• Webinars/Workshops: Live-informational web-based virtual meetings, which are held every Tuesday at 9:00 AM every Tuesday, Mountain Time; please click Webinars to register.
• FAQ's an extensive list of frequently asked questions
• Reverse Mortgage Calculator, click on it to get one, written text,
• Informational booklets, guides and brochures,
• Videos: "Is A Reverse Mortgage For Me?"   and   "Why Lou Soqui?"
• FREE proposal includes a consultation with Lou Soqui, an expert in reverse mortgages, who will help arrive at the decision if a reverse mortgage is proper for a senior individual or senior couple and once that decision has been made to then provide the necessary services to culminate the best reverse mortgage program, interest rate and fees.

Lou Soqui is a Reverse Mortgage Specialist since 2001, an expert in HUD/FHA Reverse Mortgages originating them all across America with iReverse Home Loans, a Subsidiary of Hopkins Federal Savings Bank operating under the authority of the National Bank Act; offering the most competitive rates and fees available.

 

iReverse Home Loans is a member of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) and subscribes to the NRMLA Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility. As a NRMLA member we are mindful that the soundness, usefulness, prosperity and future of our industry depend upon their honor and integrity, and on the manner in which they interact with each other and with the seniors whose interests they serve. Accordingly, each NRMLA member agrees to observe and maintain and adhere to the following values: Fairness, Confidentiality, Integrity, Competence, Diligence and Professionalism.

 

I invite you to peruse this Blog to find what you are looking for in a reverse mortgage and also invite you to call or email me with any reverse mortgage questions you may have as well as to start your reverse mortgage. Please enjoy it.

 

LOU  SOQUI

Reverse Mortgage Specialist, since 2001

iReverse Home Loans

A Subsidiary of Hopkins Federal Savings Bank

(800) 486-8786  x710

(877) FHA-HECM

FHA reverse mortgage insurance legislation was signed by President Reagan on February 5, 1988 and established the HUD/FHA Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) or Reverse Mortgage. From its beginning it was aimed at senior citizens who had paid all or significant parts of their mortgages. People who were home equity rich but cash poor could from then on benefit from their home equity with a reverse mortgage.

This program was a huge improvement over the reverse mortgages of that day which required the homeowner to give the title to the lender. The HECM changed that, the homeowner, with the HECM retains the title to the property.

1989 the first FHA-insured HECM was made to Marjorie Mason of Fairway, KS and seventy-five more HECM’s would follow that year for the entire nation. Reverse mortgages were banned in Texas because of the constitution which made home equity lending illegal. In 1989 after a vote in favor of the constitution’s amendment the ban was lifted. The new constitution favored large home-equity loans. Today HECM’s in Texas are widely popular and increasingly becoming a choice for many who qualify for them.

By the early 1990s reverse mortgages had become widely accepted and quite popular in the United States.

Ken Sholen, an author who wrote a book in 1995, "Your New Retirement Nest Egg: A Consumer's Guide to the New Reverse Mortgage" commented that since 1989 when reverse mortgages were initiated, about 20,000 elderly had signed up for these mortgages.

In the year 2001 Fannie Mae totally eliminated the “equity share” pricing option on all reverse mortgages increasing the attractiveness of the HECM. That change meant that the homeowner no longer shared part of the equity with the lender.

 

FHA Lending Limits until November 2008 varied from county-to-county in each state with a low of $200,160 and a maximum of $362,790; now all homeowners are on the same playing field with one lending limit at $417,000 for the entire nation.

 

January 2009 the FHA Lending Limit was increased to $625,500 to continue at that level through 2010 opening the HECM market considerably to high end real estate.

 

Today, with all the publicity the HECM now receives, comments like “this is too good to be true” have disappeared, The HECM, although it is not for everyone, has been a godsend to many homeowners who have been saved from foreclosure, large medical bills and have been able to supplement retirement income to make ends meet.

With the FHA lender regulations and the  required borrower counseling by an FHA certified counselor to make sure the borrower knows what he is getting into before a lender can order any services has made this program extremely safe and a feasible program for many people that want or need part of the equity in their home. It truly can be a retirement nest egg and the perfect place to supplement retirement income and Social Security. Today, well over 500,000 homeowners have enjoyed the benefits of a HECM since it’s inception in 1989.