Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation’s reverse mortgage division has hired reverse mortgage educator Dan Hultquist, an industry veteran and author of the informational book Understanding Reverse, as its new national reverse training specialist.
Hultquist will be involved in onboarding and educating the approximately 4,000 national loan officers employed by the lender on referring, originating, and marketing reverse mortgage loans. He will report to Harlan Accola, Fairway’s national reverse mortgage director.
The hire is also a part of a larger move by the lender to both bolster and focus its reverse mortgage resources to take greater advantage of the company’s expansive loan officer corps, according to Accola.
“Fairway is changing the way retirement is done in this country,” Accola says in the announcement of Hultquist’s hiring. “We have the nation’s largest local network of loan originators, and we are dedicated to expanding the entire reverse mortgage market via our large branch footprint. Dan’s ability to distill the reverse mortgage landscape into simple, understandable, and fun instruction will help us continue to double volume year over year.”
With many of those loan officers vocalizing an interest in the reverse mortgage product category, Hultquist will be able to help them to learn more about its intricacies and potentially to bolster the presence of reverse mortgages among current personnel, according to Peter Sciandra, Fairway’s national reverse mortgage sales manager.
“Nearly a thousand loan officers have already requested further training on originating and referring reverse mortgages,” Sciandra said. “Dan’s addition to the team has the branch network clamoring to add even more reverse volume to their business plans.”
For Hultquist’s part, he relates anticipation for what Fairway brings to the table of the reverse mortgage industry and is excited to explore new opportunities granted by its large mortgage footprint.
“Even in the short time I’ve been discussing the future with the team, I am so impressed with the infusion of support around reverse mortgages in the Fairway culture,” says Hultquist. “The sense of true teamwork and the company’s investment in each member of that team creates a really inspiring environment. They have lofty goals, but they also have an experienced and capable leadership team ready to reach them. I’m proud to join that team and deploy my experience and knowledge.”
Hultquist most recently served as VP of organizational development at Finance of America Reverse (FAR), and prior to that served at companies including Live Well Financial, ReverseVision and Open Mortgage. He recently released an updated version of Understanding Reverse for 2021, in addition to creating new resource guides to drill a bit deeper into other, more specific reverse-relevant topics.
Understanding Reverse also has the distinction of being the first reverse mortgage book to be released on Amazon’s Audible audiobook platform.
According to endorsement data compiled by Reverse Market Insight (RMI), Fairway is the sixth largest reverse mortgage lender in the industry, logging 2,008 Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements over the 12-month period ending in January, 2021.
