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"My life needs editing." ~Mort Sahl
Today's Community Reviews
July 7, 2023
The Villages Golf and Country Club, San Jose, California
About an hour southeast of San Francisco, San Jose is the site of The Villages Golf and Country Club, a large, established 55+ community with a dozen neighborhoods, two golf courses, four clubhouses, an equestrian facility, a good variety of home styles and more.
More Communities
Bent Tree Villas East, Boynton Beach, Florida
Boynton Beach is on the southeastern Florida coast and is the location of Bent Tree Villas East, a colorful, settled 55+ attached home community with tropical landscaping, a clubhouse, a pool, walking paths, activity groups and more.
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Greenbriar II, Brick Township, New Jersey
About five miles from the Jersey Shore, Greenbriar II is a leafy, established 55+ community with single family homes, a clubhouse, planned activities and reasonable HOA fees.
Casa Paloma, Green Valley, Arizona
Green Valley is south of Tucson in southern Arizona and is the location of Casa Paloma, an established, low key 55+ town home community with reasonably priced homes and an endless array of amenities.
On Florida's southwestern coast, balmy Naples is the site of Treviso Bay, a beautiful resort-style community with a variety of home styles, a championship golf course, a sports complex, an expansive clubhouse, manicured grounds, ponds, parkways, trails and more.
Barefoot Resort and Golf, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
On the northern South Carolina coast, North Myrtle Beach is the setting for Barefoot Resort and Golf, a large, lush community with single family homes, town homes and condominiums, four championship golf courses, a marina, three miles of waterways, a beach cabana, a next-door shopping venue and more.
Riverwind, Etowah/Hendersonville, North Carolina
Tucked in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, Etowah is the site of Riverwind, an attractive 55+ manufactured home community with tree lined streets, two clubhouses, RV parking, pretty views and more. Pets are welcome.
Seven Oaks, San Diego, California
San Diego is the site of Seven Oaks, a large, settled 55+ development with single family homes, town homes, a community center, a swimming pool, a putting green and more.
Lakepark at Tradition, Port St. Lucie, Florida
Port St. Lucie is on the southeastern Florida coast and is the location of LakePark at Tradition, a stylish 55+ neighborhood within a larger development. Colorful single family homes and town homes are for sale, and amenities include a clubhouse, a resort-style pool, a yoga studio, a dog park, lakes, trails and more.
Montgomery is near Lake Conroe in southeastern Texas and is the location of Bentwater, a lovely community with private islands, a marina, a day spa and a wide range of home prices.
Pelican Pointe, Gonzales, Louisiana
Not far from New Orleans in southern Louisiana, Pelican Pointe is an all ages community with two golf courses, a restaurant, a clubhouse, tennis courts and a 55+ neighborhood, The Greens, which has town homes and single family homes.
Lakeland, home to golf courses and lakes, is in central Florida and is the setting for Lake James, a welcoming 55+ community with single family homes, a lake, a clubhouse, a heated swimming pool, walking paths and a quiet atmosphere.
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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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