July 2018
The True Cost of Waiting
Too often in my profession as a Reverse Loan Consultant, I see this happen. The potential borrower wants to wait and “think about it” as to whether or not they wish to apply for the loan. Depending upon their situation this may prove to be very costly if they are withdrawing funds from their savings to make mortgage payments and especially if they are on a fixed income as most seniors are.
How long will their savings last and will the funds they withdraw have possible tax consequences?
Or it’s the adult children of a senior who now requires professional caregiving services and they are running out of money to pay for their care but they hesitate to use the equity in their parent’s home to cover this expense, because they want to “protect” their inheritance or they are withdrawing their own funds from a savings to pay for the monthly expenditure.
Sometimes the adult children feel that the best solution is to sell their parent’s home and use the funds they receive from it’s sale to pay for caregiving in a senior community or Board and Care home.
See what my clients are saying!
The costs of selling the home can be exorbitant, especially if there is a monthly mortgage payment due each month and if there are any repairs needed prior to Listing it and the long hassle factor of waiting for someone to purchase it and get approved for their own mortgage.
Surveys have found that overwhelmingly seniors want to remain in their homes and do not want to move out. They want to stay “put”.
Professional caregiving is very expensive and can run from $3500 to $8,000 a month or more. Waiting can quickly deplete a savings and a retirement fund and any money received from the sale of their home.
Using funds from a reverse loan and the equity in the senior’s home is a safe and realisic option to pay for their care and allow them to enjoy continuing living in their home.
But they hesitate and hesitation can be expensive and would be considered an example of the “cost of waiting”.
Mortgage interest rates have increased recently making borrowing money more expensive and from one day to the next, we never know how much the cost of money will effect mortgage rates in the future.
As of this writing, rates are still excellent even though they have increased a bit this year, but if anyone is thinking about looking into getting a reverse loan and continues to wait because they are afraid, they may find out by the time they decide to do anything, the interest rates will have increased and they will receive less money from the loan.
What is the” cost of waiting?”