A Blog for Mortgage News and Tips

Record-breaking home prices – a windfall for sellers, a challenge for buyers, and a unique opportunity for older homeowners who want to age-in-place. Now, they can keep their home, access cash fom the equity without the obligation to make loan payments, and more.

Continue Reading Historic Home Prices Benefit Seniors Who Don’t Want To Sell

Financial advisors, recognizing the need to increase retirement funding, are promoting the versatility and innovative solutions provided by reverse mortgages to make use of home equity. However, a legacy of misinformation and old myths prevail that continue to misguide some homeowners. Mark Twain could have been talking about reverse mortgages when he wrote: “What gets us…

Continue Reading How Savvy Homeowners Use Reverse Mortgages to Increase Financial Security – Others Not So Sure.

Financial and retirement fears have intensified since the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis.  Fortunately, savvy homeowners may have a solution. In hindsight it seems inconceivable, not so much that the COVID-19 crisis did occur, but that it could occur.  This novel crisis caught everyone unaware and unprepared for the financial and other yet to be known consequences.…

Continue Reading What to Do If You’re Worried About Running Out of Money

What savvy homeowners do to make sure they will be financially prepared to age in place comfortably and securely. Most of us don’t want to talk or even think about it, but the nagging fear of running out of money someday is real, and for many, overwhelming. This is especially true for those in retirement…

Continue Reading How to Avoid Going Broke in Retirement

The COVID-19 crisis has produced uncertainty about everything – including the outlook for home values. We’ve been there before.  In the early 1990s, it was the savings and loan banking crisis and real estate recession that devastated home values.  In 2008, it was the subprime foreclosure crisis that threatened the banking industry and decreased home…

Continue Reading How to Protect Home Equity Against the Next Housing Market Downturn

When a Reverse Mortgage Makes Sense with George Downey It’s a new day in retirement planning, and the inclusion of housing wealth is proving to be a game changer. Whatever your circumstances, if you are in or approaching retirement, own a home (or plan to) you are well advised to learn and explore the various…

Continue Reading The Senior Bulletin Podcast

Long overdue policy changes ease access and increase reverse mortgage choices for Massachusetts condominium owners. Condominium ownership, the lifestyle choice for an increasing number of aging Americans, has had a longstanding financing problem in Massachusetts.  For this cohort, reverse mortgages, uniquely designed to meet the financial challenges of retirement living, have not been available to…

Continue Reading Regulators Help Condo Owners Get Reverse Mortgages

Financial advisors look to housing wealth and reverse mortgages to improve cash flow, liquidity, and extend financial security for aging homeowners. In the wake of record financial market declines, financial professionals are scrambling to help clients remain calm and ride out the storm.  Beyond handholding, they are recommending clients don’t sell in the down market…

Continue Reading Mortgage Payment Relief – A lifeline to COVID-19 Financial Challenges

Reverse mortgages have emerged to be an “out of the box” solution to the record financial market declines and consequential loss to retirement savings. At the time of this writing, April 14, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic is presumably approaching its apex.  Clearly, no one knows if or when this will occur, or when life, as…

Continue Reading Reverse Mortgages and the COVID-19 Financial Crisis

Tune in to the Seniors First radio show and podcast on Talking Information Center. In this month’s episode, George Downey talks with Jeremy Zizmor, a Daily Money Manager who provides financial services to individuals and families. Click to Listen About the Seniors First show – On a monthly basis, the Seniors First radio show and…

Continue Reading Seniors First Radio Show & Podcast features Jeremy Zizmor, Daily Money Manager

Will home values become another domino in the wake of the Coronavirus crisis? At the time of this writing, the unprecedented shock of the health and financial crisis driven by the coronavirus pandemic is unfolding with no predictable end or solution in sight.  This extraordinary disruption of living norms and business activity is too extensive…

Continue Reading Coronavirus Crisis and Home Values – What’s Ahead?

Misconceptions about reverse mortgages and their ability to improve retirement security are common among financial advisors. Ask most financial professionals what they think about reverse mortgages, and most likely you’ll be told they don’t like them.  Or, they are loans for the desperate and should be avoided.  What a shame.  If they only knew that…

Continue Reading What Financial Advisors Don’t Know About Reverse Mortgages Short-Changes Clients’ Best Interests

Potentially significant and unexpected costs of health and in-home care may be paid more efficiently using home equity to avoid depleting family savings. Achieving and maintaining financial security throughout retirement continues to be the number one concern among financial advisors and their aging clients.  Add to this the reality that one of every three individuals…

Continue Reading In-Home Care and Medical Costs Eased by Reverse Mortgages

In some utopian dream world, no one would ever need a reverse mortgage program. After all, we would all have ample income, even in retirement, and miraculously we would be shielded from any possible financial need.  Here in the real world, however, millions of elderly homeowners are living on fixed incomes. Many need additional monthly…

