I was totally ignorant of the benefits of a Reverse Mortgage plan, until I took the time to corner the local CHIP rep.
Until that meeting, I was totally against the reverse mortgage in any way shape or form, because I thought they were designed to benefit CHIP more than the home owner.
I was WRONG! There are definitely times when a CHIP mortgage plan makes sense. I was even hurting myself as a well rounded mortgage broker. My local broker rep is Terry and he was totally aware of the criticisms and negativity associated with the plan. It will not work for everyone and sometimes even CHIP can't help, but for those folks who i can help, this plan is a beaut (That was my best Don Cherry impression). Poor Terry, I absolutely hammered him with questions that I had prepared before my inquisition. He was very composed and resolved in the fact that in CHIP's 26 year history they have helped thousands of Canadians live in their homes until they were ready to move...not because they were forced out with high bill payments.
I called my friend in the financial planning industry to ask him his opinion of the CHIP reverse mortgage plan. He was opposed to it, but it was more or less along the same reasoning that I had...negative press. When I started pointing out real life scenarios that made sense, his negative push-back because less and less. While he was not yet 100% on-side he did promise to educate himself in the product and report back to me when he was done.
What I learned was... that by keeping an open mind and listening to the benefits of a tried and true plan I could better serve the needs of my customers (who need to be 60 years of age or older for this product).
