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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