Continue Reading The Pros and Cons of a Reverse Mortgage

Reverse mortgage loans are like prescription medications.  They should be prescribed (not sold), and utilized when they are deemed the best solution to solve problems or achieve objectives. They should not be purchased from aggressive marketers who lack credentials and are merely after a sale.   Unfortunately, reverse mortgage marketing seems to appear everywhere—online, TV, direct mail, telephone,…

Continue Reading 4 Tips for Researching a Reverse Mortgage Loan

FHA rule changes enable senior condo owners access to home equity without making mortgage payments. The Federal Housing Authority (FHA), effective October 15, 2019, relaxed the rules for condominium financing.  These changes provide significant benefits to seniors (62 and older) who currently own, or are considering the purchase of a condominium. Under the old rules, FHA…

Continue Reading Senior Condo Owners Get a Break from FHA

Senior homeowners have a choice – most make the wrong decision, and don’t know it. Seniors in, or nearing, retirement are confronted with a dilemma – most have failed to save enough for a secure retirement.  Moreover, since the baby-boom generation (born after 1946) entered retirement years, 10 to 12 thousand are retiring every day.  Predictably, this…

Continue Reading Reverse Mortgage or Home Equity Line of Credit – Which is Best?

Senior condo owners get long-awaited help from FHA. On August 14, 2019, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) announced significant changes to its condominium financing regulations.  The good news is these changes eliminate current barriers that have prevented senior condo owners and buyers from using the FHA insured reverse mortgage and other more favorable FHA financing options.…

Continue Reading Good News for Senior Condominium Owners

Panel discussion explores maximizing the sale, properties and trusts, Title 5 inspections and state tax. Been in your home for 10 years or more? Ready to downsize or relocate, but not sure where to start?With that in mind, Seniors First, a collaborative of vetted professionals serving the senior community, are offering a free educational and…

Continue Reading Free Seminar – Home Sellers Workshop at Fairing Way, Weymouth

Here’s what you need to know. If you’re of the mind that reverse mortgages are an inferior product, or worse – a rip-off, put aside this notion for a moment and consider some basics facts and history. Accounting for over 95 percent of all reverse mortgages today, the dominant program is the HUD/FHA insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) reverse…

Continue Reading Skeptical About Reverse Mortgages?

The decision to Age in Place is increasingly more complicated. Numerous studies have established the great majority of aging Americans want to remain in their homes for the rest of their lives.  However desirable that wish may be, retirement experts caution it might be a mistake.  A panel of experts on aging and retirement discussed the…

Continue Reading Aging in Place at Home – Is It the Right Choice?

Senior homeowners who have a Home Equity Line of Credit may be in for a shock they may not be aware is looming. Long favored as the cheap and easy way to tap home equity, the commonplace Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) may be a ticking time bomb for senior homeowners, especially those with limited income…

Continue Reading Home Equity Lines of Credit – A Trap for Unwary Senior Homeowners

For senior homeowners, the unavoidable risks of declining health and the burden of long term care costs may be funded without long term care insurance or depleting personal savings. Staying at home to age in place continues to be a primary objective for most aging homeowners.  Important as that dream may be, though, unexpected health…

Continue Reading Using Your Home to Pay for Home Care

Contrary to popular beliefs that residential real estate has proven to be one of the best investments one could have made, there’s another darker side to the story. No question, home values in recent years experienced remarkable value increases, especially in eastern Massachusetts.  In fact, at the time of this writing, home prices have achieved record…

Continue Reading Is Your Home a Good Investment? Maybe Not!

The question of financial security (running out of money) in retirement continues to be the number one concern among aging Americans and financial professionals.  Since the Great Recession (2008 – 2013) retirement experts and academics have written extensively on this dilemma, now deemed to be a national emergency.Add to the long list of research reports…

Continue Reading Home Equity Can Increase and Extend Retirement Income

Do the new tax laws confuse or overwhelm you?  Straightforward and direct answers will be provided at free seminars that help outline the new “Tax Law and How it Impacts your Retirement”.   The complimentary seminar will be held at Fairing Way, 25 Stonehaven Drive, South Weymouth, MA 02190. Guests can choose from one of the following times:…

Continue Reading Free seminars outline the “New Tax Law and How it Impacts your Retirement”

The threat is real but solutions may be available to those who are serious about retirement security. It’s no surprise, financial professionals have consistently reported – the number one concern among retirees and pre-retirees is fear of not having enough money to fund their retirement years. Highlighting this reality, a Special Report from the Stanford…

Continue Reading Worried About Running Out of Money? You’re Not Alone

Home equity can be a valuable retirement resource if properly planned.  The home, long thought of as “a great investment”, needs a second look.  Why?  How can this be, considering that property values in many regions have risen to record levels, further increasing the value of home equity – now referred to as “housing wealth”?  In…

Continue Reading Think Your Home is a Good Investment? Think Again.

