Reverse Mortgage Information Center

Do you’ll need to finance a home improvement? Pay off a current home loan? Supplement your retirement earnings? Take care of healthcare expenses? If so, a reverse mortgage lender will do wonders for you. With a reverse home loan, you can turn the value of one’s home into cash without having having to repay your loan each month.

When Is It Repaid? A reverse home loan is really a loan taken out against your house. The greatest thing about it’s that you don’t have to spend it back for as long as you reside there. Reverse mortgage lenders only collect repayment whenever you

- die – sell your home – or move to another house and live there permanently

What Kinds Are Obtainable? There are 3 fundamental types of reverse mortgages, and they’re classified according to who the reverse home loan lender is.

1. Single-purpose reverse home loan This really is offered by non-profit organizations, state governments, and local agencies.

2. Federally-insured reverse mortgage This really is also know as HECM, or House Equity Conversion Home loan. It is backed through the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD.

3. Proprietary reverse home loan The reverse mortgage lender of this type of mortgage is really a private organization.

Are There Other Differences Between Types? The three kinds of reverse mortgages also differ in other aspects, particularly in their terms and manner of use.

1. Single-purpose reverse home loan This has very low costs, and you can only qualify for one if you’ve a low to moderate earnings. There are two drawbacks to this kind of reverse home loan. Very first, it is not obtainable everywhere. Second, it can only be used for the purpose specified by the government or through the reverse home loan lender. Such a purpose might range from paying for house repairs to paying off property taxes.

2. HECM and proprietary reverse mortgage These tend to be costlier than the other two home loans. Actually, the up-front charges could be extremely high. These two kinds of reverse mortgage, nevertheless, aren’t without having their benefits. For one, many reverse mortgage creditors provide them. For another, HECM and proprietary reverse mortgage creditors do not ask for proof of earnings or a bill of good health. Finally, these two mortgages may be utilized for any purpose.

How much Can You Borrow? In single-purpose reverse home loan, the amount is set according to just how much you need.

In a proprietary reverse home loan or HECM, the reverse home loan creditors provide amounts depending upon a combination of factors, such as:

- the kind of reverse mortgage you choose – present interest rates – the appraised value of one’s house – your address – your age

Reverse mortgage lenders put a higher premium on age. As a rule of thumb, the older you are, the more valuable your house is. Secondly, the less mortgage you have left to spend, the much more cash you are able to get.

If you are looking for more information on Reverse Mortgage Calculator, then I suggest you make your prior research so you will not end up being misinformed, or much worse, scammed. If you want to know more about Reverse Mortgages Pros and Cons, go here: Reverse Mortgages Pros and Cons

Reverse mortgages are available via lenders insured by the federal government and can be of great benefit to those who are eligible to apply. You will find three kinds of reverse mortgages currently obtainable within the United States, including Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM), Fannie Mae (FNMA) House Keeper and Financial Freedom Cash Accounts.

The basic premise of a reverse mortgage is that it allows homeowners more than the age of sixty-two to convert part from the equity in their homes into tax-free income without having to sell the house, give up the title towards the home, or take on a new month-to-month home loan payment. The reverse mortgage is titled as such because lenders pay the borrower fixed payments or a lump sum over time as opposed to a conventional home loan arrangement. Eligible property includes single-family dwellings, manufactured homes built after June 1976, condominiums and town houses.

The process for applying for a reverse home loan is more involved than with a conventional home loan. Aside from meeting the age and property type restrictions, applicants must discuss the loan with a counselor employed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development prior to signing. You will find five different types of payment methods for each United States government insured loan obtainable, allowing for flexibility to meet the needs of the applicants. These consist of monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual payments towards the borrower for a fixed number of periods or perhaps a lump sum that could be invested.

Repayment terms also vary through the interest rate, as with conventional mortgages. Those who choose variable rate mortgages will pay over one percent less since the danger assumed through the borrower for agreeing to month-to-month adjustable rate calculations can greatly increase their danger over the life of the home loan. The total of the home loan is due when the house is no longer occupied by the borrower and can be paid by the borrower or by his or her heirs within the event of death.

While many consider borrowing to be a poor idea later in existence, reverse mortgages merely permit seniors to enjoy the equity they have already established without carrying the danger of having to meet monthly payments while on a reduced or fixed income. This can substantially increase the quality of existence for numerous older Americans and allow them to appreciate the fruits of their life long labor.

If you are looking for more information on Reverse Mortgage Calculator, then I suggest you make your prior research so you will not end up being misinformed, or much worse, scammed. If you want to know more about Reverse Mortgage Rates, go here: Reverse Mortgage Rates

Are you looking for a reverse mortgage in Grants Pass, Oregon? Why would someone want to retire to Southern Oregon? This question has so many answers that I hardly know where to begin. I guess we can just start listing the reasons and let them fall where they may.

