A reverse mortgage is a special type of home loan that lets you convert a portion of the equity in your home into cash. The equity that built up over years of home mortgage payments can be paid to you. But unlike a traditional home equity loan or second mortgage, no repayment is required until the borrower(s) no longer use the home as their principal residence or fail to meet the obligations of the mortgage. When you sell your home, you or your estate will repay the cash you received from the reverse mortgage plus interest and other fees, to the lender. The remaining equity in your home, if any, belongs to you or to your heirs.

Many seniors use it to supplement social security, meet unexpected medical expenses, make home improvements and more. A reverse mortgage is Government-Insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), a division of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) is a reverse mortgage program which enables you to withdraw some of the equity in your home.

More information on government reverse mortgages can be found here. It’s always important to thoroughly investigate this type of mortgage and get the advice of a qualified and trusted financial advisor or attorney not affiliated with the company brokering the loan.

Summer is coming to a close and a lot of websites out there are switching gears to help people get their back to school shopping done, prep their house for the season change and update their interior decor with some cozy additions to welcome fall.

The local craft store is already prepped for Halloween. Triple digit heat and I’m staring at cinnamon scented autumn leaves and jack-o-lanterns. I can’t stop rolling my eyes because I know I’ve got at least 2 more sky-high electric bills from the “run the air conditioning or face uncertain death at the hands of irate family members” season.

We went shopping at Target about a week after 4th of July and the kids groaned when they saw that the “seasonal” aisle that had once held mosquito repellent and barbecue accessories now held pencils, pens, rulers, lunch pails and backpacks. At least our local store takes parents shopping with kids under consideration. The “seasonal” aisle is in the back of the store, that way when the kids make a break for it you have an entire store to catch them before they can hit the parking lot and get mushed by a minivan in their panic induced escape attempt.

The upside is that while trying to catch my little escapee (the second grader) she passed an end cap with princess bedding and became distracted which meant she narrowly avoided plowing into a lady holding glass vase. Lucky me, I managed to find the bath pillow I’d been wanting while I caught my breath.

As it sits now, I’ve got 3 weeks to school starts and for once I’m almost looking forward to it.

Many areas are still declining in value and yet it seems that the amount of advertising for Streamline Refinance loans has quadrupled. It would seem that it would be nothing short of a miracle to find a home with any equity left in it for refinancing to be a viable option.

Banks are carefully holding back their inventory of foreclosed homes in what might just be a band-aid on a leaky dam situation in hopes of preventing yet another downturn in the market. Over the last few years the market has resembled Disneyland’s ‘Tower of Terror” ride at California Disney – with the elevator shuddering and pausing momentarily at each “floor” before finally reaching the bottom. I don’t think anyone can accurately predict that we’ve reached the “bottom.”

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According to the Department of Veterans Affairs Fiscal Year 2010 Performance and Accountability Report approximately 314,000 veteran home loans were guaranteed in 2010. 192,600 were loans for the purchase of a home and 121,400 were for the reduction of interest rates on a home known as a VA interest rate reduction.

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Spring has sprung and with warmer temps the local gardening section of the home improvement stores have been brimming with people. The neighborhoods around town are back to smelling like barbecue on the weekends and in the houses that are still occupied (ha…) people are stepping out into the sunshine and blinking as if waking up from hibernation.

It would be interesting to see the numbers on people actually doing “home improvement” projects. Clearly, you wouldn’t count the people purchasing foreclosed properties and rehabbing them to flip or turn into a rental. I suspect that
BuildDirect.com probably sells more patio furniture and items homeowners can take with them when they go then they are selling laminate flooring and granite tile.

Something that appears to have gone the way of the dinosaurs for now – at least in this area, is the “home equity line of credit” since hardly anyone has any equity left. For those of us looking to put in a pool to survive the triple digit heat this summer – it’s not going to happen unless you pony up the cash to pull it off.

I would venture to surmise that there are probably more people questioning how much longer they will be in their current residence than there are people worried about putting in a pool.

A little dark humor to brighten your day…

Billboard at local AMC (Appraisal Management Company) office.

Since HVCC – appraisers have lots of time to take up new hobbies and this one poses no risk also thanks to HVCC!

and appraisers. Uh, wait… see sign above.

Appraisers are supposed to be observant. I tend to be especially observant of safety signs that indicate an imminent threat to my well-being like “beware of dog” or “trespassers will be shot.” The sad thing about a sign is that it does no good if people don’t stop and read them.

At my house I have a sign that says, “No Soliciting and No Religious Inquiries” you’d think that would stop those knocks on the door on early Saturday mornings. It doesn’t. I wish I had a $1 for every time I’ve answered the door to someone trying to sell me a house alarm, insurance or some version of God and had to point to the sign.

Of course, the sign never applies to to cute kids doing school fundraisers, especially if they are selling candy. The women in my house would seriously injure (and possibly kill) anyone who refused chocolate being delivered to the front door. Nope in our house chocolate being sold at the front door is like finding a penny on the sidewalk – it’s a sign of good luck. It also earns brownie points for the husband or dad both at home and around the neighborhood for digging into his wallet for a couple of bucks.

After everything I’ve gone through in the appraisal industry, especially given the past 3 or so years I came up with a new idea for a sign and used the handy sign creator at http://www.safetysign.com/

We’re already being branded that way, might as well wear it proudly.