Reverse Mortgage Funding, LLC (RMF) announced this week that it has expanded its presence in the state of Arizona, in an effort to meet what it calls “rising demand for reverse mortgages” apparent in the state based on its internal metrics.
Like much of the reverse mortgage industry, RMF’s current top state for product volume is California. However, the company expects that demand in the state for its products will grow higher in the coming years, necessitating an expanded presence.
“The state of Arizona remains one of the strongest markets for reverse mortgages in the nation and key for our company’s continued growth,” said David Peskin, president of RMF in a statement. “Arizona homeowners ages 55 and up are eligible for RMF’s proprietary reverse mortgage product, Equity Elite. We’re excited to see our Arizona team expand, and we look forward to helping customers in this area utilize their home equity in smart, strategic ways to improve their cash flow and their retirement lifestyle.”
The company currently has six dedicated reverse mortgage loan officers across the cities of Scottsdale and Sahuarita.
“Our Arizona-based loan officers are well-connected to their communities. Many of them live in retirement communities and interact with retirees daily,” said Richard Thorpe, distributed retail leader at RMF. “These loan officers know firsthand many of the financial challenges and concerns that retirees and pre-retirees are facing today. They are well-versed in reverse mortgage strategies and dedicated to informing clients about the ways they can use home equity to offset things like inflation and market instability.”
Earlier this year in an interview with RMD, Peskin spoke of burgeoning challenges and opportunities present in the current reverse mortgage marketplace.
“As far as volume is concerned, our volume still looks strong, which is great,” Peskin told RMD in March. “But we continue to diversify and look for new channels to originate loans. And then, of course we look to continue to expand our Equity Elite product. We’re doing more and more Equity Elite business than we’ve done in the past. It’s becoming a higher percentage of our business. I think that’s an exciting opportunity for us any industry as a whole.”
Proprietary volume has also seen a notable recent spike in both borrower interest and volume, according to information shared by RMF Strategic Business Development Leader Joe DeMarkey at the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) Western Regional Meeting last month.
However, proprietary products have also been affected by the increased volatility in the economy. For RMF’s Equity Elite product, the company recently introduced changes to the product’s pricing structure that it was in the process of rolling out to its loan origination systems earlier this week.
Peskin has also been vocal recently about the potential for reverse mortgages to be a business source for forward professionals beleaguered by a difficult business environment.
