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"What glad, mad fools we are in spring!" ~John Robinson Jeffers
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Today's Community Review
May 10, 2022
Cottages at Autumn Lake, Savannah, Georgia
Savannah sits on Georgia's northern coast and is the site of Cottages at Autumn Lake, a cozy community with town homes, a lakeside pool, an airy clubhouse and the beautiful beaches of Tybee Island just a few miles away.
More Communities
Venetian Isles, Boynton Beach, Florida
Boynton Beach is along the Intracoastal Waterway in southeastern Florida and is the site of Venetian Isles, a beautiful 55+ community tucked around ponds and canals. It has single family homes and attached homes, and amenities include a clubhouse, a fitness center, an arts studio, a resistance pool, a putting green, walking trails and more.
Sun City Apple Valley, Apple Valley, California
Apple Valley is in south central California and is the setting for Sun City Apple Valley, a large 55+ community with single family homes, two recreation centers, a golf course, swimming pools, an art studio, a crafts studio, an activities director and more.
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Swansgate, Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville is in northwestern South Carolina and is the setting for Swansgate, a cozy, gated 55+ community with patio homes and condominiums. The grounds are wooded and dappled with streams, mature trees, a pond and a gazebo. Amenities include a clubhouse, a swimming pool, walking paths and more.
Tuscan Village, Lakeway, Texas
In a lakeside town outside of Austin in central Texas, Lakeway is the site of Tuscan Village, a handsome 55+ community with single family homes, town homes, a lovely clubhouse, a yacht club, a public library and more.
Hollybrook, Pembroke Pines, Florida
In southeastern Florida, Pembroke Pines is the site of Hollybrook, a large, established 55+ condominium community with two 18 hole golf courses, 14 tennis courts, seven recreation centers, a restaurant and more.
Compass Pointe, Leland, North Carolina
Near the North Carolina coast, Leland is the site of Compass Pointe, a beautiful resort-style community with single family homes, town homes, an amenity center, 45 holes of golf, two swimming pools, a lazy river and more.
Casitas de Castilian, Tucson, Arizona
In sunny southern Arizona, Tucson is the the location of Casitas de Castilian, a low key 55+ development with adobe-style town homes that offer both community and privacy. Amenities include a neighborhood clubhouse, tennis courts, swimming pools and tidy grounds dotted with palm trees and Italian Cypress evergreens.
Century Village at West Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach is in southeastern Florida and is the setting for Century Village, an established 55+ community with condominiums, swimming pools, tennis courts, a theater, a community bus, an island clubhouse and more.
Oceanside is in southern California and is the setting for Oceana, a long standing 55+ community with a variety of neighborhoods, a good selection of home styles, a clubhouse, a garden, a dog park, an old fashioned vibe and more.
Kings Point, Delray Beach, Florida
Delray Beach is on the southeastern Florida coast and is the setting for Kings Point, a settled, gated 55+ condominium community with two golf courses, three clubhouses, a restaurant, five swimming pools, a bounty of activities and more.
Ardiente, North Las Vegas, Nevada
North Las Vegas is in southern Nevada and the location of Ardiente, a gated 55+ community with single family homes, a beautiful clubhouse, a putting green, an activities director and more.
NatureWalk at Seven Hills, Dallas, Georgia
Outside of Atlanta in northwestern Georgia, Dallas is the setting for NatureWalk at Seven Hills, a community built for nature lovers. It also has a 55+ neighborhood, a garden, walking pathways, a dog park, a wellness center 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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