November 5th Show

The November 5th edition of The Tina & Drew Show kicked off the show with the update on Bank of America and the decision of dropping the proposed $5 monthly debit fees.  The American public voiced their outrage and Bank of America took action to on November 1st announced they will not charge the $5 monthly debit card fee.  A helpful site to track banks fees go to www.mybanktracker.com

This week in Tips for Listeners, Tina received a question regarding liquidating funds to in order to avoid mortgage insurance.  It’s not always necessary to make a 20% down payment to avoid mortgage insurance.  There are mortgage insurance products to avoid the monthly cost.  Ask your lender to review monthly, split, lender pay and borrower single premium.  Make sure you are educated on ALL your options.  If you are purchasing a new property you can off set the cost of the single premium buy out by asking the seller to pay for your closing cost. 

Tina & Drew welcomed John Barlow of Cobalt Mortgage in studio.  John was in studio to lend his expertise on the subject Reverse Mortgages.  A Reverse Mortgage may be a viable option for those home owners who are 62 years old or older.  Reverse Mortgages are insured by FHA and have 3 different programs currently.  The HECM has a fixed rate option, a line of credit and fixed monthly income product.  There are a few reasons why a reverse make sense.  The first being monthly cash flow.  Families limited to a fixed income may need access to cash up front or choose to draw on a line of credit from time to time.  The reverse mortgage product does not have monthly payments.  There is a lot of negative information about the reverse product.  The number one misconception is that the bank can come and take the home.  This is not the case.  Part of the mortgage agreement you will be responsible for the up keep of the property and making the property taxes payments.  Step one in the decision process is to create a plan.  Why are you considering it and what is your long term plan for the house?  Can you stay in the house long term and does it fit your needs?  The net benefit of each program is different for everyone.  To reach out to find more about the programs available in your area you can reach John Barlow at 425-974-6964.  Also, go to http://tinyurl.com/3mf73qa for HUDs HECM web site.