The reverse mortgage industry, as with virtually any other business, has a greater ability to thrive when more people decide to enter it. With some companies focusing on helping traditionally forward mortgage loan officers make a transition into reverse either as a new full-time focus or to add to their repertoire of offerings, those LOs […]
Refinance transactions are commonplace in the broader world of mortgages, and they appear to be increasingly common for the reverse mortgage industry. As low interest rates continue to fuel mortgage production generally, many reverse mortgage borrowers have become interested in refinances to take advantage of the current low-rate environment. Interest in this kind of activity […]
In late 2019, the Department of Housing and Urban Development issued new condominium guidelines that aimed to make it easier for single units to be approved for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) financing. This included transactions under the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program. Historically, an entire condo complex would need to be approved for FHA […]
Reverse mortgage originators have long heralded the benefits of reverse mortgage options for some prospects relative to home equity lines of credit (HELOCs). Yet recent changes in the home equity lending environment have brought this comparison back to the forefront, and some originators are receiving even more inquiries due to individuals who are interested in […]
Reverse mortgage professionals across the country are being inundated with a constantly-evolving situation related to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. For some seniors whose retirement plans have been affected, looking at reverse mortgages has become a way to access needed cash. This is according to outreach conducted by RMD, and results of a recent Pulse Survey […]
This week, the Federal Reserve took an extraordinary step to contain the economic impact of the global coronavirus outbreak by slashing interest rates in the biggest single rate cut the central bank has ever made. It makes for the biggest one-time cut — half a percentage point — and the bank’s first emergency rate move […]
Proprietary reverse mortgages are becoming increasingly prevalent in the modern home equity release industry, as evidenced by the amount of new products being created by lenders as well as the general optimism the industry is feeling as a direct result of those products’ larger place in the conversation. As proprietary reverse mortgage products become more […]
Late last year, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance convened a hearing to discuss merits and possible areas of improvement in the federal Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program. Featuring a panel of witnesses that included academic and government researchers along with the then-president of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders […]
Second appraisals on Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) transactions under the recently-extended collateral risk assessment (CRA) rule are largely unchanged from figures shared earlier in the year, though have appeared to tick slightly downward. This is according to data from a valuation professional and the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA). “The latest data indicates […]
After American Advisors Group (AAG) released its latest television commercials in July and August, respectively, the reverse mortgage industry was buzzing with activity. After sharing the July Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM)-focused ad on social media, originators, brokers, counselors and more seemed to see actor Tom Selleck not just as a spokesman for AAG, but […]
