{"id":50175,"date":"2026-05-13T20:21:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T17:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/movements-reverse-mortgage-leaders-on-forming-better-sales-strategies\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T20:21:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T17:21:44","slug":"movements-reverse-mortgage-leaders-on-forming-better-sales-strategies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/movements-reverse-mortgage-leaders-on-forming-better-sales-strategies\/","title":{"rendered":"Movement\u2019s reverse mortgage leaders on forming better sales strategies"},"content":{"rendered":"

At a time when some reverse mortgage lenders are struggling to bring new business through the door, Movement Mortgage<\/strong><\/a> is an example of a company that\u2019s posting modest growth through organic lead generation and purpose-driven leadership.<\/p>\n

Sales leaders from South Carolina<\/a>-based Movement took the stage at last week\u2019s Reverse Mastermind Summit<\/a> in Tennessee to offer insights on how they\u2019re serving the senior demographic through highly personalized service while moving away from paid leads and call-center blueprints.<\/p>\n

Harlan Accola<\/a>, the company\u2019s reverse mortgage director, detailed executive-level strategies for dealing with the baby boomer retirement crisis and argued that companies should form specialized divisions for reverse lending. George Vrban<\/a> offered an inside look at how he became Movement\u2019s top reverse producer through personalized attention and creative financial solutions.<\/p>\n

Accola: \u2018I hate being mediocre\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Accola, who joined Movement from Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp.<\/strong> (now Fairway Home Mortgage<\/a><\/strong>) in 2023, opened his presentation by urging audience members to reject mediocrity and commit to a deeper purpose by serving as retirement planning experts rather than just reverse mortgage salespeople.<\/p>\n

He referenced an encounter from years ago with Zig Ziglar, the late author and motivational speaker, who helped him to understand that financial success in sales is a natural byproduct of having a genuine interest in improving others\u2019 lives. Accola said that Movement Mortgage looks to embody this concept through philanthropic efforts<\/a>, including a national charter school network.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018When I stopped worrying about money, I stopped worrying about myself, and I started caring about other people more than myself. The dollar bills just came and played in my backyard,\u2019\u201d Accola recalled of the advice given by Ziglar.<\/p>\n

When it comes to serving senior homeowners, Accola said there\u2019s deep and untapped opportunity through the roughly 72 million baby boomers who are often unprepared for retirement<\/a>. He alluded to the median retirement account balance of $200,000 for those ages 65 to 74, according to a Federal Reserve<\/strong> survey, which does not go far when considering expenses like long-term care<\/a>. But the $14 trillion<\/a> in senior home equity could provide a lifeline.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the least prepared generation and the wealthiest generation that has ever lived on the face of the earth. And we have no idea how to use home equity,\u201d Accola said of boomers. \u201cYou should not have a mortgage payment when you\u2019re going into retirement. The math will not bear it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went on to call out industry professionals who brand themselves as reverse mortgage experts but lack the knowledge to back it up \u2014 an example of the Dunning-Kruger effect in which a person drastically overestimates their competency in a specific skill set.<\/p>\n

To be a true expert, he said, reverse mortgage originators must deeply understand the math behind refinancing a low-rate forward mortgage into a reverse loan \u2014 as well as a host of ancillary subjects like tax strategies, Social Security<\/a>, IRA conversions, life insurance and Medicare<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To do this effectively, full specialization in reverse is the optimal choice. Accola said that when he stopped doing forward mortgages, he saw his production soar, and he sets a minimum bar of 25 reverse mortgages per year for anyone who joins his team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate being mediocre,\u201d he remarked. \u201cDo you want to get operated on by a mediocre surgeon or do business with anybody who\u2019s just kind of mediocre? \u2018They\u2019re just kind of OK.\u2019 I don\u2019t want to and neither does anybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vrban\u2019s grassroots growth strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Modex<\/strong> data shows that Vrban originated $97.1 million in reverse mortgages for the year ending in March 2026. His average loan size was $741,000 across 131 units, and he averaged more than 10 closings per month at a time when the typical reverse loan officer does less than one<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know I was going to get 100 loans a year nine years ago. But you know what I did? I put it down on paper,\u201d he told the audience. \u201cI grew my business organically. I never bought any leads \u2026 no paid leads, no advertising, no call center. I just did it the old-fashioned way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vrban is helping to push Movement higher on the industry leaderboard. Data compiled by Reverse Market Insight<\/strong> shows that the company endorsed 165 Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs<\/a>) during the first four months of this year \u2014 up 8% from the same period last year and ranking No. 9 nationally.<\/p>\n

The underserved referral market<\/h2>\n

His core philosophy and career arc, he said, are built on commitment and action. Nearly a decade ago, he pivoted to exclusively originate reverse mortgages and identified financial planners<\/a> as an underserved referral market that needed to be mined.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re interviewing you at the same time you\u2019re trying to get business from them, and if they feel you don\u2019t know what the hell you\u2019re talking about, they\u2019re not going to trust you with their clients,\u201d Vrban said. \u201cSo you have to be good at your craft, you have to study, you have to understand this product.\u201d<\/p>\n

After spending six months refining his pitch to planners, he closed 40 loans in the next six months. Today, he said, 50% of his business comes from financial planners, outweighing another 30% tied to internal company leads. Movement relies on a model in which forward LOs and other employees refer reverse lending needs to specialists like Vrban.<\/p>\n

His daily routine includes five to seven Zoom<\/strong> meetings across roughly two dozen states, a pattern he said was developed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and grew during the shutdown as senior clients became more comfortable with video conferencing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t do my business over the phone,\u201d Vrban said. \u201cI want to see their facial expressions. I want to see the body language. These are all critical pieces to see if they\u2019re understanding the messaging of the presentation.\u201d<\/p>\n

He splits his calls into two parts \u2014 one where he listens, asks questions and educates the client on broad reverse mortgage concepts; and a second where he offers specific numbers and covers the application, counseling<\/a> and closing steps.<\/p>\n

Vrban has specific strategies for financial planners with clients who don\u2019t have a mortgage, such as funding long-term care costs and life insurance premiums, or hedging against sequence-of-returns risk<\/a>. For senior homeowners who still have mortgage debt, he often gets creative to eliminate their monthly payment, free up cash flow and implement beneficial tax strategies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be able to adapt. You have to be solution conscious. I can\u2019t tell you how many people in this industry see [borrowers] upside down 100 grand. I\u2019m sitting there going, \u2018I\u2019ll take that one,\u2019\u201d Vrban said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a time when some reverse mortgage lenders are struggling to bring new business through the door, Movement Mortgage is an example of a company that\u2019s posting modest growth through organic lead generation and purpose-driven leadership. Sales leaders from South Carolina-based Movement took the stage at last week\u2019s Reverse Mastermind Summit in Tennessee to offer…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50175"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50175\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}