Jumbo Reverse Mortgage

A "jumbo" proprietary reverse mortgage product is called the Cash Account and available to benefit homeowners living in higher-priced homes valued above the FHA and Fannie Mae lending limits.

The Simply Zero Cash Account™ eliminates all up-front costs. With the Simply Zero Cash Account, borrowers are required to draw 100% of their maximum available benefit at loan closing, Both products provide homeowners age 62 and older with the ability to convert their home equity into cash without having to sell their home or assume monthly payments.

The interest rate is based on the 6 month LIBOR index + 5% margin. The lifetime interest rate cap is 6 points over the initial annual percentage rate. There is no equity or appreciation sharing and no maturity fee. There is no prepayment penalty and proceeds and advances are not taxable. The loan is non-recourse so you would never owe more than the value of the property at the time the loan becomes due.

Find out how a Jumbo Reverse Mortgage can benefit you by calling toll-free 1-888-973-8377.

Till next time, have a blessed day..

Reverse Mortgage Age Requirement

Q: I am not yet 62 so I am not eligible for a senior citizen reverse mortgage. Is there any alternative to help me with my money problems? My house is free and clear, worth approximately $365,000.

A: I am aware of no other mortgage program that eliminates monthly repayments to the lender. If you have adequate income, you might consider a home equity credit line, which costs nothing until you use it.

For example, suppose you need to pay off credit cards and put a new roof on your house. A home equity credit line would be ideal. Most lenders should easily approve a home equity credit line for 50 to 75 percent of your home's market value if you have decent income and credit. When you become 62 (or later) you could then obtain a reverse mortgage to pay off the home equity credit line and be free of monthly payments as long as you stay in your home.

Source: Bob Bruss

Life Settlement Key Benefits

Life Settlements have many benefits for the policy holder.

Some of the key initial benefits during the settlement process are:

- Free Policy Evaluation
- New Value to Old Policies
- No Physical Exams or Doctor Visits

RTG Consultants is also currently offering a free evaulation and life settlement appraisal. Click Here to access the Life Settlement Evaluation form.

Call toll free 1-888-973-8377 to speak with a Life Settlement Specialist.

Reverse Mortgage Planning

Found this interesting reverse mortgage situation in The Sacramento Bee. Just shows that exploring the reverse mortgage option could be a helpful choice for your financial planning needs.

Q: My husband and I are in our late 70s and need some advice. Our children were in dire need of financial assistance and unable to find employment. We borrowed $308,000 on an interest-only mortgage to help our kids. The payment was just $1,300 per month, but soon it will increase to about $2,000 per month.

Would it be possible to refinance the house again or should we just sell it? Our income is around $3,700 per month, and we are raising a granddaughter. However unwise it was to take the money out of our house and give it to our kids, we would do it again.

- Marjorie, Fair Oaks

A: You've put yourself in a real burden trying to help your adult children. While they might have had a hard time finding desirable employment, you may be at a stage of life where any employment is virtually impossible.

You should have looked into a reverse mortgage before you took out the interest-only loan. With a reverse mortgage, no payments would be due, and you would be guaranteed to live in your home the rest of your lives.

Unfortunately, you've taken out more money than would qualify under the federally insured reverse mortgage program, so you've eliminated that option (unless your children can now pay down some of your mortgage balance).

If you have enough equity in your home, you could sell your house and downsize to a more manageable mortgage program. If you do not have any equity left, I'm afraid you may be forced to sell and rent a much smaller place.

If you have reverse mortgage questions, please call 1-888-973-8377.

Till next time, have a blessed day..

Reverse Mortgage Appraiser

What is an Appraisal and how much does it cost?
A certified Appraiser will be used to determine the value of your home in order to calculate the amount you receive as a part of your reverse mortgage. Typically a certified home appraisal will cost from $350.00 to $450.00.

Call toll free at 1-888-973-8377 with any reverse mortgage questions or fill out our free online reverse mortgage analysis form.

Reverse Mortgages, a growing trend

Dear Savvy Senior: Can you tell me about reverse mortgages? My wife and I are looking for some different ways to help supplement our retirement and would like to learn more about how this works.

-- Home Owning Harvey

Dear Harvey: Over the years reverse mortgages have been considered loans of last resorts, only for financially desperate seniors.

But today, with soaring real-estate prices, a growing number of retirees are turning to their homes to help fund their retirement.

Here's what you should know:

Reverse mortgages

A reverse mortgage is a unique loan that lets older homeowners convert part of the equity in their home into cash that does not have to be paid back as long as they live there.

