Earlier this year, MCS, a Lewisville, Texas-based real estate services company, announced the acquisition of Five Brothers Asset Management Solutions, marking MCS’ first foray into the reverse mortgage industry. Shortly after, CEO Craig Torrance provided an early explanation of what he hoped to achieve with this move.
Approximately six months later, Torrance and Chad Mosley, the company’s president of mortgage servicing, attended the National Reverse Mortgage Lending Association (NRMLA) annual meeting and expo in San Diego, where they spoke with industry experts. I met face to face with them.
The company now has a clearer vision for the reverse mortgage space, and these leaders spoke with HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily (RMD) to explain some of what they’ve learned about the current state of the industry and what’s next. We also predict the possibility of
Chris Clow/RMD: How has things been going with Reverse Space since acquiring Five Brothers?
Craig Torrance: We’re still learning about the reverse mortgage space. One of the things that struck us when we joined Five Brothers was that while there is certainly a difference between forward and reverse, from our perspective there is actually a lot more to the service we provide. That is, there are similarities.
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I think if you get down to the essence of the work we do as a company, we’re happy with it. At that time, we felt that our service could be successfully applied to inverse space. Five Brothers did both forwards and reverses, but we were certainly very interested in the reverse work as we have established a presence in the forwards. But we didn’t really know how different it was until we started.
We found that many of the services we offer and the way we deliver them are the same. I think that’s the service itself. But it’s also about everything that goes into it in terms of processes, customer interactions, client processes. I think that’s where we see the difference between us and our more advanced customer groups.
Crow: Chad, what does it look like to you?
Chad Mosley: What really impressed me, being new to the reverse industry, was being able to interact with some of the reverse servicers that we currently work with and see how they operate on a day-to-day basis. This is what happened.
Based on senior customers, their processes, procedures, or communications are highly oriented to that consumer base. And it was really interesting and refreshing to see their focus on the customer.
For me, the big difference was how I could support that. All of the reverse servicers that we’ve had the privilege of working with are very strict on this and have really great strategies. This has been a great learning process and we are excited to continue being a part of it.
Crowe: How is the difference between forward and backwards most evident in your company’s operations?
Torrance: Basically, when you compare reverse and forward, it seems like there’s generally a much higher level of customer interaction and communication in the reverse space. It may sound pretty obvious, but I think the hook from a consumer perspective is the experience.
When you go to get a mortgage in the future, you get a mortgage to buy a house and live in that house. All you have to do is write a check every month, which the majority of us do today with regular payments. I never speak to my servicer. I don’t think I have talked to a mortgage servicer in 10 years. However, even when switching to reverse, a healthy hook and connection still exists between the reverse customer and the reverse servicer.
Crowe: Based on what you’ve observed, how do those experiences compare?
Torrance: What I’ve seen from reverse servicers is that the business is built around that level of interaction and communication. Their processes, teams, training programs, software, everything seems to be built around making that connection work. Also, it’s not that forward customers don’t care about customer service, but I feel there is some depth between the reverse and forward connections.
From our perspective, there’s a lot of work coming our way, but it’s very mechanical and transactional. But on the other side, I think it’s more human and just a different way of building connections.
Crowe: Do you think the reverse business is currently outgrowing its weight in terms of how it can contribute to the company’s overall revenue and profitability, or given demographic trends? Are you in this to get into the floor?
Mosley: I think the way we look at it is from a future and growth perspective. We’re bullish on the reverse industry, attending the NRMLA conference and having conversations with a lot of different people, not just servicers but also originators, and there’s a lot of talk and excitement about the growth of the reverse industry. It seems so. industry.
Ultimately, more volume and a larger industry will bring revenue and profitability. However, due to the nature of the demographics, it appears that new founders are interested in entering the field, and more and more people are becoming interested in the field for the first time.
Our elderly population is growing, and more and more elderly people are in need of our products. I think given the demographics and the nature of some of the macroeconomics, we think that’s the driver of growth.
