From the Top and show that you truly are concerned about them and that they are valued. Four, expect questions. The public is more familiar with traditional mortgages. Reverse mortgages can be complicated. Not everybody has a finance degree, so it’s important to expect questions. If someone isn’t asking questions, then probe and make sure they truly understand the reverse mortgage. Make sure to show grace and respect when responding to questions. Lastly, open your mouth. Make sure everybody in your sphere of influence knows that you offer reverse mortgages and how fantastic they are for the right people. RM: What are the biggest challenges you’ve encountered managing a reverse mortgage division and how have you overcome them? PF: Knowledge is a big one. Reverse mortgages are a different animal with different guidelines. Instilling knowledge is a challenge. Someone can take our certification program, but there will still be knowledge gaps, whether it’s with life expectancy set-asides or collateral risk assessment. The only way to overcome this challenge is to continuously offer CE classes and to talk through these issues with our teams. Another challenge is overcoming the negative stigma that reverse mortgages still have. People buy into the negative news and the extreme situations when a grandmother is foreclosed on, and she’s out of her home because of a reverse mortgage. I don’t want to minimize hardships for the people who have experienced them, but that’s not why we’re lending. We want reverse mortgages to be a sustainable solution. To overcome the negative and unfair beliefs, we focus on the positives like how a reverse mortgage can improve a person’s quality of life or extend the life of his or her assets and investments. The last challenge is marketing. This year, people are pinching pennies. Maybe we need to learn new marketing strategies involving Facebook and LinkedIn or go to referral partners and build those relationships. RM: What are your professional goals for 2023? PF: I want to help more new people get a reverse mortgage, so my first goal is to increase production and build momentum. I want to continue to increase my reverse mortgage knowledge. Who knows, maybe the HECM Handbook will get published this year. That would be something to study. I also like to increase my knowledge through different case scenarios. I’d like to see more challenging deals so that we can figure out how to make them work and be creative in the future and help more people. Another goal is to increase product awareness throughout Academy. We still have a lot of employees who haven’t been exposed to all the benefits of a reverse mortgage. It’s a large company, so we still have a lot to do internally. Financing Seniors’ Independence Serving Utah and Idaho for Over 20 Years We opened our doors in 1999 to provide local homeowners and those wishing to be homeowners good quality mortgage loans with no hidden surprises or costs. We pride ourselves on being customer oriented and find loans that are tailor made for our clients. We added the reverse mortgage loan to our great line of product offerings and have been providing the people of Utah and Idaho this loan as another mortgage available to meet whatever financial need arises. We continue to remain committed to our clients’ mortgage financing needs, and our variety of all residential mortgage loan products makes us a great company to add to your network of professionals. FSI Mortgage Independence Square 111 East 5600 South • Suite 102 Murray, UT 84107 • NMLS #4398 www.fsimortgage.net 1-800-808-3066 REVERSE MORTGAGE / MAY–JUNE 2023 13
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