From his favorite book and his most memorable moment to his optimism about the future of the HECM, we get the personal and professional facts from John Mitchell, founder of Reverse Mortgage USA, in our monthly edition of The Hot Seat.
Ten years from now our country will see that re-electing Obama was a devastating mistake.
My favorite vacation was taking the beautiful and sensuous Gingette to Lake Como in Italy, and staying for a month in a house on the lake, close to George Clooney’s house.
If I were a professional athlete I would be a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys.
My most embarrassing moment was when I lay on the railroad tracks as a kid to teach my parents a lesson.
My favorite movie is a movie about heaven and hell, What Dreams May Come.
Every morning I make a conscious decision to be happy that day. As Abe Lincoln said, people are as happy as they make up their mind to be.
When I was a kid I could make other kids laugh.
I’ll never forget the day I got my CPA certificate.
I’ve never undervalued the importance of ongoing confidence, but always disdained arrogance.
I always try to think differently. I rebel against the status quo and “normal.”
The best lesson I’ve ever learned was: “What you envision in detail on a daily basis is what will show up in your life.” So envision what you want in detail every day!
The most memorable moment in my life was when I got married for the first time at 59 to
the most wonderful, amazing, “ideally suited to me” girl in the world, Gingette.
My favorite book is Think and Grow Rich.
The biggest challenge in the reverse mortgage industry is properly marketing the product. Until that changes, the industry is stuck at 2.5 percent penetration.
The future of reverse mortgages is off-the-charts good. Connect the dots: People are ill-prepared for retirement and their houses are their biggest (and usually only) asset.
The greatest setback for our industry is the lack of ongoing, direct
education for members of Congress about the benefits of
our product.
Ten years from now the reverse mortgage industry will have quadrupled the 2.5 percent penetration it has today.
The most fascinating thing about the reverse mortgage industry is how, in a 20-minute conversation, you can get a stranger to trust you and how you can change that person’s life in just 45 days.
I entered this industry because I have the ability to make the complex simple. The industry suited my core talent.
Before I entered the reverse mortgage industry I was a serial entrepreneur since the age of 29.
In shaping appropriate regulation of the reverse mortgage industry, government officials need to understand that reverse mortgages save Medicaid dollars. We’re part of the solution, not part of the problem.
The ideal characteristic of leaders in the industry is common sense. We’re a government-insured program controlled by the members of Congress. So let’s go directly to Congress and show our benefit.
The most important thing seniors should understand about reverse mortgages is that it was created by the lobbying efforts of AARP and is a government-insured program. Think what you want about the government or AARP, but they aren’t creating scams or “bad” programs!