The dilemma of retiring with debt, especially mortgage debt. The most recent Survey of Consumer Finances, published by the Federal Reserve, confirms the disturbing trend that increasing numbers of aging Americans are entering retirement with debt, which they may, or may not, be prepared to manage.  In fact, 70 percent of households headed by people…

Continue Reading Debt in Retirement – What You Need to Know and Avoid

The comfort, familiarity, security and community support of the family home is central to the wellbeing of seniors. According to a recent article in published by the AARP, 87 percent of adults age 65+ want to stay in their current home and community as they age. Among people age 50 to 64, 71 percent of people…

Continue Reading Free seminar – Aging in Place. Helping mom remain in the family home.

New Federal Reserve report confirms most Americans are financially unprepared for retirement, and financial planners continue to ignore the value and importance of housing wealth in the solution. The Federal Reserve has recently released a new study, Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2017.  Notable findings include: (1) less than 40 percent believe their…

Continue Reading Housing Wealth – A Financial Solution Hiding in Plain Sight

Are you in the right home? Is it the best place for you to age? And, if not what are your options? Thoughts of selling the family home is one of the most challenging considerations confronting aging homeowners.  The home has become the foundation of their lifestyle and identity – where they feel comfortable, safe, as well as…

Continue Reading When Is the Best Time to Sell and Relocate?

Seniors First is launched and includes a full range of legal, financial, housing and lifestyle solutions. Aging may bring wisdom, but it also creates new challenges and unanswered questions. How can I structure my retirement to avoid outliving my savings? How do I retrofit my home to accommodate aging? How do I evaluate in-home resources to provide…

Continue Reading Welcome to the Central Resource for Seniors and their Families.

If you’re in or approaching retirement, own a home (with or without a mortgage), and are uncertain about your financial future, you may be in luck. The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, along with other researchers and retirement experts, sounded the alarm that great numbers of aging Americans are at high risk of running…

Continue Reading Got Home Equity? New ways it can increase retirement savings to age in place

Retirement researchers, prominent academics and planning experts are united in recommending that home equity and reverse mortgages be a fundamental consideration in retirement planning practices. Financial advisors, including Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) and their financial planning counterparts (CFPs among other designations), were soundly criticized in a recent article, Financial Advisers Should Avoid Error by Omission and…

Continue Reading Financial Advisors Criticized for Ignoring Reverse Mortgages in Retirement Planning

2018 Research report documents looming crisis.  Two actions that can avoid pitfalls and strengthen retirement security.    The Center for Retirement Research (CRR) at Boston College, one of the nation’s premier retirement think tanks, released a new report, National Retirement Risk Index Shows Modest Improvement in 2016, (January, 2018, Number 18-1).  The title, in my opinion,…

Continue Reading BREAKING NEWS: 50% of U.S. Households Lack Enough Income to Retire

The National Council on Aging (NCOA) concluded research in 2017 documenting the Awareness of Home Equity Products Among Older Homeowners and Financial Advisors (March, 2017).  The study included sessions with 1,002 older homeowners (who had not used a home equity product) and 254 financial advisors (with credentials including FINRA Series 6 or 7, Certified Financial Advisor or Planner, or…

Continue Reading National Study Challenges Understanding of Home Equity Utilization

Senior homeowners urged to consider utilization of housing wealth to increase and extend retirement security while favorable conditions prevail.  Home price record surge and low interest rates create strategic opportunity for senior homeowners. Until recently, housing wealth, the amount of equity built up in the home, has been a largely overlooked financial resource in traditional…

Continue Reading RECORD HOME PRICES CHANGING RETIREMENT PLANNING

Not long ago, your mother or father was explaining (somewhat inarticulately) the birds and the bees to you. Now it’s your turn to relay some important facts of life. And conversations about reverse mortgages can be just as awkward. According to a GAO analysis, 29% of households with members aged 55 or older have no defined benefit or other pension…

Continue Reading How to Talk to Parents About Financial Facts of Life

Home values like trees don’t grow to the sky and bubbles will burst. Since the Great Recession (2008 – 2013) many areas in Massachusetts, especially the Greater Boston area and surrounding communities, have experienced extraordinary increases in home values.  Fueled by the upsurge in economic recovery, low interest rates, and a scarcity of homes for…

Continue Reading Savvy Financial Planners Seize Home Price Spike (Bubble) To Help Clients

Like the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield, reverse mortgages…don’t get respect.  Not much anyway.  Why?  That question and the broader issue of seniors’ general reluctance to use home equity has been the subject of numerous studies.  Most recently, examinations by The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, the Bloomfield, NJ-based Reverse Mortgage Funding (RMF), a…

Continue Reading What’s In A Name? Apparently A Lot When It Comes To Reverse Mortgages

