Recently, Open Mortgage CEO Scott Gordon sat down with the Reverse Review’s Hot Seat and gave them the scoop on his favorite TV show and the future of the mortgage industry.
Ten years from now I’d like to be retired, skiing and traveling. But I’m afraid I’d be bored without a day job.
Something very few people know about me is that I was a band nerd in high school. I was in jazz band and pit orchestra, and was the drum major.
My favorite vacation was a drive around the entire coast of Iceland with a few days at the Ilulissat Icefjord in Greenland. They are both amazing countries.
My celebrity crush is Neil DeGrasse Tyson. I have heard him speak and he is brilliant.
If I were a professional athlete, I would be unemployed.
My most embarrassing moment was losing my life savings trading wheat futures. But I learned the importance of planning and saving, and now have zero debt and could retire.
The craziest thing I’ve ever done was either parachuting or paragliding. Both were really fun.
My favorite movie is The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension.
My favorite website is YouTube. You can learn anything there.
I never miss an episode of Blacklist.
When I was younger I wanted to be a physicist. I took the Drake physics scholarship test and was invited to apply to MIT. Invited, but no scholarship, so I didn’t go. I became a software engineer instead.
I can’t go without chocolate. Seriously.
I’ll never forget marrying my wife, Tana, on the Kona coast of the Big Island, at sunset. It was a lovely day.
My first job was scooping poop at my parents’ boarding and grooming kennel. I didn’t want to, but my parents made me, and it taught me the ability to make myself do things I need to get done.
My favorite time of the day is first thing in the morning. The air is fresh and the day is all possibilities.
I always avoid saying “always” and “never.”
The best lesson I’ve ever learned was to never stop learning. My dad was a dog groomer but earned a bachelor’s and master’s in software engineering. At 75 he earned his third degree, a master’s in pure math. Never stop learning!
The worst purchase I’ve ever made was wheat futures.
The best purchase I’ve ever made was my Tesla Model S.
My favorite book is Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein.
If I could trade places with someone for a day, I would choose our Maine Coon, Spike. He sleeps all day.
The greatest setback for our industry has been the repeated changes to our laws and guidelines. But those same painful changes have made the product better and should open the door to bigger adoption going forward. We are very excited about the future.
Ten years from now the reverse mortgage industry will be much bigger. Acceptance and understanding by Realtors and financial planners is going to change our industry.
People should seek a career in the reverse mortgage industry because it feels good to help others. But don’t enter this field if you can’t put the senior first in every decision.
I entered this industry because I thought it would be a good niche product to add to our lending capabilities. Boy, did I not realize how this niche product would change our lives at Open Mortgage!
The most important thing financial advisors can learn about reverse mortgages is all of the ways it can be an additional tool in their tool belt. It allows them to do a better job, and be a better, more capable planner. They are about to change our world.