Guardian First Funding Group recently announced that it added fifteen new originators to its Philadelphia branch and plans to have 90 employees at the location by the end of the year. According to the press release, the new hires were compromised of former forward loan officers, insurance brokers, financial planners, and others looking to get into the reverse mortgage business.
Developing new talent in the business is something everyone in the industry is struggling with but Guardian First has been successful. Guardian’s CEO, Jason Levy, said the company has had the most success training loan officers with no mortgage background. “The training is focused on needs based selling; making sure each senior loan specialist can evaluate the senior’s level of need and determine his or her eligibility,” said Levy.
“Once a senior loan specialist determines that the prospective senior borrower truly needs payment relief, a solution is presented. We focus on offering solutions, not
basic phone sales.”
The New York based company is licensed in 12 states and has been exclusively specializing in reverse mortgages since September 2007. The company has two branches, one in Manhattan with 70 people and its new Philadelphia office currently has 30 originators. According to data from RM Insight, Guardian First is the 14th largest reverse mortgage originator in the country.
