About Tredyffrin's Strafford

Reverse Mortgages are very appealing to older home owners on Philadelphia’s Main Line as well as in other areas of the United States during these hard economic times. A reverse mortgage is basically when a lender gives you a cash advance on the equity you have in your home. You don’t have to pay back the advance until you either sell the home or die. However, there are several things you should be aware of before getting a reverse mortgage, such as:

1. How much money will you actually be able to borrow? There is a maximum home value which was just raised from $417,000 to $625,500, although you can’t obtain a reverse mortgage for the full value of your home. A formula is used to determine how much you can borrow. This formula takes into consideration how old you are (the older you are the more you can borrow), current interest rates, and your home’s value. You will have to subtract what you owe on your house and any loan fees involved in getting the loan. This is all subtracted from the amount you are able to borrow. To see how much you could possibly borrow go to www.revmort.com/nrmla.

2. Reverse mortgages have very high fees. A Money magazine article states that as well as paying normal closing costs, there is an origination fee of 2% on the first $200,000 of the loan balance and 1% thereafter, plus mortgage insurance premium of about 2% and on top to that there is a monthly service charge. Origination fees are legally not to exceed $6,000, but by the time you add up all of the fees involved, the total amount in fees is usually in the $10,000 to $15,000 range.

3. There is some risk involved. First of all you have to be at least 62 years old before you can obtain a reverse mortgage. If you decide to obtain a reverse mortgage in your early sixties or seventies, you have to ask yourself “Will the money outlast me?” If or when you run out of money, you won’t have any home equity left, so the longer you can wait to obtain a reverse mortgage the better.

4. Alternative ways to make ends meet. Because retirees have seen a rapid decline in their investments, reverse mortgages have increased by 50% over the past two years and the average age of the borrower has shifted from 76 to 72 years old. So, before taking out a reverse mortgage, don’t forget that cutting expenses, moving into a smaller home, or taking out a home equity line of credit are some other viable options to obtaining a reverse mortgage.

Before you are able to obtain a reverse mortgage you are required to meet with an independent counselor who should explain the loan and all of the drawbacks. However, a recent study showed that counselors are not fully explaining all the risks involved so be sure to do your research and try to find out all the pros and cons of obtaining a reverse mortgage to make sure it is the best option for you.

Money magazine had a great article on credit in its September issue. Many people on the Main Line, who are interested in real estate, ask me if it is hard to get a loan these days and the answer is “no” if you have a good credit score. What is a good credit score and how can you keep it high? FICO is the most used credit rating system. The top score is 850 and the lowest is 300. “You need a 750 or better today to have the same treatment you got with a 700 two years ago,” says John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education at www.Credit.com. The higher your score the better the interest rate you are able to obtain for a mortgage. To achieve the best rate, you need to do the following:

1. Know your score.

You have three FICO scores based on the information at the three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. You can obtain a reflective score at myfico.com for $16 or you can receive an estimate for free at Creditkarma.com. You can get the history report that your score is based on for free at www.annualcreditreport.com. You are legally allowed one free credit report from each bureau annually.

2. Look for Errors

If you find a mistake notify the bureau (they have instructions on their websites) and have it corrected. Make sure your credit line amounts are correct and that none of your accounts have been marked late or delinquent in error. You could raise your score by 200 points, says Ulzheimer, just by having a mistake corrected.

3. Don’t be Late on Your Payments

Your payment history makes up the largest portion of your credit score. One late payment can cause 100 points to be taken off your score. Your payments aren’t recorded as being late until you are 30 days past due. If you make a payment 30 days past due and then pay on time after that, you should be able to get most of your points back. Being 90 days past due can affect your credit score for years so be very careful.

4. Follow the 20% Rule

The second largest factor that makes up your credit score is how much you owe compared to how much credit you have available. Credit card balances and their available lines of credit are something that you can control. You need to keep the ratio at 20% or less overall to maintain a high credit score as well as for each individual card. This is known as your credit card utilization rate. People have become very concerned over banks cancelling cards and lowering credit limits since it can really affect your credit score. If your rate becomes higher than 20% then you will need to pay off some of your debts or obtain another card to increase your credit limit since just a utilization rate of 25% could decrease your score by 50 points. However, don’t get a new credit card if you are planning on applying for a mortgage soon.

5. Keep and Use your Oldest Credit Cards

15% of your score is based on the length of your credit history. The longer you can show that you have been able to manage credit card debt the better for your credit score. Don’t cancel your cards and use them periodically so credit card companies won’t cancel them on you.

While there are other components that make up your credit score, thesa are not as easily controlled, so just concentrate on the ones that you can and you should be okay.

Regards,

Sarah

Visit me at www.SarahSellsTheMainLine.com

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