Headquartered in California high-tech loansOne of the top ten lenders in the reverse mortgage industry recently announced that it is rebranding its wholesale pipeline to U.S. Senior Loan Wholesale Division Work to better align its image with key lines of business designed to serve older borrowers.
One of the ways the company aims to continue to build a reputation in the field is by taking a “boutique” approach to customer service and partnerships. Eric Ellsworth, the company’s executive vice president of sales, said the company doesn’t want to change the overall experience that partners have come to expect, but the rebranding will help further emphasize serving older borrowers.
“Same great company, same great employees, but we have a new, fresh brand,” Ellsworth said in an interview house lineReverse Mortgage Daily (RMD).
“Red Carpet Service”
Ellsworth said the rebranding effort better reflects the company’s overall commitment to seniors.
“We are deeply committed to serving people 55 and older and solving the significant challenges they face,” he said. “Cashflow is one of the major issues faced by many in this age group and our reverse mortgage product is designed to provide a solution. In this industry, a rising tide really benefits everyone – and when we all focus on When you help this group overcome financial barriers, everyone involved benefits.
HighTechLending/American Senior isn’t the largest player in the space in terms of company size, but the company is proving that to be an advantage from a service perspective.
“We may not be a big company, but that brings a lot of advantages,” Ellsworth explained. “When brokers work with U.S. Senior Loans Wholesale, they benefit from our in-house account managers, most of whom are licensed loan officers. This ensures we are able to provide our brokers and partners with comprehensive support.
This includes tasks such as data entry, customer outreach, underwriting and financing.
“We offer what we call a ‘wingman program,’ which provides red carpet service,” Ellsworth said. “As your wingman, we’ll guide you through the process, even if it’s your first time. The beauty of our approach is its flexibility – we can provide as much or as little support as you need, customized Our help meets your specific needs as a wholesale broker.
Tailor-made approach
By the same token, for those who don’t need as much high-touch level help, Ellsworth said the company can accommodate that preference as well. Ultimately, the company just wants to promote its wholesale division.
“We’re excited to expand this pipeline and grow with the U.S. Senior Loan brand. I think we can take this to the next level,” he said. “I think a lot of people don’t know much about our wholesale division, but when they find out about us, they usually get great results.”
Rich Walker, the company’s vice president of wholesale reverse operations, added that a “boutique” approach can help companies customize their service offerings, which may be more challenging if the company is much larger.
“We’re bringing in a number of partners, and we’re going to have an exchange of ideas between their operations people and our operations people so that we can understand how they like to operate best, especially with our partners,” Walker said. “Last year, we brought on some major agency partners, which was a great experience and helped us grow from our initial [third-party origination (TPO)]”.
grow and create value
The division continues to grow by creating new wholesale staff positions dedicated to partner support. The firm also has directly endorsed underwriters, supported by account executives, who can help broker partners solve “deeper questions,” Walker said.
“This is a real help and frees up our account managers to pursue more business while still servicing the clients we already have,” Walker explained.
Ellsworth also cited the 2023 hiring of Phil Walker as vice president of retirement strategies as key to HighTechLending, which is leveraging his experience in financial services to help generate leads for broker partners.
“We have a series for all brokers called the Financial Planning Webinar Series that provides continuing education credits to our brokers’ referral partners (i.e., financial planners),” Ellsworth explained. “Our goal is to help our brokers grow their businesses.”
The company is conducting a series of courses to teach partners effective reverse mortgage sales strategies. Ellsworth said this increases the company’s desire to provide value to partners as they seek to expand their presence in the space.
“If they need end-to-end help — someone to help them sell their loan — we can do that,” he said. “If they just need help with quick turnaround time and meaningful underwriting, we can do that as well because underwriting is one of our greatest strengths.”
Earlier this year, David Peskin announced that he would buy an ownership stake in the company. Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) Endorsement Data Reverse Market Insights HighTechLending (RMI) is the country’s 10th largest reverse mortgage lender, originating 413 loans in the 12 months ending July 2024.
