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"A brave arm makes a short sword long enough." ~French Proverb
Today's Community Review
December 31, 2022
Royal Stewart Arms, Dunedin, Florida
Lovely Dunedin sits on Florida's Gulf Coast and is the site of Royal Stewart Arms, a waterfront 55+ condominium community on a strip of land that juts into the Gulf of Mexico. Amenities include a clubhouse, a heated swimming pool with ocean views and more.
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Jubilee at Los Lunas, Los Lunas, New Mexico
Los Lunas is outside of Albuquerque in rugged west central New Mexico and is the site of Jubilee at Los Lunas, a stylish, Southwestern-themed 55+ community with single family homes, a lovely lodge, a swimming pool, tennis courts, walking trails and more.
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Doral Village, Clearwater, Florida
Clearwater sits on Florida's Gulf Coast and is the setting for Doral Village, a tropical 55+ cooperative with mobile/manufactured homes, a clubhouse, plenty of activities and sparkling Clearwater Beach just down the road.
Mona Lisa Village, Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is in southern Arizona and is the location of Mona Lisa Village, a quiet, small 55+ town home community with adobe buildings, a clubhouse and a swimming pool.
Albemarle Plantation, Hertford, North Carolina
Hertford is in northeastern North Carolina and is the site of Albemarle Plantation, an all ages waterfront community with a golf course, a marina, a clubhouse and a good selection of home styles.
Tellico Village, Loudon, Tennessee
In rolling East Tennessee, Loudon is the setting for Tellico Village, a wooded 55+ lakeside community single family homes, town homes and plenty of amenities, including three golf courses, a marina, a wellness center and more.
Suffield Meadows, Warrenton, Virginia
In pretty northern Virginia, historic Warrenton is surrounded by farmland and horse farms and is the site of Suffield Meadows, a gated 55+ community with a variety of housing, a clubhouse, gardens and more.
Highland Lakes, Palm Harbor, Florida
Palm Harbor sits on Florida's mid-Gulf Coast and is the location of Highland Lakes, a large, settled 55+ community with single family homes, town homes, lakes, a waterfront lodge, 27 holes of golf, three clubhouses, a good menu of activities and more.
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Retiring with a Mortgage?
Most financial advisors will tell you to pay down your mortgage before you retire. The reason for this is that since your income is most likely to decline during retirement, it makes sense that your monthly expenses also decline.
Yet more retirees are carrying mortgages than ever before. This is because people are buying houses later in life and then refinacing to tap into their equity, which usually extends the lenghth of a loan.
Nearly 50% of people age 65 to 79 have a mortgage, with a median balance of $77,000. Twenty-five percent of people age 80 or better also carry mortgage.
There are two potential downsides to carrying mortgage debt during retirement. One, if you find that you can't make your payments and your home is foreclosed, then you have less time to recover from the loss.
Two, if you have to pull from your retirement accounts to make your mortgage payment, that can leave you short on cash if an emergency arises. And it is not as easy at age 70 to pick up a job to help with mortgage payments as it is at age 35. Retirement account withdrawls can also trigger more taxes.
If you are going to have mortgage payments during retirement and are worried about them stretching you too thin, then you might consider refinancing the debt with a 30 year loan before you retire. Doing so can get your monthly payments down to a manageable level.
You might also consider a reverse mortgage if you have a good amount of equity in your home. This type of loan lets you stay in your home without a monthly payment and lets you tap into your equity, providing you with a lump sum payment or monthly cash payments.
If you are retiring with a mortgage, you are not alone. But not having one or refinancing the debt to lower your payments can make retirement a little easier.
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How to Qualify for a Reverse Mortgage
All borrowers must be at least 62 years old. The older you are, the more funds you can receive from a reverse mortgage.
You must live in your home as your primary residence for the length of the reverse mortgage. You must own your home outright or have at least 50% equity.
You must meet with a HUD-approved reverse mortgage counselor prior to applying for a reverse mortgage to learn exactly how a reverse mortgage works and how much it costs (fees, etc.). The counseling session is to ensure that the borrow completely understands how a reverse mortgage works.
Single family homes, manufactured homes built after 1976, condominiums that are FHA-approved and town homes are all eligible for a reverse mortgage.
You must show the financial ability to meet your loan obligations, including paying property taxes, insurance and HOA fees if applicable. You must also maintain the home.
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Best Mortgage Lenders
Homeowners approaching retirement often have enough equity to sell their current home and buy a less expensive one outright. Some people, though, want to keep the cash from their home sale and finance a new home, while others might need a small or short-term mortgage to cover the gap between their available cash and a home's purchase price. If you do need a mortgage, it is important to choose the right one. Here are three of the best lenders.
Better Mortgage - According to Nerd Wallet, this mortgage company charges no commission fees and has no application, underwriting or origination fees. They also close most loans within 21 days, two times faster than the national average.
Quicken Loans - This mortgage company has a five star rating in the 2019 J.D. Power U.S. Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study and an A+ rating with the BBB. Quicken Loans has processed more than two million mortgages.
Vylla Loan - This mortgage lender has multiple loan programs for people with less than steller credit and considers alternative credit data, such as bank statements and rent payments.
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