Grants Pass, Oregon was named one of the top 5 places to retire by Time Magazine. With beautiful mountains and two rivers, an active retiree can find many things to do. There is boating, snow skiing, or just taking a scenic drive.

If you are up for a drive, the Pacific Ocean is only about an hour and a half away. If you are a little less adventurous, the extra monthly income from your reverse mortgage can go towards shopping our many local shops. You might even be able to visit the grandkids a little more often.

You can now buy a home with a reverse mortgage in Grants Pass, the market has taken a bit of a hit and there are deals to be made. You can get a great deal on a home and put down as little as 25%, depending on your age. The great news is, that once you buy the home, you will never have a house payment again. Use our FREE reverse mortgage calculator to see what you qualify for.

A reverse mortgage will allow you to live a more fulfilling retirement by freeing up some cash that is locked up in the equity of your home. You will be guaranteed a home for the rest of your life, without payments, as long as you live there as your primary residence. So if you are 62 or older, and you own a home, you owe it to yourself to see what your eligibility is.

Want to get more information on reverse mortgages and how they work? Follow any of the links in this article and you will get a great education, helping you make an informed decision. You can contact me directly at (541) 471-1900. Remember to ask for David.

What if you want to do a loan on your home, but you know the home needs repairs to qualify?

Fixing the deficiencies on your property is normally required on traditional loans. Reverse mortgages are unique in the way they allow you to do the loan first and then use that money for the repairs. So you can cash in some equity on your home to do the repairs.

Let’s look at some very common scenarios: 1. You have a deck that has had indoor outdoor carpet on it (you know, the green carpet that looks like grass), and the boards under it have dry rot. 2. Or maybe the southern exposed side of the home has very little, if any paint on it. 3. Sometimes, a tub or toilet area has a squishy floor indicating dry rot.

The required repairs for these problems can be completed after the loan is closed. In fact, any repairs that do not involve safety or health concerns can be done after you loan closes. Your property not having adequate water is an example of a repair that can’t wait, but roofing and dry rot repairs are common and should not be a problem.

How does the lender handle these repairs to make sure they get done? I am glad you asked. You will have to get a contractor’s bid for the repairs and then add 50% to that bid. The extra 50% is to cover any miscalculations to make sure that there is enough money to cover the costs and that you don’t run short. That amount of money is held in escrow, commonly called an “escrow hold back”. Once the repairs are completed, the lender will pay the contractor and refund the remaining money to you.

What if you want to do the repairs yourself? You can. You will still need to have the contractor bids though, and the escrow hold back is still required. The lender is looking for a professional estimate of what the repairs will cost.

Let’s summarize what you just learned: The proceeds of your loan can be used to do the repairs, making a reverse mortgage a unique loan. The escrow holdback will be required even if you choose to do the repairs yourself.

One of the first steps in knowing what you can do, is knowing how much you qualify for. Use our free reverse mortgage calculator to quickly estimate how much money is available to you. There is also plenty of reverse mortgage information that is helpful in becoming, educated before you make your decision.

There are three factors that determine how much money you get when doing a reverse mortgage. In this article, we will address those.

1. Your age. You have to be at least 62 years old when qualifying for a reverse mortgage, but will being older be a benefit on how much equity you can use? If interest rates and property values remain stable, you will benefit, but I don’t think it makes sense to wait. Small increases in interest rates will have a negative impact, larger than the benefit of being a few years older.

I want to talk about the exception to what I just said. The exception: If you are 62 or older and your spouse isn’t, should you wait until they are? The answer is most definitely, “it depends”. If you are in a hardship, or times are tough enough where you feel you could lose the home, it probably makes sense to do it now. Also, if the younger spouse has plans to sell upon the passing of the older spouse, it may make sense. The concern is that if you are not on the loan and your spouse passes away, you will be required to pay off the reverse mortgage or refinance it or sell. This can obviously be bad for you. Remember this: Don’t remove a person from title to get more money. Unless you are avoiding a hardship, it just doesn’t make sense.

2. The interest rates. Interest rates are at an all time low. Fixed rates are in the low 5’s. An interest rate hike of a percent or more could mean thousands of dollars less that you receive. Do you want to gamble with what the rates will be in 3 or 4 years?

3. How much is your home worth? Since the loan amount is based on the value of your home, you may be better off using today’s value, rather than hoping the value will increase enough to matter over the next several years. Trying to guess what your home will be worth in three years is pretty hard to do. Several clients waited a couple years to do a loan, only to be in today’s market with lesser values than they could have ever imagined. With those kind of decreases, you may have trouble getting qualified at all.

If it works, why would you wait? What are you hoping for? If the numbers work today, just do it. Use a reverse mortgage to enhance your retirement today, with real numbers that you can use, based on today’s interest rates and values. If you would like to see what you qualify for, try our FREE reverse mortgage calculator.

