With the opening of a new loan production office in Central Florida, The Federal Savings Bank plans to expand its product offerings, including reverse mortgages, throughout the state.
Last week, Chicago-based The Federal Savings Bank announced the opening of its newest loan production office (LPO) in Celebration, Fla., marking eight new LPOs for the federally chartered bank within the last two years.
From a strategic standpoint, the location of the new office in Celebration, which is situated about 20 miles from Orlando, offers The Federal Savings Bank the opportunity to further penetrate the senior population, said Steve Calk, chairman and chief executive officer of The Federal Savings Bank.
“We’re bullish on property values returning to Central and Southern Florida, and we want to make sure that we are part of that recovery,” Calk told RMD. “We can maximize our opportunity to serve what we think is an untapped market.”
Approximately 9.2% of Celebration’s population is comprised of adults age 65 or older, according to the most recent available data from the U.S. Census Bureau. In Osceola County, where Celebration is located, this demographic represents 12.7% of the population.
As The Federal Savings Bank looks to grow its presence in the Central Florida market, the top-25 reverse mortgage lender—according to recent industry data tracked by Reverse Market Insight (RMI)—aims to gain entry into the South Florida market, where it has “classically” done introductions to seniors telephonically, Calk said.
Year-to-date in 2015, The Federal Savings Bank ranks twenty-first, with a reverse mortgage volume of 266 loans through August—a 303% volume change compared to its production year-to-date in August last year at just 66 loans.
“We want to position ourselves to be able to continue offering what we see is an extremely important product that addresses an ever-growing problem of senior lifestyle and making sure seniors have the ability to tap into their greatest asset,” Calk said.
The new LPO currently has five employees, with plans to grow staff to 30-40 within the next few years, The Federal Savings Bank stated in a release. And this includes hiring reverse mortgage professionals at the new office.
“Ideally, we’d like to have as many HECM-qualified bankers as possible,” Calk said. “We believe that this particular [reverse mortgage] product in this particular segment of the borrower population is very specialized, and so we have a rigorous training and certification program within the bank for staff that want to offer that product to our clients.”
Along with reverse mortgages, all of The Federal Savings Bank’s mortgage services and programs are offered at the new loan production office, including FHA, VA, USDA, Jumbo, Super Jumbo, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Construction Lending, Asset-Based Lending and Portfolio Lending products.
Deana La Rosa, a new senior vice president with The Federal Savings Bank, is managing the new office in Celebration.
Written by Jason Oliva
