Graceful Finance’s Anna Frankowska pitches home reversions for seniors’ toolbox

Anna Frankowska, founder and CEO of Graceful Finance, is pitching home reversion products to U.S. seniors. Her company’s Lifestyle Agreement product aims to be an alternative to reverse mortgages and other home equity lending tools amid high interest rates and the lock-in effect. “There is no loan, so no interest builds up against the home,” Frankowska said in written comments given to HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily (RMD). “Pricing is driven mostly by the home’s value, how the housing market performs and life expectancy.” Under a home reversion structure, homeowners essentially sell a share of their future ownership rights in exchange for a lump sum payment, regular income or a combination of both. They retain the right to live in the home for life without mortgage or rent payments. The minimum age for the product is 75, higher than the 62-year minimum for Federal Housing Administration-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) and the typical 55-plus eligibility for many proprietary reverse mortgage products. Frankowska launched Graceful about four years ago with the goal of adapting a product more common in Europe to the U.S. market, starting in Florida. She added th...