Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, a large mortgage lender and a top 10 lender in the reverse mortgage industry, will aim to expand its focus on its reverse mortgage arm in 2025 owing to the efforts of David Lazowski, the company’s new president of national recruiting and growth.
Emboldened by its efforts in the purchase mortgage arena and hoping to replicate it with its use of the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for Purchase (H4P) program, Fairway is seeking to “expand its reverse mortgage channel through aggressive recruiting, strategic partnerships, and […] integration of its forward and reverse businesses,” the company said in an announcement.
Lazowski will collaborate with Fairway’s reverse mortgage leaders including VP of reverse mortgage recruiting Tim Harder and president of reverse mortgage lending Dan Ventura to accomplish these goals, the company said.
“Our forward mortgage success provides an incredible foundation to expand our reverse mortgage business, especially HECM for Purchase,” said Lazowski in a statement. “By recruiting top talent and building meaningful partnerships, we can create seamless connections between forward and reverse channels, empowering both our loan officers and clients.”
This initiative will include new educational efforts and materials aimed at ideal H4P referral partners including real estate agents, homebuilders and financial advisors, the company said. H4P remains a severely underutilized variation of the HECM loan, and the team said it wants to highlight that attribute “and equip loan officers with tools to self-source business effectively and optimize those lead channels,” the company said.
Ventura added that a current lack of awareness can translate into a market opportunity, so long as the company can adequately educate originators while “simplifying messaging,” he said.
Harder said that the company’s recruitment goals will be bolstered by monthly confidential virtual meetings with outside originators who may be seeking to “elevate their reverse business,” he said.
The first such virtual event will take place on Jan. 30, and interested parties can register online.
