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- Todd Walcott
- Senior Loan Officer, CRMP, CMPS
- NMLS 183784
- 760-808-4500
- Todd@ContempoLending.com
Todd Walcott, CRMP
Reverse Mortgage Specialist | 40+ Years in Mortgage Lending
Since 2018, my practice has focused on reverse mortgages — and I'm one of only 206 Certified Reverse
Mortgage Professionals (CRMP) in the country. But that specialty grew out of a much longer career.
I took my first job in the mortgage industry in 1985, as a summer temp. I never left. As I tell clients, I have no
other skills — this is simply the profession I enjoy. Over the years I've worked for mortgage brokers, national
banks, and national independent mortgage bankers, and I owned my own mortgage brokerage in Oregon for a
decade before relocating to Palm Springs. Brokering is where my passion has always been: brokers aren't limited to one bank's product shelf, and we act as fiduciaries for our clients — a standard big-box lenders aren't held to.
That fiduciary mindset is a big part of why I gravitated toward reverse mortgages. It's a product built on
education, not a sale, and few loan officers take the time to teach it properly.
Why the CRMP Designation Matters
CRMPs are required to meet minimum experience thresholds, pass a proctored exam, complete annual continuing
education, and pass a background check every three years — and we're held to a higher ethical standard than a standard loan officer. That depth of expertise is also why I teach continuing education classes on reverse
mortgages to CPAs, financial planners, and Realtors throughout California, something a general loan officer isn't
qualified to do.
My Approach
Reverse mortgages have a reputation problem, mostly built on outdated information. In reality, today's HECM
comes with fewer risks and more flexibility than most people assume. My job is to walk you through exactly how
it works, identify anything that could go wrong on day one, and build a contingency plan for it before you ever
sign anything. There shouldn't be any surprises in a mortgage.
I also don't look at a reverse mortgage in isolation — I look at how it fits your entire retirement picture. Owning
your home free and clear sounds solid, until a stock market downturn forces you to draw down retirement
accounts at the worst possible time, or you're relying solely on Social Security to get by. A reverse mortgage's
draw features or monthly tenure payments can directly offset that risk — what financial planners call managing
“sequence of withdrawal risk.”
Let's Talk
If you're 62 or older and want a straight answer on what a reverse mortgage could actually do for your retirement
— or you're a financial planner or advisor looking for a resource for your clients — give me a call. I'll tell you
what's really going on with your options, not just sell you a product.
Forward Mortgages, Too
Reverse mortgages are my focus, but I haven't stepped away from forward lending. I still handle traditional
purchase and refinance loans — including complex, often-declined-elsewhere scenarios like financing on BIA
(Bureau of Indian Affairs) leased tribal lands. If a loan is unusual enough that another lender walked away from
it, that's exactly the kind of problem I like to solve.