Here are some details on how they work:

Eligibility -- To be eligible you must be at least 62-years-old, own your home or have only a small mortgage balance remaining, and be living there.?

Ownership -- With a reverse mortgage, you, not the bank, own the house, and how you choose to use the money is entirely up to you.

Payment options -- You can take the money either as a lump sum, a line of credit (except in Texas), regular monthly checks or a combination of these.

Types of loans -- The FHA-insured home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) is by far the most popular, accounting for about 95 percent of all reverse mortgages.

The other mortgage products are the Fannie Mae Home Keeper loan and the Financial Freedom Cash Account plan.

Loan amounts -- The amount you get through a reverse mortgage depends on your age, your home's value, the interest rates at the time the loan is granted and your county's lending limits.

Generally, the older you are, the more your house is worth, and the lower the interest rates are, the more you can borrow. Typically HECMs offer the best deals to most borrowers, but if you live in a more expensive home ($600,000 and up) you may do better with Financial Freedom.

To calculate how much you can get from an HECM or a Fannie Mae loan, visit www. reversemortgage.org. You can also get estimates at www.fina ncialfreedom.com.

Loan Costs -- Reverse mortgages aren't cheap. With a variety of steep up-front expenses -- origination fee, mortgage insurance, appraisal fee and closing cost -- your total costs will be around 6 percent of your loan amount.

If you don't plan on staying in your house for a good while, a reverse mortgage is probably not your best option.

Repaying -- You don't have to repay the loan until you permanently move out of your house. If you own the house when you die, your heirs will have to pay off the loan, either with proceeds from selling the place or, if they want to keep it, with money from another source. You can never owe more than the value of the house.

Counseling -- Before applying for a reverse mortgage, you are required to first meet with a HUD or AARP counselor (for free), who will help you fully understand your options.

To locate a HUD counselor, call (800) 569-4287. Or to find an AARP counselor, visit www.hecmresources.org/network.cfm.

Tax-free -- The money you get from a reverse mortgage is tax-free and won't affect your Social Security or Medicare benefits, but it may affect eligibility for certain kinds of government assistance, such as SSI and Medicaid. Be sure you check.?

Lenders -- Reverse mortgages are offered by both banks and mortgage lenders. Do some homework and cost comparing before you choose one.

If you have any questions or would like to find out how much you could receive, please call 1-888-973-8377 or email us.

Life Settlement Situations

Several changes in your life could cause you to consider a life settlement. Estate tax law revisions might mean your heirs no longer face a hefty tax bill at your death. Perhaps your universal life premiums have become too expensive for you, or maybe you no longer have to worry about replacing your income.

In these situations, you have several options. You can view your policy as an investment and keep it. You may be able to lower your amount of coverage. You can let it lapse or surrender it for its cash surrender value. But sometimes a life settlement is a better solution.

For instance, because of estate tax law changes, a lady in her late eighties no longer needed her universal life insurance policy. She didn’t want to keep paying the premiums on her $600,000 policy. Instead of canceling the policy for the $518 cash surrender value, she sold it instead for $80,000.

A recently-retired gentleman had a universal life policy for $1,000,000. He became very ill and was having trouble paying his medical bills. He passed on the $2,128 cash surrender value and collected just over $100,000 through a life settlement instead. This allowed him to pay for the medical care he desperately needed.

Keep in mind, though, that these people received far less than if they held the policy until death.

Have your adviser show you offers from several companies. You will want to know the gross offer, the commission and the net amount you will receive. An adviser may recommend a company based on which pays them more, not you.

Beware of advisers who approach you about life settlements. In this case, it’s far better to be the pursuer than the pursued.

There is a big difference between selling your policy and buying someone else’s policy as an investment. I don’t believe any small investor should buy someone else’s life insurance policy as an investment. These were sold as ‘viaticals’ over the last several years and many took the bait to their regret. Don’t buy a viatical!

Life settlements aren’t for everyone. You need to make sure your life insurance needs are properly met and you’ve carefully considered all the pros and cons before making your decision. But in some circumstances, a life settlement can be a wonderful way to dip into the pot of gold sitting in your life insurance policy.

If have any questions or would like to speak with a Life Settlement Specialist please call 1-888-973-8377. It is now very easy to find out what your life insurance policy is worth and if that amount will benefit your financial needs. There is no cost or obligation in obtaining a life settlement quote or evaluation.

Reverse Mortgage Volume Increases Fifth Consecutive Year - Article

WASHINGTON, D.C. - For a fifth consecutive year, lenders originated a record number of federally insured reverse mortgages, and the volume of borrower applications being processed is even higher, according to the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association.

