STEVEN SLESS IS all about personal branding. From his signature beard and colorful suits to his “More with Sless” tagline, Sless has successfully leveraged social media with commonsense marketing to build a successful career for himself in the reverse mortgage business. Three years ago, he joined Primary Residential Mortgage Inc. (PRMI), a Salt Lake City-based mortgage company that had been offering reverse mortgages for several years but needed an extra boost in leadership to take it to the next level. He soon opened The Steven J. Sless Group in Owings Mills, MD, to create a centralized location for all reverse mortgage operations. In 2021, The Steven J. Sless Group opened its second branch in California, and Sless was promoted to president of reverse mortgage lending, overseeing all reverse mortgage-related activities across the organization. The approach appears to be working as PRMI has cracked the Top 20 in company rankings for reverse mortgages, and he and his team have their eyes on the Top 10. Reverse Mortgage magazine sat down with Sless to learn more about PRMI and his long-term plans for the company. Reverse Mortgage: What led to your involvement in the reverse mortgage business? How has your sales approach evolved over the past 15 years? Steven Sless: Like a lot of mortgage professionals back during the last economic downturn in 2007–2008, I was only doing conventional loans, and that business dried up. I was searching for the next big opportunity, and I came across a company that was offering conventional mortgages and reverse mortgages. I saw loan officers having a lot of success with reverse mortgages. I was in my young 20s at the time, so I was turned off by the thought of getting into the reverse mortgage business and working with seniors. But I did a couple of loans, and I fell in love with reverse mortgages and the positive impact they were having on my clients. It was different compared to saving homeowners a few hundred bucks a month when they refinanced. It was at that point that I decided to commit myself to reverse, and I haven’t looked back since. I haven’t originated a traditional mortgage loan since 2007. Steven J. Sless, President, Reverse Mortgage Lending, Primary Residential Mortgage Inc. By Darryl Hicks From the Top Steven Sless 10 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2023
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