Loan officers who want a lasting career should expand their focus to include homeowners 55 and older, who control trillions in housing wealth and make up the largest share of buyers and sellers today. This focus allows LOs to be true homeownership advisors, guiding clients from their first purchase through every stage of life, including when they become Active Adults.
Here’s what the data shows:
There are 70 million homeowners age 55+ in the U.S.1
They control more than $14 trillion in home equity.2
Yet last year, 65 million of them sat on the sidelines of the housing market.3
Why? Affordability, debt-to-income hurdles, fear of draining retirement assets.
For many of these families, a reverse mortgage, especially reverse for purchase, is the right tool at the right time.
The Market Reality
The 2025 NAR Generational Trends Report found that 42% of recent buyers were Baby Boomers, with top reasons including retirement, downsizing, and moving closer to family. At the same time, Boomers represent 53% of sellers, often freeing up inventory when they right-size.
The Urban Institute stresses that for seniors, home equity is often the largest share of net worth (47% overall; nearly 60% for Black and Hispanic households). Yet fewer than half of 65–74-year-olds even have a retirement account.
And when seniors don’t have access to that equity, it’s not just a missed housing transaction, it becomes a financial burden. AARP data shows Medicaid already covers over 2 million older adults’ long-term care needs at an annual cost north of $80 billion. Compounding the impact, today there are 40 million family caregivers, providing unpaid care valued at an estimated $600 billion.4
So the opportunity is clear: housing wealth can bridge the gap between financial strain and security.
Shifting the Narrative
I recently sat down with Jesse Allen, President Reverse Mortgage Financing at Rate, who calls this “active adult lending.” His point: reverse isn’t just a refinance product for cash-strapped seniors. It’s a strategy to help clients right-size to manage cash-flow, move closer to grandkids, or age safely in a home that fits their next chapter.
During our podcast, Jesse described a $50 million producer who was skeptical at first. “I’m not here to pitch you a product,” Jesse said, “but let me show you how reverse purchase works.” He shared a simple scenario:
A homeowner sells their current property.
They want to buy a $700,000 home near family.
Instead of draining their retirement assets or failing DTI at today’s rates, they put ~60% down.
With a reverse for purchase, they make no monthly P&I payment for life (still responsible for taxes and insurance and must live in the home as their primary).
The lightbulb went off. That same day, another producer walked up and said he had just referred a client in exactly that situation.
“This isn’t theory,” Jesse told me. “It’s live clients and families landlocked in homes that don’t fit their life anymore. Reverse creates optionality. And optionality creates business.”
Why Loan Officers Should Care
Think about it this way:
Demographics: By 2030, all Boomers will be 65+. That’s a client base you already know from prior transactions.
Financial Pressure: Many seniors will retire with little savings but significant housing wealth. Fewer than one in five can rely on retirement accounts as a major income source.
Referral Ripples: Jesse pointed out that serving this client segment often involves adult children, financial advisors, CPAs, and attorneys. The sphere of influence is much larger than a 28-year-old first-time buyer.
And the reality is, if you don’t bring reverse options up, your clients will go elsewhere for answers.
Tactical Playbook for Loan Officers
Here’s how you show up for this segment:
1. Database Segmentation
Pull every past client over 55. Tag them “Active Adult.” Create education campaigns around aging in place, downsizing, and reverse purchase.
2. Scenario-Based Education
Use simple math examples like Jesse’s:“If you sold your $500k home and wanted to buy a $700k ranch near family, you could put down about $420k and have no monthly P&I payment for life.”
That one sentence moves the conversation forward.
3. Realtor Alignment
Realtors are desperate for inventory. Position reverse purchase as a way to unstick sellers who feel trapped. NAR’s data shows older buyers move the furthest distances (median 35 miles) and often into senior-related housing. That’s a double transaction opportunity.
4. Family Strategy Sessions
Offer to host “family meetings” when discussing reverse. Adult children and advisors often want to be involved. This builds trust across multiple generations and professional networks.
5. Community Seminars
Host events titled “Rightsizing & Retirement Housing Options.” Partner with elder law attorneys, financial planners, or senior move specialists. Record the session, chop it into 2-minute clips, and drip the content to your database.
6. Advisor Partnerships
Bring the Financial Planning Association’s research into conversations: coordinated use of home equity improves retirement sustainability. Advisors respect that data, and they need mortgage partners who can deliver.
7. Plain Language
Drop the jargon. Don’t lead with “HECM.” Lead with “housing wealth,” “no required P&I payments,” and “flexibility in retirement.” Keep it human.
8. Leverage Tech for Relevance
Tools like FinLocker can monitor property values, budgeting, and credit, even for older homeowners. Imagine being alerted when a 62-year-old past client’s equity hits a new
milestone. That’s your cue to reach out with education.
The Bigger Picture
Fixing the HECM (FHA’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage) program is a policy-level conversation, but the Urban Institute is clear: it’s a lifeline for seniors who otherwise can’t maintain their standard of living. Meanwhile, Medicaid already shoulders tens of billions annually in older adult care. Reverse products give families another path before Medicaid is the only option left.
And as Jesse reminded me:“The product doesn’t sell itself. It requires education, empathy, and trust. But when you help someone unlock housing wealth to live safer, closer to family, or with more dignity, you’ve made a real impact.”
The Reality
Competition is tight. Rates are volatile. Purchase volume is limited.
The willing learner loan officer, open to reverse, open to new strategies, will win more relationships, free up more inventory, and serve more families.
What’s stopping you from starting the conversation?
Sources:
1Derived by Jesse Allen based on data contained in various reports on homeownership rates and Projected Population by Age Group and Sex for the United States, Main Series: 2022-2100. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division November 2023
262 and over is ~14T. adding those 55<62 is “more than” https://www.nrmlaonline.org/about/press-releases/senior-home-equity-stands-at-13-91t
3Total HO 55+ less 4.8 transactions… https://www.nahb.org/-/media/NAHB/news-and-economics/docs/housing-economics/sales/nationwide-sales-and-inventory.pdf?rev=2a0e5741e9ea48c1b6e91a9b03677a5c&hash=D0A99213F8688CE67BB701E648D05ED8
4Susan C. Reinhard, Selena Caldera, Ari Houser, and Rita B. Choula, Valuing the Invaluable 2023 Update: Strengthening Supports for Family Caregivers (Washington, D.C: AARP, March 8, 2023