Tapping into equity,
Risky reverse mortgages become viable option as baby boomers seek ways to weather housing slump, surging costs
A house increasingly is more than a roof over the head for aging Sonoma County residents - it is a tool for financing retirement.
A growing number of retirees are tapping equity in their homes by taking out reverse mortgages. These loans, created solely for homeowners 62 or older, never have to be repaid as long as the borrower lives in their home.
Most use reverse mortgages to pay off their existing loans, wiping out their monthly mortgage payment. Others use them to draw a steady stream of cash out of their homes every month, supplementing other sources of income.
“It’s become more of a mainstream financial tool. Reverse mortgages are becoming a household word,” said Bronwyn Belling, who manages an education project on reverse mortgages for AARP.
But these mortgages are not for everyone. They are far more costly than home equity loans. There also could be benefits to selling and moving to a less expensive home.
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Tapping into equity
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Written by News & Feeds on May 14th, 2008 with no comments.
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Mortgage loan officer makes life-saving call,
It’s a good thing mortgage loan officers are so persistent.
The first time Matt Pitters — who works for Melville-based World Alliance Financial Corp. — called Flora Bartley of Temple, Texas, last month, she hung up on him. He allowed that this isn’t an unusual response to telephone sales calls, but said protocol required that he give it another try — just to make sure the hang-up was intentional.
The second time he called, Pitters said, “She was kind of mumbly and hard to understand, but she did say, ‘Help me,’ and that’s not normal.”
Keeping the potential reverse-mortgage borrower on the line, Pitters called local emergency responders and gave them Bartley’s address.
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Mortgage loan officer makes life-saving call
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Written by News & Feeds on May 14th, 2008 with no comments.
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Use reverse mortgages for clean power [Opinion],
My parents built one of the first solar-paneled homes in New Bedford. They got three decades of free heat from the system, and when it broke down they invested in a modern photovoltaic system.
I live in the Bay Area and have seen first-hand the excellent work Van Jones has been doing around clean energy. He is a major force in the Apollo Alliance as well as the new group Green For All.
Another person who could be a major player in clean technology could be Congressman Barney Frank as chair of the Financial Services Committee. He could develop a financing tool for investing in clean energy. I personally believe that a reverse mortgage could serve as a model for solar investment (see cleanenergyrm.org).
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Use reverse mortgages for clean power [Opinion]
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Written by News & Feeds on May 14th, 2008 with no comments.
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