William “Bill” Binkey is passionate about his work. Still, one has to wonder what it is about arranging reverse mortgages for seniors that evokes such dedication.
“It has been the most emotionally rewarding work of my life,” he said. “You get to help do something that is often life-changing. Believe me. I have seen people carrying a heavy load that they really couldn’t handle. I see them six months later and they actually appear physically younger.”
Binkey has spent the past eight years helping people “age in place,” and enjoy their retirement years with reverse mortgages.
“The reverse mortgage is the most misunderstood program in home finance,” he said.
“It is an FHA-insured program that allows people to have a mortgage without having to make principal or interest payments as long as they live in the house,” Binkey said.
Yes, you say, but what about leaving something for the children?
Binkey says a reverse mortgage is a loan like any other loan. The heirs would pay off the loan to acquire the property.
“Often, the heirs don’t want the property. They have a home and family and a life of their own, but they have the option of getting a new loan to pay off the reverse mortgage, selling the house and what’s left is the inheritance,” he said.
Binkey’s family moved to Southern California from Kansas when he was 13. He says he remembers the fields of wheat, the tornados when he spent a lot of time in the storm shelter and the oppressive heat of the Midwest, all things he wanted to forget.
In Orange County, his stepfather was the postmaster of Westminster and his Mom worked for the city of Garden Grove.
In high school, Binkey was on the wrestling team.
“Wrestling is a character-building sport,” he said. “It provides a competitive level for everyone and you learn endurance.”
In 1965, he joined the Army Airborne Corps and was a paratrooper.
“The assignment to go to Vietnam never came my way and I had no objections,” he said with a chuckle.
When he was 25, a tragedy struck that would change his family forever. His stepfather was gunned down in the parking lot of the post office where he worked.
“I think a violent death in a family changes any family,” he said.
Content in Orange County for 25 years, there came a time when his wife, Sharon, wanted to retire.
“My wife and I came to San Francisco, but when her father, who traveled for business, told us about Prescott, we decided to check it out. The first time we came here, we thought, ‘This is it!’” he said.
Until the move to Arizona, Binkey had a long career in sales, which included selling cars, but there was a glitch. He didn’t want to continue working nights, weekends, holidays and set hours.
He realized his life was passing him by and he wanted to spend more time with his family.
“What if I don’t want to be here at 9 a.m.? What if I don’t want to stay until 5? I needed a pathway to manage my own time,” he said. “That was about 10 years ago. I gravitated to the reverse mortgage business.”
Those who know him and those with whom he has dealt in the past cannot say enough good things about him.
“Extremely knowledgeable. Always prepared. Very informative. Professional in every way,” said Don-Etta David, a former client. “I couldn’t have asked for a more positive experience knowing he was handling things so well. Absolutely great customer service.”
Another former client, Ellie Nordenberg, had this to say, “He is very thoughtful and very thorough in explaining things to us. He is one of those super people you don’t meet much anymore.”
Who inspires you?
“I think my mom. I always go back to my mother because she was very resilient in the face of pretty strong issues. She always got back up and never gave up.”
If you could have a conversation with anyone living today, who would it be and what would you talk about?
“I would be interested in talking to Bill Clinton because I think he is very intelligent and I would like to hear his off-the-record viewpoint.”
What advice would you give someone who is just getting into your business?
“My business is very time-consuming and requires an extraordinary amount of patience. It is not for anyone who does not have a secondary income stream because it takes a long time to get this type of business up and running.”
What is the best advice you have received?
“It probably came from my father when I was seven or eight on a farm’s tractor. I bothered him until he let me drive it and as it turns out it was not quite as easy as it looked. He said ‘Do you know what you just learned?’ I answered, ‘No.’ He said ‘you just learned there is no substitute for experience.’” Binkey says the advice never goes away.
How do you decompress?“I like to get out on the road. My wife and I have an older motor home we like to drive around.”
By Patty McCormac, QCBN
To learn more about a reverse mortgage, contact Binkey at Frontier Financial of Arizona at 928- 237-9599 or at or homeLOANaRANGER@aol.com.
Photo by Kay Lyons