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Michael Branson - EzineArticles.com Expert Author  

Michael G. Branson is a Mortgage Broker Licensed in several states who has over 31 years of mortgage banking experience. When you choose the Specialists at All Reverse Mortgage Company, you’re choosing more than just another reverse mortgage lender. The professionals at ARMC have prepared and performed training to hundreds in the mortgage banking industry; have written proprietary reverse mortgage product and sold it to Wall Street and have been instrumental in educating some ... [More]

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  • No Cost Reverse Mortgage
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] Reverse Mortgages are a very good tool for many senior borrowers to enable them to access the equity in their home while never having to make another payment as long as they live in those homes. However, a Reverse Mortgage has always been a fairly expensive proposition, usually carrying a price tag of a 2% origination fee as well as a 2% government mortgage insurance fee, plus third party costs such as appraisal, title, escrow or closing, etc. In all, in some of the higher HUD areas, the total of ...


  • Is it a Good Time For a Reverse Mortgage?
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] As industry professionals, we often have an opportunity to sit in on conference calls on market trends and other things that affect reverse mortgages and the senior borrowers who get them. We were on one today that echoed something that we have been saying so it seems that it's to a point where we should pass this information on to everyone.


  • Reverse Mortgages - Bank Or a Broker?
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] After 31 plus years Mortgage Banking experience working for large banks and Mortgage Bankers, we decided it was time to start serving our senior clients as mortgage brokers. When asked why we chose to do this rather than accepting positions with large banks, we tell people it was an easy decision to make, we love what we do, and we believe in servicing our senior borrowers with nothing but the best. As mortgage brokers, we deliver the best for our customers in both products and service.


  • Reverse Mortgage - Not Right!
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] I have seen a lot of good that Reverse Mortgages have done for senior borrowers. I've seen them change lives and living situations for the better. I've seen people come out of foreclosure with a reverse mortgage and never have to make another mortgage payment. But is there a time when a reverse mortgage is NOT right? Honestly, yes.


  • Jumbo Reverse Mortgages - What's Happening to the Market
    [Finance:Home-Equity-Loans] When first introduced, there were very few proprietary programs in the market place and they had very high interest rates. As they became more accepted and well-known, they were offered by most of the lenders offering reverse mortgage products and they began to come down in rates and margins and also to cover many more lending scenarios such as purchase transactions and second homes to name just two...


  • To Sell Or to Reverse?
    [Finance:Home-Equity-Loans] Many people are not aware of all the opportunities available to senior borrowers with the Reverse mortgage program. For example, did you know that HUD does not require any title seasoning or seasoning for time off the market when doing a Reverse Mortgage?


  • Purchase Your Home With a Reverse Mortgage
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] Many senior homeowners have lived in their homes for a very long time, have no desire to move and have gotten reverse mortgages so that they can continue to live in their homes payment free for life while accessing their equity to help supply them with income or cash to meet their living needs. Still others have wished that they could relocate, choosing either to be nearer to loved ones or pick a property that was more conducive to their current life style or needs (such as a single story when their home of many years was a multi-level property...


  • Common Use of Reverse Mortgage Funds
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] As I talk to borrowers and their families, I'm often asked what restrictions there are on the use of the funds from a reverse mortgage. The answer is simple, there are no requirements or restrictions on what you can do with your money, only restrictions against what you must do with the proceeds. In other words, no lender can grant you a reverse mortgage on the condition that you purchase annuities with the money or that you have a prior agreement with someone that you must use your funds for any other type of investment.


  • The FHA Modernization Bill, What it Means to You
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] Are you currently thinking about a reverse mortgage? Have you been told that with your property value, you really might be better off going with a jumbo or proprietary reverse mortgage, but you really wanted to get the government insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage. Have you looked at the proprietary products and thought that you liked the higher balances but really disliked the higher interest rates associated with most of those programs?


  • "Non-Recourse" a Reverse Mortgage Consumer Protection
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] One of the things that we always explain to senior borrowers when they ask about reverse mortgages is that they are non-recourse loans. The next question is always, What is a non-recourse loan?


  • Reverse Mortgages and Their Growing Popularity
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] There seems to be a new phenomenon in the mortgage world known as the reverse mortgage. The ads touting how they can improve quality of life are everywhere and if you're a homeowner, age 62 and over, you receive them in the mail almost daily. Then there are the articles warning that reverse mortgages may be the new mortgage rip off.


  • Credit Lines Freeze - But Not For Reverse Mortgages
    [Finance] The "comfortable income" many seniors thought they had planned is often eroded by rising costs and incomes which don't keep pace with those costs. Are there any guarantees anymore...?


  • Independence Day - Seniors Independence With a Reverse Mortgage
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] What better day to talk about obtaining your financial independence than on Independence Day! I don't think our forefathers ever considered the right to a reverse mortgage when framing the Bill of Rights and our Constitution...


