Metro
REVERSE
MORTGAGES:
A Great Opportunity for
Seniors Who Want to Stay
in Their Homes
Who We Are
By Ozzie Jacobson
Not familiar with reverse mortgages? You should be. A growing number of
Seniors have been buying these innovative loans in recent years to augment
retirement income, pay for long term health care, or even pay for that
dream vacation. According to HUD, the number of reverse mortgages
issued this year has more than quadrupled from the early 1990s, when the
products were first introduced.
Consider that there are over 20 million seniors with more than $2 tril-
lion in home equity, according to 2000 census figures, and you will begin to
appreciate the growth opportunity these unique loans offer.
Reverse Mortgages Explained
Reverse mortgages enable senior homeowners 62 years or older to con-
vert part of the equity in their home into tax —free income without having
to sell the home, give up title, or take on a new monthly mortgage payment.
Borrowers will never be forced to leave their homes, providing they make
their real estate property tax and insurance payments.
There are three types of reverse mortgages: The FHA Home Equity
Conversion Mortgage (HECM), the Fannie Mae Home Keeper (HK) and
the Cash Account TM (geared for higher value homes) developed by
Financial Freedom TM Senior Funding Corporation of Irvine, California.
Borrowers can choose to receive the reverse mortgage funds as a lump
sum, monthly income (for as long as they remain in the home), line of cred-
it, or any combination of the above. They make no monthly mortgage pay-
ments on a reverse mortgage during the life of the loan. The loan becomes
repayable when the borrower sells the home or permanently moves out. In
addition, the repayment amount cannot exceed the value of the home and
can be used for any purpose.
An important consumer protection built into these loans is the require-
ment for independent third party counseling prior to application. This
counseling session serves to provide an objective review of the program for
the senior and their advisors to help them decide if it is the correct option.
Reverse mortgages, although distinctly different from traditional mort-
gages, still are mortgages and have the same basic cost structure for closing
costs. These fees would include items such as appraisal, title insurance, doc-
ument fees and other typical closing costs. One difference is that the clos-
ing costs of a reverse mortgage are generally funded in the loan, so the sen-
ior borrower has no out- of- pocket expense. Qualification for this loan is
simple, as there is no income qualification and minimal credit review.
So, if you think that a reverse mortgage might be a good option for you
or your parents, a great resource is the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders
Association (www.reversemortgage.org), a national non profit trade associa-
tion for financial services involved in reverse mortgages in the U.S. and
Canada. NRMLA promotes awareness of reverse mortgages, keeps mem-
bers informed of legislative and other developments, and represents the
industry in Washington, D.C.
For an illustration of how much benefit you might qualify for, visit the
Financial Freedom TM site at www.financialfreedom.com., or call Ozzie
Jacobson at Premier Mortgage Funding for a personal consultation.
Ozzie Jacobson is the manager of the Premier Mortgage Funding office at
25900 Greenfield, Suite #413, Oak Park, Michigan. Tel 248-968-3499.
Advertisement
Detroit Jewish demographics
to be studied via phone surveys.
H
ow many Jews live in
Metro Detroit? And
where? Have the demo-
graphics of Jewish families
changed and if so, how?
How do we spend our leisure
time? What community services
do we use? To what degree have
changes in the population con-
tributed to enrollment declines
in some Jewish day schools and
religious schools?
How do we provide for the
future of older adults as they age
and grow increasingly depend-
ent on assistance in our commu-
nity?
To answer these and other
vital questions pertaining to the
current and future needs of the
community, the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit will launch its Detroit
Jewish Population Study this
month. The study is intended to
gather data from which
Federation and its partner agen-
cies can glean insights for plan-
ning, prioritizing and delivering
community services.
Lynda Giles who co-chairs the
steering committee along with
Michael Stein, explained, "It's
been 16 years since we conduct-
ed a population study of this
magnitude in the Detroit Jewish
community. Over this period of
time, we have observed signifi-
cant shifts in the demographic
and social characteristics in our
community.
"While some of these changes
reflect national trends, one of
our goals is to substantiate
developments that may be par-
ticular to the Metropolitan
Detroit area:'
Starting the last week in
October and continuing up until
the week of Thanksgiving, pro-
fessional interviewers will make
150,000 calls to complete 1,200
surveys in randomly selected
households in Oakland, Wayne
and Macomb counties.
Interviewers will not know
and will not ask for names and
addresses of respondents and
there will be no solicitation of
funds on the part of the
Federation.
Stressing the importance of
the study in future planning for
the community's needs, Stein
stated, "We are asking people
who are called to please take the
time to respond to the survey.
While no study can possibly
answer all our community's
questions, we hope to gather
enough information to guide the
decision making and agenda of
our agencies, synagogues and
organizations for years to come
Dr. Ira Sheskin, associate pro-
fessor at the University of
Miami, was chosen as the prin-
cipal architect and investigator
for the study. As director of the
Jewish Demography Project of
the Sue and Leonard Miller
Center for Contemporary Judaic
Studies at the University of
Miami, Sheskin has conducted
more than 30 similar studies in
cities across the United States.
The Detroit Jewish Population
Study has been made possible
through the generosity of
Mandell and Madeleine Berman,
James and Nancy Grosfeld, the
Jewish Fund, the Detroit Jewish
News, the Jewish Women's
Foundation, the Irving A. Rubin
Jewish Community Trust for the
Elderly, the Shiffman Day School
Tuition Fund and the Stephen H.
Schulman Fund
For information, contact
Linda Blumberg, director of
planning for Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit, (248)
203-1468. 0
Ili MORTGAGE
ORTGAGE FUNDING, INC.
1038180
October 20 2005