Need A Reverse Mortgage In Denver CO?
I am a reverse mortgage specialist and am ready to get your questions about getting a reverse mortgage in Colorado answered.
There still seems to be more misinformation out there than accurate reverse mortgage information. Of course, it depends on who you talk to as to whether or not you get the correct reverse mortgage information or some fear based myth.
**** Note ****
“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth – persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.
Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought”
****John F. Kennedy****
Unfortunately, most of the myths tend to be promoted by supposed financial experts that you know and trust. But while they may be knowledgeable about investments, trusts, or real estate, they are not experts on reverse mortgages and do not have the proper knowledge or information to accurately advise you.
Hopefully you will find all the reverse mortgage information on this site that you need to make an educated, informed decision as to the usefulness of a reverse mortgage for your particular situation.
So let’s get started.
What is a Reverse Mortgage?
After talking with thousands of people and closing well over 650 reverse mortgages in Denver CO, this is still the number one question that I receive from people seeking reverse mortgage information.
In a nutshell, a reverse mortgage is an FHA insured loan that is specifically designed for homeowners, age 62 and above, that allows you to convert a portion of the value of your home into tax-free money*, without ever having to sell your home, give up title or obligate yourself to a monthly mortgage payment.
For more details, please visit my What is a Reverse Mortgage? page.
Sometimes I hear people say “This sounds too good to be true and what sounds too good to be true, usually is” The main thing to keep in mind when gathering reverse mortgage information is that this is not free money.
You are still charged interest on your reverse mortgage loan. The difference is that you are not required to pay the interest. Since you are not making a monthly payment to the lender, you are not really paying the interest out of your pocket, so it is added to the end of the loan balance. The balance on the reverse mortgage loan is actually getting larger over time.
If you think you want a reverse mortgage, you must be OK with this fact: The loan balance grows over the life of the reverse mortgage loan.
I cannot stress this enough.
You will get a statement every month and it will show your reverse mortgage loan balance growing with each statement. If looking at this statement is going to cause you more stress than having the reverse mortgage relieves, then DO NOT GET A REVERSE MORTGAGE! 🙁
What is a HECM Reverse Mortgage?
As mentioned in the brief description above, most reverse mortgage loans are insured by FHA, (Federal Housing Administration), which is a division of HUD, (Division of Housing and Urban Development). FHA’s reverse mortgage program is called HECM, (Home Equity Conversion Mortgage). I know it can be overwhelming, but try not to be too put off or intimidated by all the acronyms.
The HECM reverse mortgage is heavily regulated and controlled by FHA. They have a book of rules about as big as the phone book that the lenders have to follow, so this is the safest program for people to get.
One piece of reverse mortgage information that you should also be aware of is that no lender should ask you to sign anything until you have talked with a reverse mortgage counselor. The counselor is an independent third party that is approved by HUD to offer reverse mortgage information (counseling) to make sure that you understand exactly what it is that you are doing.
I hope that this reverse mortgage information page has been helpful. I just wanted to touch some of the most important reverse mortgage facts and concepts with you here. There is a whole lot more on this web-site, some pages go into very deep detail, while others just scratch the surface.
If you’d like some more general reverse mortgage information, please see the Reverse Mortgage FAQ and Reverse Mortgage Pros and Cons pages.
You can also learn a lot by checking out my blog.
As always, please feel free to contact me.
