Should I use a reverse mortgage broker or go straight to a reverse mortgage lender?

Going to a national reverse mortgage lender — Liberty Reverse Mortgage, Finance of America, Mutual of Omaha, AAG — only gets you their product at their pricing. They have one menu and they're going to sell you off it. As a Washington reverse mortgage broker I shop your scenario across 30+ wholesale investors and pick the combination of rate, fees, and loan structure that actually fits your situation. The same borrower with the same home can see a $5,000-$15,000 difference in costs and tens of thousands of dollars in lifetime interest depending on which investor funds the loan. A broker also gives you something a national call center can't: a local advisor who understands Washington property values, knows the King and Pierce County appraisers, and is going to be reachable when you have a question two years from now. The HECM product itself is federally standardized, but the pricing absolutely is not.