The future of home equity: Melissa Macerato discusses opportunities for seniors, wealth preservation and responsible homeowner solutions

HousingWire

Unlock the potential of home equity! Discover how Longbridge Financial is revolutionizing retirement for seniors with innovative solutions.  Melissa Macerato shares insights on wealth preservation and responsible strategies designed to help older homeowners age in place comfortably. Learn about customized products tailored to meet diverse needs in retirement.  Explore the growth potential of reverse mortgages and how Longbridge is leading the way with ethics and innovative product development. Find out how their unique HELOC for seniors can be obtained rapidly online.  #HomeEquity #RetirementPlanning #ReverseMortgage #SeniorLiving

Transcript

00:00Live from Las Vegas, I'm Diego Sanchez, president of HousingWire, and I'm joined today by a special

00:14guest. It's Melissa Macerado. She's the chief revenue and marketing officer at Longbridge

00:20Financial. Melissa, welcome to this interview. Thank you. Thank you so much, Diego. Happy to

00:25be here. Yeah, it's so great to have you on. Can you tell us a little bit about Longbridge's

00:30mission and also your role at the company? Sure. The mission at Longbridge is very simple. We want

00:36to responsibly help older homeowners age in place and unlock their home equity in retirement. There's

00:44$14 trillion in untapped home equity, and we believe that with the programs and products that

00:52we offer, we can help retirees live a more fruitful retirement. And your role there?

01:01So I wear a lot of hats, but my primary responsibilities are on the front end of the

01:06business. So on the sales and marketing side of the business. Came from MetLife prior to, so I've been in

01:13the reverse space since 2007 and just really got the bug for reverse. So when I met my partner, Chris

01:22Mayer, we started Longbridge 12 years ago, almost 13 years ago now. So yeah, so we've been able to grow

01:29the business over the last 12 years, and my responsibility is really focused on the front

01:34end. And there's been quite a bit of growth in those 12, 13 years. What accomplishments are you

01:42most proud of over that 13, 12, 13 year tenure? Yeah, the things that I'm most proud of, or the

01:48single most thing I'm proud of is what we've accomplished with Longbridge Financial in the

01:53last 12 years. Complete de novo startup, one state at a time, one employee at a time, going from a very

02:02small four man office to now we have a couple different locations and we're the number one

02:08wholesale lender as well as the number two overall lender in the country. So, but building that with

02:15the right people and being able to handpick many of those people and then have those people grow and

02:22develop over the years, that is absolutely my proudest accomplishment. I think we've created a

02:29culture and an organization that is filled with people that have the utmost ethics and really do

02:35care about the senior. So we've been able to build a culture that I think has allowed us to do some

02:41amazing things like our product development initiatives that we've really skyrocketed over

02:46the last few months. And it's been a long road to that, but you're seeing it come to fruition now.

02:52Yeah, I really want to talk about that because it's really, really interesting.

02:55You're launching proprietary products. Yes, we are. And why do you feel the need to launch proprietary

03:02products? Is it just based on the opportunity? Does HECM not do enough for seniors? Tell me a little

03:08bit more about your launches. Well, just like there's not one forward mortgage out there, right?

03:14There's all shapes and colors and to fit the different needs of homeowners. And your needs really

03:19change as you retire, your income often goes down, it doesn't go up. And so when people get to that

03:27place in retirement, where they want to start, you know, need to live a more comfortable life. And so the

03:33products that we offer, we're trying to meet much more of a broad base of needs. So whether you want to

03:39preserve equity, whether you want to take a line of credit, whether you're interested in the lower rate or more

03:45proceeds, we've tried to develop things that have historically, we've seen go by the wayside those

03:52borrowers and not be able to be well served with HECM. So our suite of platinum products and our new

03:58HELOC for seniors product, which is extremely innovative, not only on the product development

04:03side, but on the how you're able to get it in less than five days, you can have a HELOC all online.

04:10So we've really made that a core part of who we are, innovation. And so I'm very, very proud of that and what

04:18we've all accomplished there. And I think it's all boats rise in the industry when we're able to offer and help

04:24more seniors.

04:24Yeah, I mean, seniors have lots of nested equity.

04:29Yes, they do.

04:30And sometimes don't have other forms of savings or adequate amounts of other savings. So is part of your

04:40mission to, you know, sort of help people plan for their retirement and aging in place and all of that?

04:46Absolutely. You hit the nail on the head. You know, there is absolutely so much opportunity

04:51to be able to live a more comfortable lifestyle, whether you want to augment your home

04:56to age in place, whether you want to help your grandkids or your kids get their first home,

05:01or whether you, you know, want to pay off the credit cards that you have, or the existing

05:06mortgage that you have. As one of the primary uses of a reverse mortgage, what you're often

05:12doing is paying off that existing mortgage payment that you have. So you're not outlaying

05:17that cash every month. So the variety of products that we offer are there to meet a variety of needs

05:24of senior homeowners. And I think that's really where we're most focused, is trying to make sure

05:31that we can help more of those people in retirement and live more comfortably.

05:35It's still a small industry.

05:37It is.

05:37And, you know, Housing Wire actually bought a reverse mortgage publication called Reverse Mortgage Daily

05:44several years ago, because we have this thesis, and you probably have the same thesis,

05:48that it's going to grow. Do you see reverse mortgages growing over the next couple of years?

05:54How are you thinking about the strategy and your strategy for growth?

05:59Right. Good question. Yes, we absolutely believe that. We think, you know, distribution is the barrier.

06:08And so we are working very hard to partner, which is why we're here at MBA, with our forward

06:13counterparts out there because of the size of the industry. You know, we believe that just like you

06:21have homeowners that are brand new, young people who don't have that 20% down payment. It's the same

06:28thing in the, so you need to create special products for them. It's the same thing when you get to that

06:33retirement segment. So working and we're hoping that, you know, forward entities also see the need

06:41to be able to serve borrowers at all ages, from their first home all the way through into retirement.

06:47So with the innovative products that we've been delivering, we think it is a nice sort of bridge

06:53into the forward space. A HELOC for seniors is a great example of that. Everybody understands a HELOC.

07:00This one is designed specifically for seniors. But I think it's an entryway to allow forward loan

07:07officers, traditional loan officers, access to these products. And we are really spending a lot

07:12of time working with large entities in this space to be able to help them to bring reverse products and

07:20products for seniors to their suite of programs that they offer. So it's a big part of our strategy

07:26going forward. You're really enabling those forward mortgage lenders to have a full customer

07:33lifecycle approach. That's absolutely right. And I think, you know, whether you're helping somebody

07:39when they start, or you're helping their parents, often what we see with the reverse is people take

07:45out that proceeds to help their children get their first home, right? And so if we can have more

07:51realtors, more forward loan officers understand the value of a reverse, and not just the reverse,

07:57but product senior products, which is what we're all about. I think that's really where you're

08:03going to be able to see the industry grow more.

08:06So I've seen some forward mortgage lenders pushing into reverse on their own. Could Longbridge

08:14push into forward or are you a reverse specialist all the way?

08:17We are not a reverse specialist. We are a product for seniors. So really our mission, our vision,

08:25everything that we're focused on is playing in the senior market. So the 55 plus market. And so,

08:31you know, there's plenty of players out there on the forward side. What we want to do is bring

08:36innovative products to the space to allow those individuals to help their borrowers that are 55

08:41and older. Great. Melissa, what a wonderful conversation. It seems like you have some very

08:46exciting growth opportunities in the coming years. Thank you so much for joining me today.

08:51Thanks.

09:01Thanks.

09:02Thanks.

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