Despite industry concerns about lower endorsement volumes and constrained principal limits, reverse mortgage originators continue to see success stories on the ground level.

Kathy Collins, a branch manager at UMAX Mortgage in Carlsbad, Calif., recently assisted a couple who opened a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage to fund their grandson’s education.

“I presented them with what the reverse would do, and they talked with their family and compared it with liquidating assets or taking out a loan with scheduled payments,” she said. “I think they felt like it was by far the best option for them.”

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Yet another survey of American retirement savers has revealed that a significant chunk of people don’t feel comfortable with the amount of money they’ve already stockpiled — with about half feeling as though they’re chasing a retirement dream that may have already left them behind.

In a recent poll of adults aged 45 to 65 conducted by the Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, 49% of respondents were identified as “chasers” — people who felt as though they’d fallen behind on their retirement savings plans, or worried that it was nearly too late for them to achieve a comfortable post-working life without soon increasing their retirement savings.

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As the industry continues to adapt to a new landscape of lower principal limit factors, reverse mortgage experts say it’s key to remember why most borrowers pursue the products in the first place — and how those motives have changed amid greater education and positive news coverage.

Traditionally, homeowners take out reverse mortgages to gain financial flexibility and address the most pressing needs facing the retired population, like aging-in-place upgrades, medical bills, and caregiver services.

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The Great Recession still looms large in the housing market, as homeowners who took advantage of low interest rates at the beginning of the decade are increasingly electing to stay in their properties instead of trading up.

“Although homeowners have more equity today, most of them also have ultra-low-rate mortgages they locked in during the recession, when rates were consistently below 4%,” Urban Institute researcher Karan Kaul wrote in a Tuesday post that probed the reasons behind a steady decline in repeat home-buying in the United States. “If a homeowner with a 3.5% rate were to trade up to a bigger home, it would come with a new mortgage at the prevailing, higher rate.”

That trend has conspired to boost the ranks of first-time homebuyers, who in 2017 accounted for 60% of all purchase mortgages taken out with the Federal Housing Administration and other government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) — a significant jump from the 40% before the financial crisis of the late 2000s.

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Few originators’ duties are complete after a client’s reverse mortgage has been closed. For many borrowers, these reverse mortgage specialists continue to be the first point of contact when assistance is needed with their loan.

Although some borrowers have general questions, servicing issues are often the reason why an originator hears from a borrower again.

Lynn Wertzler, president of Greenleaf Financial in Portland, Ore., said he recently had a client whose servicer erroneously cancelled his reverse mortgage line. The client found out when contacting the servicer about an unrelated homeowner’s insurance matter, and he immediately called Wertzler for help.

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In a wide-ranging dive into the pros and cons of taking out reverse mortgages, Forbes this week advised consumers to shop around.

“Ideally, you’ll want to get at least three quotes,” financial planner and Forbes contributor David Rae wrote. “Make sure each proposed reverse mortgage shows a selection of margins and also illustrates how your choices affect the upfront cost and net payouts.”

Rae introduces reverse mortgages as a potential solution for the retirement stresses facing the baby boom generation, including underfunded savings accounts and a lack of defined benefit pension plans.

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Reverse Mortgage Solutions recorded $29.6 million in pre-tax losses during the second quarter of 2018, with management at its parent company in part blaming high costs associated with Ginnie Mae buyouts.

In addition to elevated fair value losses, Ditech Holding Corporation (NYSE: DHCP) pointed to an extra $9.7 million in borrowing costs related to mandatory buyouts of Ginnie Mae securities as a key reason for the reverse segment’s lackluster second quarter.

“We are proactively managing buyouts in the reverse segment to continue to stabilize the business,” chief financial officer Jerry Lombardo said on the company’s earnings call last week.

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