How much a reverse mortgage costs is one of the top arguments against doing one. Often, I hear: “they are too expensive”. My reply would be: “compared to what”?

Let’s look at what some alternatives are: You could move, but what would be the cost of moving? While you probably could get a quote for moving your household, what price can you put on the emotional cost? When you have lived on your home for several years, if not decades, you have everything where you want it. You know where it is and the memories run deeply. So is it worth moving, and turning your entire life upside down? If you do move, there are more things to consider.

Do you want to have a rental? If you move out of your home, are you going to rent it out? If so, there will be a time investment to manage the property. You will probably have repairs that need to be done and the hassle of screening tenants and hoping to get a good one.

You might be saying that you would sell your home and renting it out doesn’t make sense. If you actually looked up what it costs to move, the next step will be a little easier. You just take the cost of moving, and then add the real estate commissions to that. Real estate sales commissions run 5%-6% of the sales price, and you will probably pay some or all of the closing costs for the buyer. Just to be clear, there are times when selling is the best option for all parties. I am just pointing out that there are expenses in doing so.

So what are the fees associated with a reverse mortgage? Depending on your loan officer, the cost of a reverse mortgage is somewhere between 2% and 5% of the appraised value. You can see that it is actually cheaper to do a reverse mortgage than it is to sell. It is easier than moving, and you get a place to live for the rest of your life. To top it all off, the fees have been drastically reduced, and the interest rates are at an all time low.

Of Course, there are always exceptions. If you are moving in a few years, it likely won’t make sense to do a reverse mortgage. I am not speaking of thinking someday you may move. I am talking about you having a plan to move in three years to a warmer, dryer city and knowing you are going to do it. In other words, have a definite plan.

Looking for more information on reverse mortgages? Getting educated on the reverse mortgage programs available may go a long way towards helping you make your decision. If you would like You can see what you qualify for using our FREE reverse mortgage calculator.

Is there any truth to the argument that the bank owns your home if you do a reverse mortgage?

The fact is, there is virtually nothing different about a reverse mortgage than any other mortgage when it comes to ownership. The bank uses your home for collateral the same way for either style loan. You still own the home, and you have all the rights associated with it. You can sell or refinance, without penalty, at any time you choose. If you desire to sell your home, the lender will need to be paid off, and any remaining equity is yours to spend how you wish.

Sometimes the confusion about who owns the home is because of a life estate. Investors will buy your home and let you live in it for the rest of your life rent free. They do this in hopes that when they have possession of the property, it can be developed profitably. This is not the same as a reverse mortgage, and these programs are not related.

Just to clarify another point before you have to ask, the State does not take your home either. As long as you maintain your property taxes, you will be in their good graces. By the way, if you live in Oregon, you can have your property taxes deferred. Don’t do it before you get your loan, or you will have to pay them off. But instead, do the reverse mortgage and after that is complete, you can defer your property taxes.

In summary, you own your home. There is never a time that a reverse mortgage requires you to give up the home. You have the right to sell your home, keep any remaining equity, and do with it as you please.

The same rule applies to your heirs upon your passing. They inherit the home along with the mortgage and existing equity. If they want to keep the home, they will be required to pay off the existing mortgage. If the decision is to sell the home, any remaining equity will be theirs.

Before you commit to any reverse mortgage programs, make sure you have all the facts. Visit our website for more reverse mortgage information. Use our reverse mortgage calculator to get an idea of how much money is available to you.

Redwood Financial Services wants to make sure you have all the facts, so you can make an informed and educated decision. The five most common questions are listed below so you can start understanding the reverse mortgage loan.

1. Can I do a reverse mortgage if I owe nothing on my home? This may sound obvious, but absolutely. This allows for more available cash to take care of any non mortgage obligations you may have.

In the event your home is not paid off, you still could qualify for a reverse mortgage. Your mortgage will have to be paid off first (with the reverse mortgage) then any remaining proceeds can be taken as a line of credit, monthly income, or a lump sum.

2. Can I do a reverse loan if I am behind on my taxes? This is a great reason to use a reverse mortgage. It will allow you to get caught up on any past due bills and get those creditors off your back. You could consider deferring your property taxes if you live in Oregon, after the loan closes.

3. Do I have to give up the title to my home? You will use your home as collateral for the new loan. You do not give up your home. You retain all the rights to refinance or sell, and the remaining equity is always yours or your heirs’.

4. Do reverse mortgages allow me to purchase a home? In January of 2009, there was a program introduced to allow a purchase of a home with a reverse mortgage.

5. What if I use up all my equity? When considering property appreciation and the low rates of a reverse mortgage, it takes quite a while to “use up” your equity. On an average it will take 20-30 years to go through it. In the event you actually use up all the equity in your home, you will never be forced to move. You’re protected with a place to live for the rest of your life.

