Finance of America Reverse

Tiffany told us what we needed. Once we gave her the information, it was super quick. She gave us what the terms were going to be and sent us quotes. She told us the different products that were going to be offered. She also told us that if the interest rates changed, they would be sending a new proposal. The only problem we had was that we did a will and there were siblings on the will as a beneficiary on the deed. Tiffany didn't know about that in the beginning. So, that got a bit convoluted because the siblings all had to be involved. But once they figured everything out, it only took another week to resolve the issue. Tiffany's knowledge was so important to us. She was able to explain everything from soup to nuts. She was really on the ball and I enjoyed working with her. I would definitely refer someone to her again.

Also, the process took too long. He said that underwriting had it but I didn't know what was true or not. I was very frustrated because it was like it hadn't sunk in that I really do want this loan. But I was comfortable with the rep I worked with. After I got to read the documents, I was fine. What he was saying was actually true. But my loan officer could have been more on the ball. That's my most frustrating thing because I know what it takes to do these loans.

We did get the loan done, although things came up at the very end that should have been caught at the very beginning. We got our money and we were told that we had to take a certain amount of money out to get a better rate, which I kind of questioned if that was true. We were told that we had to take out over 50,000 even though I needed only 6,000 to start with. I'm overall happy with the process. I didn't like how much of the fees I had to pay, but the rules are the rules. I would recommend Finance of America to friends, but keep their eyes wide open. I didn't feel like I was deceived in any way but there could have been a better loan officer.

The person who ran that session was very good and realized that you had to ask one person one question, and then you had to ask the same question in a different way to a different person. The counseling sessions went well. They were an hour and a half, so they were long. But it all worked out. The process was very paper-intensive and trying to get my mom to sign 68,000 sheets of paper was a little cumbersome. We signed maybe 40 times at the closing. But other than that, it went well.

The finance took a little longer because the two lawyers disagreed on a couple of things and there was some discussion. The house was in a trust and that was the first time they had ever seen that. It was in my dad's will and it took a while to have the two lawyers dissect what they had to do. It was easier in the end once they got talking, but it took a while for the lawyer from Reverse to get back to our lawyer. It dragged on longer than it necessarily had to but they straightened it out. The issue is you could not talk to the operations people or the lawyer directly. I worked in banking and I understand that they didn't want the lawyers inundated with questions because they're paid to review documents. Overall, it worked out. But there could be some short-term improvements to make the process a little easier.

The rep was great. He got a little frustrated with the process too. But he returned calls on time, and was thorough and asked the right questions. He did a little blocking for us and we needed him to get involved. The appraisal was fair and that got done quickly. We got a commitment that the rate would stay no matter how long the process took. The rate was acceptable in today's market though I’d love to make it lower. The origination fee could come down a little bit but there's a reason why it was what it was and I couldn’t change that.

Adam had to work through that. Then there were a couple other glitches too that he had to work through, and they were very good about it. They consistently persevered and worked all through that and finally got it done. So, I was very pleased with the service I got. In fact, Adam would say, “Okay. I need some information.” I said, “Well, it's gonna take me a little while to get it.” He said, “That's fine.” He would call me about every week or 10 days. “Well, how are you coming?” He kept prodding me along to keep after the information that I needed to get to him. So, he was excellent.

Since working with Finance of America, I don't have to make those monthly mortgage payments anymore. All I need to do is keep up my insurance and my taxes. Then I got some cash upfront out of it, which I did need. So, it was a real benefit to me. Their communication was excellent and they kept me apprised of how it was going. I didn't have to chase after Adam. He communicated with me without being prompted to do so. He did it as a matter of course. So, the communication was good all the way through. It took over 10 months to get it done because of some problems, but he stuck with it and got it done.

Over a course of 18 months, we did approximately four appraisals, of which I paid for everything except for the two that were required. I will not totally that put on Finance of America though. They were being fairly slow in getting things completed, but we were also not available when necessary to be able to move things along quickly. However, in the last four months, I was pretty adamant about making sure that the process was thorough, completed and timely. I was very happy with the way everything went and the final closer.

I found the people were knowledgeable. The one I was working with wasn't always available, but he would respond if I texted. If I left voicemails, never, or if I try to call, I could never reach him. If he referred me to contact the office manager, the office manager went right back to voicemail. That was frustrating, but other than that, the experience overall completed. I got the first statement three days ago.

As far as the rates, I did get a good deal. I was happy with my home assessment and I was relatively happy with the rates. If a friend was to ask me, I would say to contact the gentleman I spoke with. I'm a senior and I would know that he was going to give my friend a clear explanation, follow-up, and still be a friendly agent.nWorking with the company has gotten rid of my mortgage payment, which was quite large. I'm on Social Security, and that freed up a little money for me to do a few things that I wanted to do and repairs. They were excellent.

Other than that, my rep was very personable. The only thing I'm upset about was when they talked about the interest rate that I would be paying on the money that I withdrew, they said that the balance that was untouched would always be a half a percent more than my interest rate. I was led to believe that would accrue interest and it does not. It accrues a bigger assessment or more money available on your assessment or the amount you can take, but it does not accrue interest. I asked that question numerous times and I was assured that it would always be half a percent more, but it's not like money in the bank. I was a little upset about that but it hasn't been a deal breaker. I'm satisfied with Finance of America Reverse overall.