March-April 2021

• 200K+ Reverse Mortgage Closings • Seasoned Professionals • First-Rate Customer Service • TitlePro247 • PRC Fee Calculator • Trust & POA Reviews • Educational Forums • 24-Month Tax History • PRC Mobile App • CRMP Credit Course • Curative Work for Old Liens • Fully Integrated with Bay Docs • H4P in AZ, CA, NV & TX (800) 542-4113 PRClosings.com your partner in success! Premier Reverse Closings is a proven industry leader for all of your reverse mortgage title & settlement needs. THE EXPERTS YOU NEED. THE PARTNER YOU CAN TRUST. Contact Us Today For All Of Your Reverse Mortgage Title & Settlement Needs! Tapping Retirement continued from page 20 desirable after the pandemic ends, he says. Such homes, which could be tapped with a HECM for Purchase, offer the privacy of a single-family home but with the benefits of being part of a community where residents can meet neighbors while out and about. Vernon says he and his wife live in such a community, where people can socially distance during the pandemic but don’t feel isolated. The key, he adds, is to think about those issues early on. “As you’re entering into your 60s and thinking about retirement, you ought to investigate the best place to live,” he says. “And if you love your current house, then how do you tap it through a reverse? It’s just about learning all your options as you’re transitioning.” COVID-19 and Retirement Munnell, Vernon and others also suggest that COVID-19 has more people assessing where they stand with their overall retirement plans, but that everyone needs to be doing so. “The pandemic has brought in more requests from potential borrowers or their children,” says Melinda Hipp, CRMP, area sales manager for Mutual of Omaha Mortgage in Texas and Oklahoma. “And, even if they didn’t need it right away, they were thinking more heavily about the future and not being stuck with debt if something happens to their savings or income.” She suggests that people have been considering reverse mortgages for the same reasons they would have consid- ered them before the pandemic: “They are still looking to pay off debt or fix up the house.” Retirement issues abounded before the pandemic, so the pandemic can’t be blamed for the current lack of savings.There wasn’t a widespread financial collapse during COVID-19 like the one after 2008-09—stocks have remained strong—and private and public retirement plans remained resilient in the past year for those who have them, Munnell says. “But, the reason we do not see bad outcomes is not a good reason—it’s because people who are lucky enough to have a retirement plan really are not the ones who have been 22 REVERSE MORTGAGE / MARCH-APR I L 2021