Thanks, John. This was a lesson learned early in my reverse mortgage career and I have very few dead files where nothing is done by me as a follow up.

Received a call asking about the reverse mortgage, recognized the name, pulled up RMA while talking to the gentlemen and said “I thought I recognized your name, we talked two and a half years ago but you were not ready at the time.” The senior responded “You’re right but I’m ready now and I want to close as soon as possible.” The very basic lesson? Continue to drip all leads as there is really no way to know their true motivation on what could become a need based prospect coverted to a closing.

I suspect that running RMD is a 24/7 task so you might have your seniors give me a call. I’ll be glad to help. )

Having been an originator for over 6 years, it is not uncommon for me to do a loan for someone I first talked to 4-5-6 years ago. However, it is largely because I do keep in contact with them. I use ACT to remind me. After the first year or so it is only once a year. It may be a short call asking if they have any new questions or a mailing with new info. Most originators don’t do that so they remember you. They usually thank me for the contact and suggest I try again later. Most times they have all my letters (and anything they received from a competitor) in a file when we meet. I do the same thing with funded clients. I ‘touch’ them at least twice a year after the loan funds. I encourage questions, especially about all that mail they receive. As you can imagine, I am doing a lot of HECM to HECMs.
I imagine it is discouraging for new reverse mortgage originators that come from the ‘forward’ world. Longevity and follow-up mean a lot.

I just closed a loan last Friday that was just over 3 years since my first contact. The client elimated a huge mortgage and netted out $135K. One of the things I emphsize to new originators is patience. Seniors will move forward with a reverse mortgage when they are ready. Of course the real key is follow up. I developed a CRM content system that uses 24 follow up sequences to every lead. My system prompts our LO’s through the whole process. Bottom line, the word for our business is “patience”. Good things come to those who wait.