Brandon Webb was born in 1980 and raised in sunny San Diego, California. He is married and has two amazing boys. Brandon started his mortgage career is 1997 working as a processor for his parents, who owned a small mortgage brokerage. Deciding to stay in the business, Brandon moved out on his own, and from 1997 to 2007 worked for brokers and lenders as a processor, underwriting associate, and loan officer. This experience contributed greatly to his all-around knowledge of the business.
In September of 2007, Brandon became excited about the potential of reverse mortgages to help seniors use housing wealth as part of retirement planning, and he has focused on HECM (reverse mortgages) since then.
After working for large companies like Bank of America, Wells Fargo and MetLife, Brandon moved to iReverse Home Loans in May of 2012 and has never looked back. At iReverse Brandon has the ability to make all pricing and rate option decisions without approval from management. This allows him to level the playing field and find the best fit for his clients.
Brandon enjoys coaching his Son’s baseball team and being a hockey Dad as well as just spending quality time with his young family. His devotion to seniors started while taking care of his maternal grandparents who both suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. He has a passion for helping seniors and always puts their needs before his income. Brandon’s clients quickly learn that they can not only trust him but can count on him for assistance years down the road.
How did you get started in this business? What inspired you to start this business?
Being in the mortgage business was just the most obvious thing to do, having worked for so many years in my parent’s business. But the real fork in the road was regarding reverse mortgages. The Home Equity Conversion Mortgage or HECM was pretty new when I got involved. But right away, I was able to truly help seniors, who in many cases had not adequately planned the financial aspects of retirement. It is really common to find that seniors who were struggling to pay their mortgages and other bills had most of their wealth tied up in their homes. HECM loans provided a vehicle for unlocking that wealth and lowered monthly expenses.
How do you make money?
I am a reverse mortgage loan officer deriving his income from the origination (sales) of reverse mortgages. Most of my business comes from customer referrals because I always put the needs of the client first, and will tell them if reverse is right for them. When it is, I also counsel them as to how to properly structure the loan to fit their specific needs.
How long did it take for you to become profitable?
The business was profitable very quickly. Each loan officer at iReverse is, in a sense, their own branch, so all are responsible for the decision making on each approved loan.
When you were starting out, was there ever a time you doubted it would work? If so, how did you handle that?
There was always faith in the product, therefore there was no way to fail. When used properly, reverse mortgages can greatly enrich the quality of life for countless seniors.
How did you get your first customer?
My first customer was referred by a traditional loan officer who did not know enough about reverse to do the loan. This is an example of why it is so important to utilize a loan officer who specializes in reverse. HECM loans are very complex, and a specialist knows how to manage the process, which is far different than a forward loan.
What is one marketing strategy (other than referrals) that you’re using that works really well to generate new business?
I find that ads in local free papers in senior communities usually help. Often times I find that seniors don’t want to ask for advice from family and friends, so senior-related resources have allowed me the opportunity to speak directly to seniors and to educate many of them about reverse mortgages.
I have created several YouTube Videos and have posted videos to my Facebook page, too. I am also active on Twitter, Linkedin, and have a blog associated with my website dallasreversemortgage.com.
What is the toughest decision you’ve had to make in the last few months?
Marketing is a very tough decision. You put lots of money, sometimes money that hurts into it. Mailers and Web presence sometimes don’t pay off, and you find yourself worse off.
What do you think it is that makes you successful?
I think the main thing that makes me successful is putting the client first no matter what it means to my bottom line. Sometimes that hurts my profits, but in the end, I have done the right thing and usually get more referrals because of it. Secondly, my experience allows me to have seen all there is to see as far as issues that can arise in the transaction for a HECM loan.
What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
The most satisfying moment was when I was able to help a woman who had let her home get so bad that the city was about to condemn her property. We were able to get her bridge financing to repair the home and then do a reverse to pay off the bridge loan. She had no plumbing, holes in the roof, even wildlife in the house. The city valued the home when we started at $125,000 (which was very low in the area) and when we were done it appraised at $450,000.
What does the future hold for your business? What are you most excited about?
The future of my business is tough to see right now. FHA has made drastic changes that hurt borrowers recently and cut how much they get on the HECM by up to 20%. Slowly lenders are trying to combat this by releasing proprietary product, and that should help. FHA also just confirmed the new commissioner who has promised to roll back some of those changes. Time will tell. Eventually, people will realize that the reverse mortgage is a fantastic planning tool for seniors, and it will become very popular.
What is a recent purchase you have made that’s helped with your business?
I purchased a tablet that works more like a PC, which helps me to show customers graphs and illustrations in their home rather than printed documents. I really enjoy that, and it helps bring the presentation to life.
What do you enjoy most in life?
I thank God everyday for my family. I love spending time just watching my boys grow and flourish. I want to make sure that they understand how beautiful this world can be, and how they can make it more so.