Here’s a scenario you’ve probably experienced. You’re working with a senior client who loves a home but can’t quite make the numbers work. They have substantial home equity but limited income. You know a reverse mortgage for home purchase could solve their problem perfectly.

Should REALTORS bring up a reverse mortgage for home purchase or should they wait until the senior client asks about them?

Most REALTORS wait. And most lose the sale.

The Problem with Waiting

Let’s be honest about what happens when you wait for clients to bring up reverse mortgages. They don’t. In fact, most of your senior clients have never heard of using a reverse mortgage for home purchase. They might know something about reverse mortgages from late-night TV ads, but they probably think reverse mortgages are only for people who need to stay in their current homes.

They don’t know they can use a reverse mortgage to buy a new home. And if you don’t tell them, who will?

While you’re waiting for them to ask, they’re making decisions based on incomplete information. They’re ruling out homes they could actually afford. They’re settling for properties that don’t meet their needs. Or worse, they’re walking away from homeownership entirely because they think they can’t afford it.

Every time this happens, you lose a potential sale. Your client loses the chance to live in the right home. Everyone loses.

Why Clients Don’t Ask About Reverse Mortgage for Home Purchase

Your senior clients aren’t asking about reverse mortgage for home purchase for several reasons. None of them are good.

1. First, they simply don’t know it exists. The HECM for Purchase program has been available since 2009, but it remains one of the best-kept secrets in real estate. Your clients might know about traditional reverse mortgages (HECMs), but they don’t realize they can use one to purchase a home.
2. Second, they’re embarrassed. Many seniors feel uncomfortable discussing their financial limitations. They don’t want to admit they can’t afford a home using traditional financing. They’d rather quietly withdraw from the market than ask if there are other options.
3. Third, they assume you’ll tell them about all their options. They trust you as the professional. If you haven’t mentioned a reverse mortgage for home purchase, they assume it either doesn’t apply to them or doesn’t exist.
4. Fourth, they have misconceptions about reverse mortgages. They might think reverse mortgages mean giving up their home to the bank or leaving nothing for their heirs. These myths stop them from asking questions.

The Professional Advantage of Knowing Reverse Mortgage for Home Purchase

When you bring up the reverse mortgage for home purchase proactively, you position yourself differently than other REALTORS. You become the expert who knows about solutions other agents don’t mention.

Think about what this means for your business. Senior buyers represent a growing market segment. As baby boomers continue to age, more of your potential clients will be seniors looking to downsize, move closer to family, or relocate to retirement-friendly communities.

These buyers often have significant equity in their current homes but face income limitations that make traditional financing difficult. The reverse mortgage for home purchase is tailor-made for this situation.

A reverse mortgage for home purchase (aka HECM for Purchase) allows them to purchase a new home using their existing equity while eliminating monthly mortgage payments (though they still pay property taxes, insurance, and maintenance).

When you’re the REALTOR who introduces this option, you’re not just making a sale, you’re building a reputation. You become known as the agent who helps seniors find solutions. That reputation leads to referrals, repeat business, and a steady stream of clients in a valuable demographic.

How to Bring It Up Naturally

You don’t need to launch into a presentation about reverse mortgage for home purchase at your first meeting. Instead, weave it into your normal needs assessment conversation.

When you’re asking about their financial situation, include questions like:

• “Have you considered all your financing options, including a reverse mortgage for home purchase?”
• “Are you familiar with using a reverse mortgage to buy your next home?”
• “Would you be interested in eliminating monthly mortgage payments on your new home?”

These questions open the door naturally. If they express interest, you can provide basic information and connect them with a qualified reverse mortgage professional. If you get our reusable HECM for Purchase REALTOR Checklist, you could pull that out and go through it with your clients in 5 minutes to ensure their eligibility.

You’re not selling the product (that’s not your job). You’re making sure they know about all their options.

You can also use scenarios to introduce the concept. “I worked with a client last year who was in a similar situation. They were able to purchase their dream home in a 55+ community using a reverse mortgage for home purchase. Would you like to hear how that worked?”

Stories make the concept real. They help clients see themselves in the scenario.

The Education Approach

Here’s the key: You’re not pushing a product. You’re providing education about available options.

Frame it this way in your own mind and in your conversations. You’re helping clients make informed decisions. The reverse mortgage for home purchase might be perfect for them, or it might not. But they deserve to know it exists.

This approach takes the pressure off everyone. You’re not trying to convince anyone of anything. You’re simply making sure they have complete information about their financing options.