Stop by our website if you would like to see more frequently asked questions and answers about reverse mortgages. You will find a large amount of educational information for free. Get informed before you make your decision.

1. You don’t get to write-off your mortgage interest:

a. Remember the 1099 form you get that shows how much interest you paid? You won’t be getting that after you complete a reverse mortgage. Since you have accrued interest and not paid interest, there is nothing to write off. Once you pay the interest, you will get the write off, but normally that occurs when the home is paid off.

b. Is the interest write off more important than not having house payments? Would you prefer to have the write off or no payments?

2. Accruing interest or your balance growing:

a. Interest accruing on your loan without making payments means the amount you owe on your loan will increase over the life of your loan. The interest that is charged monthly is added to your balance, making it get bigger each month.

b. No payments today in trade for a bigger payoff tomorrow. Most reverse mortgages are paid off when the borrower passes away, so they have permanently deferred the monthly payments.

3. Reverse mortgage fees are expensive:

a. Reverse mortgage fees are expensive when compared to a regular home loan. since there are no monthly payments on a reverse mortgage, but you do have payments on a normal loan, maybe “they” think there is some justification for higher fees.

b. New programs have recently been released that have cut the cost of a reverse mortgage in half from what they used to be. If you didn’t do a reverse mortgage before because of the cost, check again. You will be surprised on how much the fees have been reduced.

4.You leave less money to your kids:

a. It will reduce the amount you leave as an inheritance, if you spend your equity. This could be really important to those who want to leave a sum of money to their heirs, but there are alternatives to how you leave the “money”.

b. Are you really depriving anyone by spending your equity? If you have a mortgage, and you remove the monthly expense, this will leave you more cash to save or spend to maintain your independence. Your heirs may not have to chip in to help you survive. That alone saves them money and enhances their future retirement. If you have no mortgage, getting monthly income or a lump sum of money will help take care of your home and medical expenses.

You will see there are two sides to these so called “reverse mortgage disadvantages”. Just weigh the objection against the need to see if the loan makes sense to you.If you would like to bounce some ideas off of someone, email me or give me a call. You can get my contact information online at www.redwoodreversemortgage.com. You will also find a lot more information on reverse mortgages there.

Have you heard other reverse mortgage disadvantages? Follow the links if you are looking for more reverse mortgage information. You can get a free education with no obligation. You can even use our reverse mortgage calculator for free.

If you’re a Florida retiree and you’re having trouble making ends meet you may want to look into taking out a reverse mortgage. The equity that you have built up in your home over the years may be your answer to a more comfortable retirement. These flexible home equity loans allow you to choose how you want the funds distributed and don’t require repayment for as long as you continue to use your home as your primary residence. The advantages of these loans can make your retirement years much more enjoyable than you’ve ever imagined.

How Reverse Mortgages Work

The amount you can borrow with a reverse mortgage is based upon three factors: your age, current interest rates and the appraised value of your home. You can choose to receive your reverse mortgage funds in a lump sum, monthly payments or you can open a line of credit to draw upon at your choosing. When you apply for a reverse mortgage, your lender will take an appraisal of your home and the amount you can borrow will be determined based upon this valuation. There is very little out of pocket expenses with reverse mortgages as you can finance most of the closing costs into the loan. The loan will not come due and no repayment will be required as long as you continue to reside in the home as your primary residence.

Control Your Retirement Budget More Carefully

As a senior, you know that it can be difficult to create a steady budget during retirement. Using the built in home equity from the house that you already own can allow you to create a budget that provides you with the comfort that you need. Once you have taken out a reverse mortgage, you are not required to withdraw any of those funds at any specific time. You can choose to use the funds as a sort of savings account to use in emergencies, or you can choose to pull all of the money out at once and pay off outstanding debt. The money is yours to do with as you see fit.

Increase your Monthly Income

Many seniors enjoy the flexibility and convenience of receiving their loan funds in monthly installments. Reverse mortgages can supplement your retirement plans, pensions and social security payments. Your reverse mortgage broker can explain all of these options to you and show you which plan is best to meet your retirement needs. The extra income a reverse mortgage can provide can mean the difference between struggling financially and enjoying your retirement years in Florida.

Live out Your Years in Florida Comfortably

Reverse mortgages truly reward those who have been thrifty in their early years and paid down their mortgages. During your retirement years, your home can truly pay you back in every sense of the word. Since reverse mortgages do not require repayment as long as you continue to live in your home, they allow you to truly enjoy your home without worrying about your monthly mortgage payments . Your home equity pays for itself in many ways. So, to truly enjoy your retirement years, make sure you find out how much a reverse mortgage can benefit you.

If you’re thinking of financing your home with a reverse mortage, check out Reverse123’s site on Reverse Mortgage Information and Florida Reverse Mortgage Lender