{"id":49793,"date":"2026-05-06T03:19:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T00:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/reverse-mastermind-summit-kicks-off-with-practical-advice-choice-words\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T03:19:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T00:19:48","slug":"reverse-mastermind-summit-kicks-off-with-practical-advice-choice-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/reverse-mastermind-summit-kicks-off-with-practical-advice-choice-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Reverse Mastermind Summit kicks off with practical advice, choice words"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reverse mortgage professionals converged in Knoxville, Tennessee, this week for the inaugural Reverse Mastermind Summit<\/a> \u2014 a three-day event designed to bolster the sales skills of industry newcomers by surrounding them with knowledge from industry veterans.<\/p>\n

The event opened Wednesday with remarks from three leaders behind the event \u2014 Loren Riddick<\/a> of NEXA Lending<\/strong>, Shannon Hicks<\/a> of HighTechLending<\/strong> and Dan Hultquist<\/a> of REVERSE plus<\/strong> and Movement Mortgage<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our collective love letter to the industry,\u201d Riddick told a packed room at the start of the day\u2019s presentations.<\/p>\n

Riddick referenced his past life as a collegiate basketball player with his message on the need for leadership in the industry. His words come at a time when Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) business remains low<\/a> but the home equity accumulated by American seniors is nearing $15 trillion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou may not make every shot, you may not make every dribble, you may not make every pass, but hustling for loose balls, working and giving your heart will always, always get you through,\u201d Riddick said from the stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI promise you, if you think for a moment that reverse is easy, it\u2019s not. Deals aren\u2019t missed by a few dollars. They\u2019re missed by a few words. And if you don\u2019t know the words, if you don\u2019t have a mentor that\u2019s going to help you through it, you\u2019ve got to find that mentorship. That\u2019s what today is about iron \u2014 sharpening iron.\u201d<\/p>\n

HECM refi \u2018sugar highs\u2019 are over<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Hicks, who recently came aboard as chief content officer at HighTechLending after a 15-year tenure at Reverse Focus<\/strong>, focused on three key points during his presentation.<\/p>\n

First, he told the audience that it\u2019s currently a good time to be in the business of selling reverse mortgages, even as the \u201csugar highs\u201d of the pandemic-driven HECM refinance boom<\/a> have worn off. While senior homeowners have collectively built trillions in equity, many of them have not found practical solutions for tapping into it.<\/p>\n

\u201cTraditional mortgage lending, such as cash-out refis or home equity lines of credit (HELOCs), they\u2019re beginning to fail the older homeowner more today than they ever have before,\u201d Hicks said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re not talking about individuals who are cash poor, but house rich. We\u2019re talking about folks who we might even call the mass affluent<\/a>, people who have a lot of equity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey look good on paper, but they\u2019re liquidity constrained, and that\u2019s a real challenge today. \u2026 Traditional underwriting is failing many of them. In fact, when it comes to HELOCs, for older Americans today, we\u2019re seeing about 40% to 60% being rejected<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

His second point was that \u201creverse mortgage lending is no longer operating in a vacuum.\u201d He referenced the growth of proprietary reverse mortgages<\/a> \u2014 which recently eclipsed HECMs in terms of the dollar volume originated \u2014 as well as alternative equity release products like Longbridge Financial<\/strong>\u2019sHELOC for Seniors<\/a> and HighTechLending\u2019s EquitySelect<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lastly, Hicks discussed the opportunity to \u201cdiagnose borrower needs\u201d and come up with appropriate solutions, rather than trying to fix every borrower into the same box.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe future of the reverse mortgage industry isn\u2019t going to be defined by those who can explain the loan best. It will be defined by those who can understand the borrower the best,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Potentially harmful marketing<\/h2>\n

As the director of reverse mortgage communications at Movement Mortgage, Hultquist helps to run a multistate retail lending operation and frequently reviews marketing materials from competitors.<\/p>\n

Without specifying names, he called out some companies for their marketing tactics<\/a>, including direct-mail campaigns where the materials appear deceptive. Some look like a check or a final notice before collections, while others parrot a borrower\u2019s existing servicing statement.<\/p>\n

Hultquist said this is especially problematic at a time when the industry continues to battle public perception<\/a> around product legitimacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI review all of it from a compliance standpoint. This nonsense needs to stop. If we\u2019re going to improve as an industry, if we want to have a better future for our business, let\u2019s talk a little bit tomorrow about calling (these practices) out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In a similar vein, Hultquist took a stand against the burgeoning home equity investment<\/a> (HEI) space, which has recently come under fire<\/a> through lawsuits and regulatory actions in several states.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should have no filter to talk about these products,\u201d he said. \u201cUnderstand what they are and do your research. If you don\u2019t recognize how predatory these products are, do the math. \u2026 \u00a0If I have my way, those products will be banned.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese products will be our industry\u2019s single biggest threat in 2026 \u2026 if we don\u2019t counteract some of the deceptive advertising,\u201d Hultquist added. \u201c\u2018Oh, it\u2019s not a loan.\u2019 Wait, you\u2019re giving the client money that has to be repaid. How is that not a loan?\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reverse mortgage professionals converged in Knoxville, Tennessee, this week for the inaugural Reverse Mastermind Summit \u2014 a three-day event designed to bolster the sales skills of industry newcomers by surrounding them with knowledge from industry veterans. The event opened Wednesday with remarks from three leaders behind the event \u2014 Loren Riddick of NEXA Lending, Shannon…<\/p>","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\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49793"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49793\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}