I have been asked to write a bit about our involvement in this year’s Pan-Mass Challenge fundraising event.  For those not aware, it is the one of the country’s single largest cancer fundraising events; started in 1980, the event has raised over $540,000 million dollars since inception, $47,000,000 last year with a goal for $48,000,000…

Continue Reading Harbor Mortgage Riding for Pan-Mass Challenge

A recent Forbes article (June, 2017), Retirees Uncertain about Tapping Home Equity but Want to Age in Place, highlighted conclusions from research conducted by The American College of Financial Services.  Their report, The Home Equity and Retirement Income Planning Survey, upholds the findings of other senior surveys confirming the great majority (83%), nearing or in retirement, want to stay…

Continue Reading The Overlooked Asset That Is Changing Retirement Planning

Too many seniors are living on a fixed income that barely covers the essentials. Nearly 20 percent of married retirees (and nearly 50 percent of unmarried retirees) rely on Social Security for the bulk of their income.  Moreover, today ten to twelve thousand Baby Boomers are retiring every day, and that trend will continue to 2030.  Retirement experts…

Continue Reading Cash Flow Options for Fixed Income Seniors

Divorce attorneys, financial planners, and registered investment advisors are looking for innovative financial planning tools for senior homeowners.  Divorce rates among seniors, dubbed “gray divorce”, are on the rise according to a new article from the Pew Research Center, Led by Baby Boomers, Divorce Rates Climb for America’s 50+ Population. In addition to the increasing numbers,…

Continue Reading Divorce For Seniors…The Hidden Issues and New Solution

Inadequate savings and longer life expectancies collide and threaten retirement security.  According to the Boston College Center for Retirement Research analysist, Stephen A. Saas, home equity is the most underutilized asset in retirement financial planning.  In an academic brief published in March 2017, Sass explains the foundational issues why it is not commonly used, and advises…

Continue Reading The Most Underutilized Retirement Asset…Why?

Longevity Insurance…Smart use of home equity to “insure” retirement success Fallout from the Great Recession (2007 – 2009) continues today as seniors are at increasing risk of outliving their financial resources.  This recession devastated the savings of many seniors with market losses averaging 40% along with widespread declines in home values.  As a result, reduced…

Continue Reading Longevity Insurance

Working with clients who are in or nearing retirement, financial planners will work to mitigate a laundry list of potential retirement risks that threaten their clients’ long-term financial security. The U.S. Society of Actuaries recently published a list of 15 post-retirement risks that can affect retirees. This list addresses risks that can be managed through careful…

Continue Reading Three-Bucket Strategy for Managing Clients’ Retirement Risks

Divorce attorneys, financial planners, and registered investment advisors are beginning to recognize reverse mortgages as an innovative financial planning tool for senior homeowners.  Divorce rates among seniors, dubbed “gray divorce”, are on the rise according to a new article from the Pew Research Center, Led by Baby Boomers, Divorce Rates Climb for America’s 50+ Population. In…

Continue Reading Senior Divorce Settlements Helped by Reverse Mortgages

As more and more people face financial shortfalls that will force them to delay retirement, new strategies are needed to support our aging workforce.  According to Kurt Czarnowski, a former Communications Director for the Social Security Administration, Social Security was never intended to be the sole source of retirement income for anyone. However, recent findings from the 17th Annual…

Continue Reading Reverse Mortgages May Be Used to Boost Social Security Benefits

During the housing boom, Home Equity Lines of Credit (called HELOCs) became a favored way to tap home equity. Qualification requirements were minimal; closing costs were low; and, interest only monthly payments provided wide-spread appeal. However, a new report from TD Bank documents a number of emerging and disturbing facts about HELOCs that are especially important for…

Continue Reading The Risks of Home Equity Lines of Credit for Senior Homeowners

According to an AARP poll, nearly 90 percent of people over age 65 want to stay in their home for as long as possible, while 80 percent believe their current residence is where they will always live. But is aging in place really a feasible retirement plan for the vast majority of seniors? In some cases,…

Continue Reading The Hidden Costs of an Aging-in-Place Retirement Plan

Too many seniors are living on a fixed income that barely covers the essentials. Nearly 20 percent of married retirees (and nearly 50 percent of unmarried retirees) rely on Social Security for the bulk of their income, according to these basic facts about Social Security. And with ten to twelve thousand Baby Boomers retiring every day, experts predict…

Continue Reading Cash Flow Options for Fixed Income Seniors: Reverse Mortgage or HELOC?

Reverse mortgage advice should encompass many topics—including when, why, and how to formulate a home equity conversation plan. But at the core of the issue is always the question of suitability. Does a reverse mortgage loan make sense for your family? A big part of the answer hinges on your long-term plans and what we call…

Continue Reading Reverse Mortgage Advice and the Five-Year Rule