages, as well as leaders of area senior centers. “They often encounter people who need help financially,” she says. Gonzalez has gained additional referrals by staying in touch with her clients. It starts with taking detailed notes Catalina Gonzalez Sales Boost Tips Offer Opportunities to Increase Your Closings By Joel Berg 18 REVERSE MORTGAGE / MARCH-APR I L 2022
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