Tag: Home Equity
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Cashing in the Deed and Moving to Retire
A deed is a key asset as you approach retirement. If you opt to sell your home, you’ll have the equity at your fingertips. You might opt to downsize, or you might decide to rent at a retirement community, or move downtown for the culture and convenience. Here are a few points to consider—and an…
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More Deed Holders Slip Under Water. Lost Equity Risk Varies by Region.
The average deed holder is doing OK—sitting on $299K. But as high as home values are, across-the-board homeowner equity is down from its 2024 highs. Home equity belonging to the average U.S. deed holder went down by about $13K last year. In 32 states, people have been losing equity. Most strikingly, the number of mortgage…
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HECM: Can It Ease a Senior’s Financial Stress?
A home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) is a lesser-known financial tool designed for seasoned deed holders. At essence, it’s a reverse mortgage. Backed by the FHA, it allows qualified seniors to reach some of their home equity while holding onto the home.
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Reach Equity, for Zero Interest? Beeline Gets Deed Holders Buzzing
Blockchain-based home equity lenders are now in business. Here, we look at one. Digital mortgage lender Beeline Holdings, based in Providence, Rhode Island, offers conventional home mortgages as well as alternative loan products, for primary homes and investment properties alike. Beeline serves people, and it serves other mortgage companies. The company recently got itself listed…
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Financial Planning for Deed Holders: Keep the Mortgage?
Some deed holders, hoping to pay their loans down early, send extra money toward their mortgage principal each month. Why are they eager to pay down a mortgage balance faster than the loan agreement requires? Is that the best approach from a financial planning standpoint? Here, we go through some factors that prompt some deed…
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“The Senior Living Market Can’t Keep Up With Demand”: A Deed May Be the Best Senior Living Plan
In a recent issue of the CNBC Property Play newsletter, Diana Olick wrote that older adult living is “on the edge of a boom — a baby boom, to be exact.” Between today and 2030, more than 4 million baby boomers will reach the age of 80. Can active adult and assisted living properties climb…
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Passage From Deed to Deed: Rocket Mortgage® Now Offers Bridge Loans
Need to sell your home? Homes aren’t selling as quickly as they used to. But a bridge loan might provide some help with your buying-while-you-sell experience. This is the message from Rocket Mortgage®, which will now let you buy your next house now — before you transfer the deed to your current home. Let’s take…
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House-Proud: New Research Links Homeownership to Mental Wellness
More than two in every 10 adults in the United States live with mental illnesses. More than 8% of our population is dealing with a major depressive disorder. Since the pandemic took hold, mental health issues have shown a trend upward. What does a deed (or the lack of one) have to do with this?…
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Politically Connected Broker Pushed Senior Into Reverse Mortgage, Says Lawsuit
A current member of the Council of Calistoga, California, who is also a broker, faces a hearing this month. A lawsuit accuses Councilmember Scott Cooper, along with his company, of exploiting an elder financially.
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Which Is the Better Starter Home: House or Condo?
You’re shopping around for a home of your own, in an area where houses cost close to half a million dollars. Along the way, you’ve found a nice-looking condo complex, with available units from $260K. You could buy a condo now, build home equity, then make a larger down payment on a house later on.…
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Seniors Lose Billions Each Year to Scammers: 5 Quick Tips to Protect Yourself
According to the FBI, scammers take advantage of seniors to the tune of billions annually. A lot of this happens because seniors own a massive amount of U.S. real estate, a hard and valuable asset. To avoid enriching the wrong people, keep our five tips in mind. Consider sharing this column with friends who need…
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Quitclaim Deeds and Senior Homeowners: Convenience with Caution
When someone wants to know which kind of document makes it easy to pass real estate ownership, the quitclaim deed comes to mind. Convenient? You bet. And quite often, this convenient document is the senior’s deed of choice. This is because so many seniors decide, at some point in their lives, to transfer their homeownership…
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Proactively Maximize Your Deed’s Value—Don’t Just Wait.
Inflation, whether it runs high or moves at its historically normal rate, erodes your dollars. As a deed holder, at least you do have certain ways to offset inflation. A key method? Proactively boosting your deed’s value through home improvements.
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Single and Looking (for My Very Own Deed)
Single and looking? Take heart! So many people would love to be in your position. Some never have a home that’s theirs alone. If you think most people in the current real estate market are couples, you’re right. Yet single buyers make up more than a fourth of all buyers. You could join them, and…
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Reverse Mortgage Problems: When to Stay, and When to Walk Away
Reverse mortgages are designed for senior homeowners. They’re advertised as a super power available to longtime deed holders. The idea? When you’re low on cash, tap into your many years of equity-building. Draw financial strength from your property’s value. Sounds good, and yet pitfalls await the unwary. Reverse mortgages allow borrowing to increase, and home equity…
