Bend, Oregon has so much to offer in ways of site seeing, golfing, fishing, skiing and many other activities, that it would be a shame to be cash poor and real estate rich. If you own a home in the Central Oregon area and are 62 years or older, you should consider a reverse mortgage. It will change your life for the better.

When you use a reverse mortgage to access your home’s equity, you are able to free up some of the locked up equity in your home. Whether you have a mortgage or not, you could qualify to increase your monthly income.

With a reverse mortgage, you get to keep the title to your home, just like any other mortgage. The difference though, is you don’t have to make payments on the loan until you no longer live there as your primary residence. See Reverse Mortgages, How They Work for more information on why a bank would loan you money and not care about getting repaid right away.

There are really only two ways to access your home’s equity. One is to sell your home, the other is you get a loan. If selling and all the stress of moving is not in your agenda, you are going to want to refinance (or finance) your home. If you don’t want to make monthly payments, a reverse mortgage is your only option.

Are you looking for a way to enhance your retirement? You might consider a Reverse Mortgage in Bend, Oregon as a way to change your life for the better. See more articles and reverse mortgage information, so you can see all what could be.

Let’s take a look at what you are required to do so you can keep your home and not break the rules. Most importantly, you are still required to pay your taxes and your homeowner’s insurance. Few people choose the tax reserve account, but even if you did, this money is set aside for a specific number of years and when it runs out, you will be required to pay your taxes and insurance on your own.

One of the advantages to living in Oregon is you have the option of deferring your property taxes. If you are considering a reverse mortgage, and you want to defer your taxes, make sure you do the loan first. If you don’t, you will have to re-apply for the deferral. Deferring your property taxes will possibly free up some very important cash, but don’t forget they are just deferred, not waived. They will have to be paid at some point, like upon a transfer of title or if you get a new loan.

Secondly, if you have any other items that are required to be paid like fire, flood, earthquake or hurricane insurance, you will need to keep paying these items as well. A reverse mortgage does not exclude you from these responsibilities. You also will need to maintain any of the association dues or condo fees or whatever version of homeowners association cost you may have. These are not removed when you get a reverse mortgage, and you will need to pay these when they are due.

If you take away the largest monthly expense most of us have, that being the mortgage payment, you will have more money available to spend on the other expenses or emergencies life throws at you. If you don’t have a mortgage and you do a reverse mortgage, you will see an increase in income or reserves that will cover some other monthly necessities. In either case, it will effectively be an increase in monthly income, since the expenses have been removed.

The last item that is your responsibility is to live in the home as your primary residence for at least six months of every year. You can be gone for up to a year, but the preceding six months and the six months following the one year away, you will need to be living in your home. This does not mean you can’t go somewhere for a week here and there. If the home is truly your primary residence, there will never be a problem.

What does it all mean to you? The reverse mortgage is a great way to decrease your expenses while possibly increasing your income. But you will still need to pay all the other bills associated with the property. If you do this, you will have a place to live for the rest of the time you are capable of living there.

Want more reverse mortgage information? You can get all the information you need on several HUD reverse mortgage programs in addition to answers for the questions you didn’t know you had. There is also a free reverse mortgage calculator.

Over the past several months, the fees on a reverse mortgage have been steadily decreasing. So if you were shopping and unhappy with how much it was going to cost, it is time to take another look. The new program called the HECM Saver has now all but eliminated the fees. Let’s compare the fees from what they were to what they can be now.

Mortgage insurance – Mortgage insurance is mandatory on all FHA loans, and this includes reverse mortgages. The two versions of mortgage insurance are monthly and upfront. In this article we will deal with the latter. Traditionally, the upfront MI is 2% of the appraised value of the home, so if your home was worth $400,000, it would cost you $8,000. With the new program you save this fee, because it is waived.

Origination – For simplicity, we will say the maximum fee is $6,000 for origination on a reverse mortgage. It is actually calculated with a formula, but this amount applies to homes worth $400,000 or more. Since the lenders pay us to do loans on their behalf, we waive this charge and save you the money.

Service Charges – The lenders have traditionally charged a service fee for doing a reverse mortgage. This is because the lender doesn’t collect any monthly payments; it allowed them cash flow to pay for customer support and sending statements and the like. This service fee was set aside in an account, and the monthly charge was deducted from it. This service set aside was roughly $4,000 – $5,000, depending on your age. Well, many of the new reverse mortgage programs do not require any service set aside any more.

Prior to the current loan programs and changes in the industry, you may have found yourself paying upwards of $20,000 for a reverse mortgage. But now, most or all of the fees are gone or waived, so you have access to this money. I think the name HECM Saver is a good fit because it does save you quite a bit of money compared to the old program, making a reverse mortgage a very affordable loan.

See if the HECM Saver is the correct option for you. Whileyou could save money, will you get the correct benefit, or is there a better reverse mortgage loan available?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

1. Lump Sum – You have the option of taking all the funds available to you at one time. You can use the money for anything you want, but the most common use is paying off the existing mortgage (if you have one) on your home.

2. Monthly Annuity – Not a true annuity, but a monthly amount of money that is guaranteed to continue as long as you or your spouse lives in the home. Wouldn’t retirement be more comfortable if you had a little more money each month? There is also a tenure option that gives you a larger payment for a specified period of time. More common though, is the lifetime payment.

3. Credit Line – If you don’t need the money today, and you want to have a reserve account for emergency, this is probably the option for you. There is no interest being accumulated unless you use the money. It will only be charged if you actually borrow it.

4. A Combination of the Above – You can customize your loan to combine any of the above options. If you need a small lump sum, a monthly boost to your income, and you want the rest to be in a line of credit, mixing and matching is the way to go. Additionally you can alter your plan anytime you want to get more monthly or get an additional lump sum for a small fee.

If you choose anything other than a lump sum, know that you will have to take the adjustable rate mortgage (ARM). There is only one option if you choose the fixed rate. It is a lump sum. You will have to draw it all when your loan closes.

Prior to committing to any reverse mortgage programs, make sure you have all the facts. Visit our website for more reverse mortgage information. There is also a free reverse mortgage calculator to see how much money is available to you.