More recently, interest rates have come down as well as other closing costs; enabling a borrower to get a reverse mortgage with no origination fee and no upfront MIP.  This reduces the total cost to close a reverse mortgage dramatically.  Many seniors are using the low cost Saver line of credit option as an alternative to a traditional Home Equity Line from a Bank.  Unlike the Home Equity Line, senior reverse mortgage borrowers do not have to make monthly payments.

This low-cost Saver program has been well received by Alabama seniors and their financial advisors.

You can use APR to better compare loan options, because especially for loans with the same interest rate, you can see how much your closing costs are impacting the overall cost.

For one of the better explanations of APR and interest rate, click here and scroll down to the third answer–it’s one of the simplest explanations we’ve read.

Despite what the Social Security COLA says, many of our reverse mortgage borrowers and their families point out that their dollars don’t go as far as they used to.  Fortunately, starting this month, there will be a 3.6% increase in Social Security benefits.

Other good news for our reverse mortgage population is that Medicare premiums, which were predicted to increase to the $106 range, will be $99.

If the national mood is any indication, 2012 should be a better year for the housing market. That’s according to a new survey by Fannie Mae, conducted during the first three weeks of December. While in November, respondents said they expected their homes’ values to increase by only .2 percent, in December they predicted .8 percent. That’s not setting the world on fire, but it’s better than the declines of recent years. Fannie Mae chief economist Doug Duncan attributes the uptick in part to consumer relief at the resolution to the European debt crisis. For a more detailed look at the study, click here for the article.

One of the concerns in dealing with senior homeowners who are getting a reverse mortgage is whether they can accurately assess this decision.  Disregarding those with dementia or Alzheimer’s, some will still worry that most seniors, by virtue of being “elderly”, may not fully know what they are doing when getting a reverse mortgage.  In working with seniors who are getting reverse mortgages, I have found their decision-making skills to be as good as younger people.  A recent Canadian study reveals some interesting information on this topic.

Younger brains are more adept at certain functions, like memorization, and their brains are recognized as being “quicker” than older minds.  However, it turns out that this is a “Tortise and Hare” situation.  Younger people tend to reach decisions faster and use multiple areas of the brain in doing so, even if these regions are not especially relevant or  helpful to the decision at hand.  Decisions made more quickly, however, are more likely to be incorrect.  On the other hand, according to this study, older people tend to use only those areas of the brain that related to the decision, and while they arrived at an answer more slowly, they were less likely to miss a question.

My experience with reverse mortgage borrowers confirms this.  It might take a senior a while to understand the nuances of a reverse mortgage, but once they do, they seem to be able to draw on wisdom to make the best decision.

Jimbo King

Fortunately for our reverse mortgage clients, their tastes in music tend toward the more traditional.  But their children, the baby boomers, are turning into seniors, and we may wish we had obeyed our parents when they told us to “turn that music down.”

Jimbo King

So, while it doesn’t always make time to refinance or buy, it’s true that now is a unique time in the history of home lending. If you want to run some numbers to see for yourself, click here for our online calculator.  Or to contact us directly, click here.

Jimbo King

Women 65 and older are less likely to die from a fall than their male counterparts — men are over forty-percent likely to die from a fall.

Blacks are much less likely to die from a fall than whites, who are are over twice as likely to die as a result of a fall.

There is also a disparity between ethnicity groups.  Hispanics have a lower risk of suffering a life ending fall than do non-Hispanics.

As you might expect, the rate of falls climbs with age.  Those over eighty-five are over four times as likely to be seriously injured in a fall as those who are under seventy-five.  While elderly men are more likely to die from a fall, women of the same age are more likely to be seriously injured.  The discrepancy may be due to men climbing ladders or such to do outdoor home maintenance, while women may be more prone to fall inside the home.

What can we do to prevent a fall? You may consider modifying the home: eliminate steps, improve access to shower, add grab-bars, and increase lighting can all help.  Annual visits to your eye doctor to make sure your eyeglasses are the right prescription is important.  Regular exercise is very important.  In addition to walking or swimming, exercises that increase leg strength and improve balance.  Make sure your diet (or vitamin supplements) provide you with approved levels of Vitamin D and calcium.

As we all know, injuries from falls is a very serious threat as we age.  Not only is the injury sustained in the fall a danger, other medical problems can occur as a result of the injury sustained in the fall.  For instance, if someone is immobile for a period of time while they recover from a fall, they are at a heightened risk of a stroke and will often be placed on blood-thinning drugs as a preventative measure.

This information was compiled from data gathered from the Center for Disease Control and the MetLife Mature Market Institute.