Video: PBS looks at Reverse Mortgages

Interesting take on Reverse Mortgages, Medical Expenses are eating away at savings of seniors throughout the country.

Written by charles dennis on February 1st, 2008 with no comments.
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Check the fine print when getting a reverse mortgage

Check the fine print when getting a reverse mortgage,

About a third of the people Buz Zeman counsels about reverse mortgages decide they’re the best deal they’ve ever seen. Another third think they’re the worst.

The rest tend to think a reverse mortgage might be a good option, but only after they’ve used up other resources, he said.

“It’s a very individual decision,” said Zeman, director of Housing Options Provided for the Elderly, one of four agencies in the St. Louis area that the Department of Housing and Urban Development lists as qualified to provide counseling for those considering a reverse mortgage.

Zeman says counseling is key because the mortgages can be complicated and, in some cases, costly. Unfortunately, a dearth of qualified counselors has prompted some lenders to refer clients to counselors accessible only by phone or online.

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Check the fine print when getting a reverse mortgage

Full post here Reverse Mortgage Loan Blog

Written by News & Feeds on February 1st, 2008 with no comments.
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203b Loan Limits Remain Largely Unchanged

203b Loan Limits Remain Largely Unchanged,

At the start of each year, HUD/FHA does a comprehensive update to the single-family mortgage limits that set the maximum amounts that can be loaned under the HECM reverse mortgage program. In 2007, 203b limits were,for the most part, left unchanged and this is again the case for 2008. Only 151 of 326 limits throughout the country were changed in 2008. The vast majority of 203b limits currently in effect date from 2006, as the following table shows:

According to the recently released HUD Mortgagee Letter 2008-02, the explanation for not changing 203b limits is as follows:

The National Housing Act provides that the mortgage limit for any given area shall be set at 95% of the median house price in that area, as determined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, except that the FHA mortgage limit in any given area cannot exceed 87% of the Freddie Mac loan limit, nor be lower than 48% of the Freddie Mac loan limit for a residence of applicable size. As a result of Freddie Mac’s announcement that there is no change in their mortgage limits, FHA’s floor and ceiling loan limits will remain unchanged.

The bottomline for potential reverse mortgage borrowers is that, for now, many will continue to be limited in the amount of cash they can access via a HECM reverse mortgage. There is a push in Congress to set a higher national loan limit, but it is unclear when this might become a reality.

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Full post here Reverse Mortgage Information

Written by News & Feeds on February 1st, 2008 with no comments.
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