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Reverse Mortgage: For multiple reasons, now is the best time. Really, Right Now.

There are several factors that determine how much a homeowner gets on the Reverse Mortgage Program; Borrower Age, Home Value, Interest Rate, and required reserves.  Most people are surprised to hear that interest rates have a larger impact on the money available than age does.  “The Mortgage Professor,” a.k.a Jack Guttentag explains, “The senior of 62 with $200,000 of equity in his home can command an initial credit line of $97,800 at the current rate of 5%,” he says. “If he waits for interest rates to begin their inevitable rise, the credit line will drop precipitously. At 10%, the initial line available to the same borrower would be $19,000, or 80% less. A borrower of 92 at 10%  cannot command as large a line as a borrower of 62 at 5%.”  Here are the top 3 reasons anyone considering a Reverse Mortgage needs to do it now:

Reason # 1: Today’s low rates.  The average 30 year fixed rate on 12/31/14 was 3.87% down from a high of 4.57% on 09/05/13.  Today’s low rates provide you with more funds than waiting 5 years to do a reverse mortgage, assuming rates are on an upward trend.  On 12/29/14 Bloomberg stated that the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is poised to raise interest rates in 2015 for the first time in almost a decade.

Reason # 2 Today’s Home Values.  Zillow shows that the median home price in California went up 21% in 2013 and 7% in 2014.   According to Redfin’s  July 2014 Housing Tracker report  more and more sellers will drop their prices this fall to attract buyers. Redfin agent Adam Welling tells Redfin. “When a buyer sees a price drop, she takes it as ‘blood in the water’ and wonders what’s wrong with the house (or the market) and wants to negotiate for an even lower price.”   “Sellers are finally catching on that it’s not a seller’s market anymore,” says Redfin agent Jeremy Cunningham.

Reason # 3 Currently there are NO REQUIRED RESERVES.  Until March 2, 2015 there are no required reserves on the reverse mortgage.  After this date, they will check your credit history and debt to income ratio, those that don’t meet the criteria will be required to set aside large amounts of funds from their qualification to pay property taxes, and insurance for perhaps decades.  You won’t be able to call up  on March 1st and beat the deadline.  You would have to start the process at least 2 weeks prior to beat the deadline.  There is a mandatory 8 day waiting period after counseling and counseling can take up to a week to get an appointment when there is a change coming to this FHA insured program.

The best time to secure your 2015 is today, before things change and your cash payouts on a Reverse Mortgage drop significantly.  Check your qualification amount Here or call toll free at (877) 567-7476.

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