  • Reverse Mortgages & Oil
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] What is the connection, you might ask between reverse mortgages and the price of oil? And if you or a loved one are a senior homeowner age 62 and over but don't drive, maybe you've been thinking that you are lucky because the price of gas and oil really doesn't affect you as much. But the simple truth is that the cost of oil and the rising cost of gasoline affects everyone who has to eat or drink and that includes us all, drivers or not!


  • The Power of 2.1% - The Clear Choice of Jumbo Reverse Mortgages
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] Many borrowers look at a few of the important aspects of their proposed jumbo reverse mortgage. How much money will they get, How much are the fees, what is the starting interest rate but so often these are about the only items they concern themselves with. Some borrowers also insist on getting fixed rate reverse mortgages, but the fixed rates typically insure the borrower of paying an interest rate way above the current adjustable rates available and based on the averages of the indexes upon which the jumbo rates are ultimately determined, borrowers would have to go ...


  • Reverse Mortgage Costs Explained
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] Reverse Mortgage Loans are unlike traditional loans or forward mortgages in many ways. Even the costs are figured differently. Because a Reverse Mortgage is often paid to the borrower in monthly payments or in the form of a line of credit that the borrower can access as they choose, the origination fee on the HUD Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM or "Heck-um") is calculated based from the lower of the principal lending limit for the area or the property appraised value.


  • Comfort In Your Reverse Mortgage
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] I just finished reading yet another article on the internet by AP Economics writer, Martin Crutsinger, in which he states "Sales of existing homes fell to the lowest level in nearly a decade in January while the median price for a home dropped for the fifth straight month." His article quotes the chief economist for the Association of Realtors as believing that the housing prices may be almost ready for a rebound but goes on to say that many other economists are not so optimistic and believe that values may continue to drop, citing the fact that sales...


  • HUD Insures First Fixed Rate Reverse Mortgage
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] Many senior borrowers who start looking into reverse mortgages are not aware of it, but there is a fixed rate Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) available. The HECM or Heck-um as you may hear it called, is the government insured reverse mortgage program offered by lenders and insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Many senior borrowers prefer the security of the government insured reverse mortgages but up until very recently, the only reverse mortgages available were adjustable rate mortgages.


  • Using A Reverse Mortgage To Purchase A Home
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] A Reverse Mortgage is a national program which typically is offered to homeowners 62 years and older but some private programs have recently been opened to borrowers down to 59 1/2 years old which allows the homeowner access to their equity in the form of cash, monthly income to the homeowner, or a combination of both with the homeowner never making another loan payment for life. The money the homeowner receives is usually tax-free and does not affect Social Security benefits or Medicare (check with your financial advisor for your circumstances). There are very minimal credit requirements and no income ...


  • Stop Foreclosure With A Reverse Mortgage
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] Reverse Mortgages are not short term, hard money, bridge or balloon loans normally associated with the type of loans people are forced to get to stop a foreclosure proceeding. But for seniors aged 62 and over, a reverse mortgage can be a life-line that rescues the seniors in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure. Many seniors are faced with rising living costs with which their fixed incomes do not keep pace.


  • Staying At Home With A Reverse Mortgage
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] I was asked to give a speech to a group in Boise, ID about how seniors can stay in their homes by using a reverse mortgage. This was an easy one for me because I had helped my mother do this very thing. She didn't need as much help as some of the other seniors I have spoken with who worked with companies who specialize in home remodeling for seniors.


  • Uncovering Reverse Mortgage Myths & Misconceptions
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] Have you been considering a reverse mortgage but are just afraid of some of the negative things you have heard? There are some negative myths that senior borrowers have heard about this type of financing that simply are not true and we are going to expose some of those here.


  • When Is A Reverse Mortgage Right?
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] Since first offering reverse mortgages, I've often been asked, How do I/we know if a reverse mortgage is right for me/us? This is a question that has a different answer for different people. I always start with the same first response, The first thing I would recommend is that you seek the guidance of a qualified financial advisor.


  • NBC Nightly News - Reverse Mortgage Ripoff?
    [Finance:Loans] I just finished reading an article about a network news program that did a negative report on reverse mortgages, citing an incident in Los Angeles of a senior borrower who was talked into buying annuities that did not mature until the year 2033 without a substantial penalty. I saw the actual Nightly News piece with Tom Costello. I was very concerned with the piece because I saw that they interviewed a woman identified as Robin Talbert with the AARP.


  • Can You Refinance Your Reverse Mortgage Loan
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] I received a call from the son and daughter of a senior borrower today and they wanted to know if their mother could refinance her reverse mortgage loan. I answered them honestly that yes, she could, but had to ask why was she thinking about refinancing.


  • What Does The Lender Need To Know On A Reverse Mortgage?
    [Real-Estate:Mortgage-Refinance] You've made the decision to get a reverse mortgage and you've heard that there is no income or credit qualifying so you think you will have no issues getting your loan. All you have to do is get your counseling, sign all the paperwork and you're set, right? Not exactly.




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