During the most recent federal fiscal year, ending September 30, the Federal Housing Administration (an arm of the Department of Housing and Urban Development), insured 43,131 Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) compared to 37,829 the prior year. HECMs account for 90 percent of all reverse mortgages made in the U.S.

Read the complete article - Reverse Mortgage Volume Increases Fifth Consecutive Year.

This article shows how the benefits and education of reverse mortgages are quickly becoming known across the US. If you have any reverse mortgage questions or would like to speak with a reverse mortgage counselor, please call 1-888-973-8377 or fill out our online reverse mortgage analysis.

Reverse Mortgage Lender

Only a Reverse Mortgage Lender can provide a Reverse Mortgage.

The Reverse Mortgage became a valuable and safe tool for Senior Americans when the United States Congress authorized the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) in 1989. An additional Reverse Mortgage became available in 1996 when the Federal National Mortgage Association (FannieMae) created the Home Keeper Reverse Mortgage.

NGFS is a HUD approved Reverse Mortgage Lender. Call 1-888-973-8377 to speak with a Reverse Mortgage Specialist.

Till next time, have a blessed day..

Life Settlement, know the value of your life insurance

Do your clients know the fair market value of their life insurance policies?
Do you know the value of your life insurance?

In a recent case, a 77 year-old man had a $3.9 million policy that was not performing up to expectations. His advisor recommended that the policy be appraised. A Life Settlement Company determined that the market value of his policy was $740,000, four times its cash surrender value. The client decided to sell the policy and use the proceeds to fund new, more cost-efficient insurance. The new policy had a face value of $4.4 million and significantly lower ongoing premiums. Such life settlement cases are an everyday occurrence now that the secondary market for life insurance has transformed the financial planning landscape for high net worth individuals.

Call today for a free evaluation of your life insurance policy. 1-888-973-8377

Texas Reverse Mortgages

I have been getting more and more requests for the Texas Reverse Mortgage Credit Line updates, so when I find articles I will be posting them. Here is a new one:

Prop. 7 would allow line-of-credit advances

DALLAS -- Reverse mortgages in which seniors borrow against the equity in their homes are available everywhere but the most popular form of the loan, a line of credit, is prohibited in Texas.

The ban on line-of-credit advances could be lifted if voters approve Proposition 7 on Tuesday's ballot.

Lenders have pushed for the change for several years, and the measure is also endorsed by the AARP, the large advocacy group for retirees. There is no organized opposition.

Reverse mortgages have been available in most states since the late 1990s. Homeowners 62 or older can borrow against the equity in their homes and don't have to repay the loan as long as they live in their house.

The amount of the loan can increase with the value of the house and the age of the borrower. It is repaid with interest after the borrower dies, moves or sells the house.

In other states, nearly 90 percent of all reverse mortgage borrowers set up a line of credit, but Texas seniors can only take a lump-sum or fixed monthly advances.

Carole Barasch, a spokeswoman for AARP of Texas, said a line-of-credit option would let seniors borrow against their homes only when they need money.

"It's good to give consumers financial choices, but reverse mortgages aren't for everybody," Barasch said. "It's not a decision people should go into lightly."

Reverse mortgages often carry substantial fees. Some seniors may be better off selling their home, moving into a smaller house or apartment and living off their profit, Barasch said.

Three lenders dominate the reverse mortgage business in Texas _ Financial Freedom, a unit of Pasadena, Calif.-based IndyMac Bancorp Inc.; San Francisco-based Wells Fargo and Co.; and Seattle Mortgage Co., a division of Seattle Financial Group. There are also brokers who sell the loans.

The lenders and brokers will make about 7,500 reverse mortgages in Texas this year, making Texas the third-largest state for the loans, said Scott Norman, president of the Texas Association of Reverse Mortgage Lenders.

Norman said if Proposition 7 passes, the market could triple within three years and attract more lenders to Texas.

That kind of increased demand for loans "could leave fewer assets for the homeowner and his or her heirs," the House Research Organization, an arm of the Legislature, said in a report last month.

The researchers added that if lines of credit encourage seniors to pay routine costs with reverse mortgages, they could eat up much of their equity, leaving less for themselves and heirs. The researchers added that unscrupulous lenders could take advantage of seniors.

Norman, the lender representative, said lenders need approval from the Federal Housing Administration. He added that consumer protections were added to the constititional amendment, including preventing seniors from tapping their line of credit through credit or debit cards.

Reverse mortgages are insured by the federal government.

Source: KRISTV.COM

Till next time, have a blessed day...