The 2025 & 2024 Generational Trends Report from the National Association of Realtors has a surprising trend. Almost half of the buyers are over 60 and more than half of the sellers are age 62 and older. Yet most realtors are focused on the first-time home buyers and move up buyers or young families. Buyers over 60, half of them paid all cash and 50% have a mortgage. That sounds good, you know cash buyers are great clients. But something is just not right having someone approaching retirement age taking on a mortgage. Because roughly 45% of buyers 70 or older financed their home purchase and they’re amazing neighbors and community members, but something just isn’t right when a 70-year old is settling on a home below what they could buy or feeling they need to have a mortgage associated with it.

As an industry, I think we can do better, and I’ll show you how!

We’ve established we have a good market for seniors. We have to recognize that a cash buyer is limited to cash on hand. Typically selling the big family home and whatever they net, that’s their budget they will find a house within their budget. But buyers with a mortgage also limit their choices because they need to be careful with the mortgage amount. Did you know that you can purchase a home with a reverse mortgage? And this mortgage is a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for Purchase (H4P), it’s an FHA loan, and it’s designed to help seniors own a home.

And you want to know why it’s a big deal – let’s go!

Typically, a senior with a budget will buy a house with all cash and their motivation is no monthly mortgage payment, so they might settle for something they don’t love. By just layering in an H4P they could buy the same house AND put a bunch of money in savings/investments. And that makes their retirement better OR purchase the same house and layer in a H4P (no required payments) and get the house they really want; whether it’s the community they desire, size of the home, by family, whatever. Really cool to be a part of.

Even the most well-prepared homeowners 62 or over could improve their confidence in retirement by incorporating a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage, but particularly every client 62 or older buying their retirement home, should know how a HECM could improve their retirement outcome.

One good quick example here is Kathleen. She had the typical thing; family home is a two story, big yard and kind of inappropriate for what she was doing. Her monthly housing cost was about $4300 and she was pulling about $3,000 out of her savings every month to balance her budget! It was time for a new beginning. So, we helped her with a new home in a Brentwood retirement community reducing her housing cost from $4300 to $644 a month. At the same time, sale of her home, didn’t put all of it into the new home and was able to add almost $200,000 to investments and again she has no required monthly mortgage payments.

There are opportunities for your senior clients – more sales, happier clients, and empower your clients and let them know what’s possible. It’s an enhancement to your business tools.

Please schedule a 15-minute call and let’s have a conversation! It’s a minor investment to find out what is possible.

Clay Selland, CPA, CRMP

NMLS#183492