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Waiting to Refinance May Be a Mistake Patch.com

Many Fountain Valley homeowners may want to consider refinancing. Rates are at historically low levels falling to as low as 4.3 percent locally. But there’s another incentive related to a change in federal law.

A so-called credit risk retention rule, which is part of the federal Dodd-Frank Act, is expected to take effect in about a year. The rule requires lenders that securitize mortgages to retain 5 percent of the credit risk.

Homeowners would be required to have at least 25 percent equity for a rate-and-term refinance or at least 30 percent for a cash-out refinance. Some estimates indicate that fewer than 50 percent of American homeowners have that kind of equity.

So it would appear that fewer Americans will have the opportunity to refinance. Not only that, but they may end up stuck with a high-cost mortgage.

California is listed as one of the states with equity-poor homeowners. Some lost $100,000 or more in equity when the home market crashed in 2007 and 2008.

Reverse Mortgages Expected To Help Boomers Retire

Article by N. Sioris

Reverse mortgages are becoming popular financial planning tools for seniors in retirement. When Social Security was first implemented in 1935 the average life expectancy was 65 years. Today people are living healthier lifestyles and with improved medical technology we are living far longer than Franklin D. Roosevelt ever imagined. This is a sort of good news/bad news statistic. One of the greatest fears for older Americans is that they will outlive their assets. Even if you thought you adequately funded your retirement when you first retired, you may live so long that you will run out of funds to support yourself. The fear of insolvency will increase as life expectancies continue to climb and Social Security and Medicare become more tenuous. The enormous pressure that will be put on these entitlement programs when 78 million baby boomers begin to retire in the next couple of years, is almost incalculable. One thing for certain, is that we are all going to have to take steps to be personally responsible for funding a greater portion of our own retirement and health care than we might have predicted.

One funding source that has been gaining in popularity in recent years is the reverse mortgage. A reverse mortgage is a special type of loan that allows a senior homeowner (62 or older) to convert part of the equity in their home into tax-free cash that can be used for any purpose. There are no payments made by the borrower during the life of the loan and the loan only becomes repayable when the homeowner permanently leaves the home. The homeowner does not have to own the house free and clear, but if there is an existing mortgage on the home, it will be paid off with the proceeds from the reverse mortgage. Whatever remaining equity is left can be distributed in several different ways to the homeowner. The most popular forms of receiving the excess proceeds are either as a lump sum or as monthly tenure payments to the homeowner for as long as they live in the home.

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