Home Values Seem to Be Improving for Seniors

The average home value for seniors seems to be improving, according to data from reverse mortgage broker Golden Gateway Financial. Increasing home values are good news to people who want to get reverse mortgages.

Every Little Bit Helps

“Even a minimal gain in home value is a reassuring sign for older Americans, because many of these individuals live on a fixed income and rely on their home to support their retirement lifestyle,” Eric Bachman, founder and CEO of Golden Gateway Financial, told National Underwriter magazine.

Golden Gateway Financial’s latest quarterly study found that older Americans had a national average self-reported home value of $381,895 in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with $369,762 in the third quarter. Florida, Texas, and New York were among the states that continued to see home values fall quite a bit.

Reverse Loan Appraisals

Of course the only way to determine how much your property is really worth is to have it appraised. When you apply for a reverse home mortgage banks require that an appraisal be done as part of the formula to determine how much you can borrow. The appraisal looks at the condition of your home, as well as similar homes in your community. It also factors in recent home sales in your area.

Reverse Mortgage Pros and Cons

Even if your home value is rising, it’s important to get all the facts about reverse loans before getting one. There are pros and cons to borrowing money with a reverse mortgage.

Advantages to borrowing a reverse mortgage are that the money can be used for anything and that you don’t have to pay it back until you move or die. On the negative side, reverse mortgages have more fees than traditional mortgages so you need to be aware of exactly what borrowing money this way costs.

You can get more information to evaluate reverse mortgages by comparing quotes here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 2:12 pm and is filed under Reverse Mortgage . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.