Most senior buyers appreciate this. They’ve been around long enough to spot a sales pitch from a mile away. But they also recognize genuine help when they see it. When you present the reverse mortgage for home purchase as one option among several, they trust you more, not less.

When It Makes Sense to Mention Reverse Mortgage for Home Purchase

Certain situations practically demand that you mention the reverse mortgage for home purchase. If you don’t, you’re doing your clients a disservice.

• Bring it up when your client has significant home equity but limited income. This is the classic scenario. They have the resources but can’t qualify for traditional financing due to income requirements.
• Mention it when clients express concern about monthly payments. The reverse mortgage for home purchase eliminates monthly principal and interest payments. For seniors on fixed incomes, this can be transformative.
• Introduce it when clients are looking at properties below their equity level. If they have $400,000 in equity but are looking at $350,000 properties, a reverse mortgage for home purchase could allow them to keep a significant cash reserve instead of using all their equity as a down payment.
• Discuss it when clients mention wanting to preserve assets for other purposes. The reverse mortgage for home purchase requires a down payment (typically 40-50% of the purchase price depending on age), but it allows them to keep substantial equity for emergencies, travel, healthcare, or other goals.
• Bring it up when clients are downsizing. Seniors moving from larger family homes to smaller properties are ideal candidates. They typically have enough equity from their current home sale to make the required down payment.

What Your Competition Is Doing

Most of your competition isn’t mentioning reverse mortgage for home purchase. They either don’t know about it, misunderstand it, or are afraid to bring it up.

This creates an opportunity for you. While other agents are losing senior buyers to the “can’t qualify” pile, you can be the agent who finds solutions. While others are letting potential sales walk out the door, you’re closing deals.

The REALTORS who are succeeding with senior buyers aren’t waiting for clients to ask. They’re proactively educating their clients about all available options, including reverse mortgage for home purchase.

Building Your Knowledge Base

You can’t effectively introduce the reverse mortgage for home purchase if you don’t understand it yourself. You don’t need to become a reverse mortgage expert (that’s what loan officers are for), but you should know the basics.

Understand that the reverse mortgage for home purchase requires a substantial down payment based on the borrower’s age and current interest rates. Know that it eliminates monthly mortgage payments but requires borrowers to maintain the property and pay property taxes and insurance. Be aware that borrowers must be 62 or older and must live in the home as their primary residence.

You should also know what the reverse mortgage for home purchase offers that traditional financing doesn’t. No monthly mortgage payments means more disposable income. Non-recourse protection means borrowers (or their heirs) will never owe more than the home’s value. The ability to age in place without refinancing or payment worries provides peace of mind.

Check out our free HECM for Purchase Mini-course for REALTORS. It includes 6 videos (from 5-15 minutes), 2-question quizzes to confirm comprehension, and even provides a certificate of completion.

Connect with reputable reverse mortgage professionals in your area. Build relationships with loan officers who specialize in reverse mortgage for home purchase. These partnerships benefit everyone. You provide clients, they provide expertise, and your clients get complete information.

The Ethical Perspective

Some REALTORS worry that bringing up reverse mortgage for home purchase is pushy or inappropriate. Let’s address this directly.

• What’s more ethical: Providing complete information about all financing options, or withholding information that could help your client?
• What serves your client better: Assuming they know about every available option, or making sure they have all the facts?

Your fiduciary duty to your client includes helping them make informed decisions. You can’t do that if you’re censoring information based on your own discomfort or assumptions about what they want to hear.

Bringing up the reverse mortgage for home purchase isn’t pressure. It’s professionalism. As long as you present it as one option among several and connect them with qualified loan officers for details, you’re doing exactly what you should be doing.

The Bottom Line

Should you bring up reverse mortgage for home purchase with your senior clients, or wait for them to ask? The answer is clear. Bring it up.

Your clients are counting on you to be the expert. They expect you to know about solutions that might work for them. They can’t ask about something they don’t know exists.

When you proactively introduce the reverse mortgage for home purchase, you’re not being pushy. Instead, you’re being helpful by expanding possibilities instead of limiting them. You’re helping seniors achieve homeownership goals they might otherwise abandon.

You’re also building your business. Senior buyers are a growing market. The REALTORS who succeed with this demographic will be those who understand their unique needs and know about all available solutions.

Don’t wait for clients to ask about reverse mortgage for home purchase. They won’t. Be the professional who makes sure they know about every option that might serve them well.

That’s what experts do. And that’s how you build a thriving business serving senior homebuyers.