According to HousingWire, Adam Ennabe, president of Wholesale Reverse Mortgage under the Access Home Lending name, is charting a different course in the reverse mortgage space. Rather than competing for the small percentage of loan officers already comfortable with reverse mortgages, his company is targeting the vast majority of traditional mortgage professionals who have never originated one. Ennabe launched California-based Access Home Lending in 2024 with a partner and has recently shifted focus to the wholesale channel, where he sees tremendous opportunity.
The company's growth strategy centers on making reverse mortgages accessible to loan officers without requiring them to become reverse mortgage experts themselves. According to the HousingWire interview, Ennabe's wholesale platform allows traditional loan officers to originate the relationship while Access Home Lending handles the technical expertise and borrower management. This approach has opened doors to loan officers who previously saw reverse mortgages as too specialized or complicated to integrate into their practice.
Ennabe emphasizes that his firm operates with a startup mentality and hands-on approach. The leadership team stays directly involved in everything from warehouse banking relationships to client onboarding, which he says gives them better insight than larger competitors spread across hundreds of employees. This lean structure allows information to flow more efficiently throughout the organization.
When it comes to account executives, Access Home Lending operates quite differently from the industry norm. Rather than expecting team members to close dozens or hundreds of loans monthly, Ennabe targets between fifteen and twenty-five transactions per person. This allows account executives to work closely alongside loan officers and speak directly with borrowers throughout the process. The company also maintains a small retail division that serves as a training ground, moving experienced staff into wholesale only after they have closed multiple transactions.
Looking at expansion plans, Ennabe indicated that the company is in aggressive growth mode while maintaining its high-touch approach. The team is selective about taking on new accounts, preferring a training period of six months to a year before onboarding new partners. The company aims to operate in all fifty states by the middle of 2027, though it remains disciplined about its capacity constraints.
What I am seeing locally here in the Bay Area and across the East Bay is that the reverse mortgage market remains somewhat fragmented and underutilized. Ennabe's point about the disconnect between eligible borrowers and actual originations really resonates with me, because I encounter seniors regularly who could benefit from these products but have misconceptions about them. If Access Home Lending succeeds in its mission to make reverse mortgages less mysterious and more accessible through traditional loan officers, it could open doors for a significant portion of our older homeowner population in Fremont and surrounding communities who have substantial equity but limited cash flow.
