Reverse Mortgage Video Transcripts

This page contains written transcripts of reverse mortgage video TV interviews from San Francisco, CA. Each transcript also has a downloadable pdf file available for convenience. Feel free to review our videos, podcasts and articles too!

Click on one of the dates below to go to the transcript of the video recorded on that date.

Rob Black And Your Money With Maggie O'Connell- October 2009
Rob Black And Your Money With Maggie O'Connell - December 2009

October 2009: Transcripts of reverse mortgage videos for senior homeowners in California.  Rob Black interviews Maggie O’Connell, KRON TV ch 4. Download pdf version

Rob: 'Let's bring on Maggie O'Connell.
In the last segment there was a phone call, a woman 70 years old, she has a house that's paid for, thinking about a home equity line of credit.
Her husband has recently passed away.
Instantly I thought …reverse mortgage.
What are your thoughts?'

Maggie: 'She should think twice before signing on to a traditional home equity line of credit, because she’s committing herself to monthly payments, and the more borrowed on the debt results in higher payments.
Eventually the payments become unaffordable and a lot of people who start out with a home equity line of credit end up refinancing to a reverse mortgage because you don't have to make any payments and you have the guarantee that you can live in your home the rest of your life.  Also they should be able to get a lot larger income stream or line of credit.'

Rob:' So I think it's the best way to go. And, again, I'm not going to lie, I'm a fiduciary; I think that's the best one. So what about reverse mortgages, what's new in the world of reverse mortgages?'
 
Maggie:' We’ve been talking about something happening with the lending limits that they'll be cut back a little bit and they have. It happens very fast.
We had a week's notice and, bam; they're about 10% lower, which isn't catastrophic. It has to do with the depressed housing market and lower home prices.
Home values declined and HUD had to make some adjustments to lower the risk.So there could be some people who may not be able to qualify for the reverse mortgage because their mortgages are too high, but there's also another program that is just getting off the ground, the reverse mortgage program for purchasing a home.
It’s an opportunity for retired people on fixed incomes to purchase a home because these days it's hard to qualify for a home loan for seniors because their income is generally low.
And with the reverse mortgage, because you don't have to make payments, there's no income or credit qualification.
So seniors can get into homes very easily and I'm telling you, it's such a good time to buy a home.
 You can get a home for $300,000 or less these days in the bay area and the thing about the reverse mortgage for purchase, you have to have a pretty big down payment, it's not your 20% down type loan because there has to be room for equity to grow.
There has to be equity for that interest to be added on that loan balance.
So72-year-old person would have to bring in about $123,000 for a down payment.
So they have to have some cash to get into that home, but it's a great opportunity if you do have that cash. '

 Rob: 'So what you're basically talking about is the government scaling back some of the limit, but it does create opportunity.'
 
Maggie: 'Right. Well, I see opportunity for private lenders to get back into the business. We had a number of private reverse mortgages available before the crash, but left when problems with the credit markets hit.
I think they're going to be back.
With the HECM providing lower principle limits, banks & investors will see opportunities to be more competitive.
And I see pent-up demand for a program that has low fees.
That's one of the complaints about the government reverse mortgage, with the cost front end loaded.  Although the cost is financed and put into the loan, it holds people back.
  I keep up my database list of people who are waiting for low up front cost reverse mortgages and I'm calling them when they do come back. We do have the NestWorth private equity plan and it’s nice to see companies who have the flexibility to meet other client's needs, such as owners of high value homes who want to tap their equity and continue to live in their home.'

Rob: 'That's a private program so you lose the government insurance.
 Is that a negative? '

Maggie: 'People feel that anything that you do with your equity is a concern.
You want to be very careful.
And not having the government insurance makes it a little more concern.
And any private company, people are concerned they may go out of business. But the structure of the NestWorth program provides protection because if NestWorth stops making the payments to the homeowner, the agreement is terminated.  Also, there is no debt involved in this program; it’s an agreement to give NestWorth a predetermined amount of equity in exchange for monthly payments over time.  It’s considered an ‘option to purchase’ and if NestWorth stops making the monthly payments the agreement is terminated.  The homeowner will keep the money that was paid to them and are not obligated to pay that back and they're right back where they were before they started the program.'

 Rob: 'What did you suggest -- how do you know what the right program is for the right person? '

 Maggie: 'Well, it takes examination. It takes asking a lot of questions.
 I ask a lot of questions and the homeowners ask a lot of questions and their kids and advisers and we just have discussions, review printouts, papers and calculations and compare. And we find out what is important to them.
Is it more important to retain equity, or leave as much as possible to the kids?
There are a lot of different factors that are analyzed and it's just through a lot of conversation and discussion and evaluation when we find out what's really best. '

Rob: 'You have to be one of the most trustworthy people I know in this business. Reverse mortgage store.com.
I've known Maggie for a long time and never heard one thing negative. Only positives.
800-489-0986. It's Maggie O'Connell. And she'll get to know your situation which is very important because when you're a senior, you're dealing with reverse mortgages, there's a lot to get to know.'

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December 2009: What’s the difference between a reverse mortgage and a regular mortgage?Transcript of interview on KRON ch 4 in San Francisco, CA, saving a senior from foreclosure, answering questions, what are qualifications for a reverse mortgage? Download pdf version

Dec 3, 2009

Rob: 'Joining me now, Maggie O'Connell from reversemortgagestore.com.
What's the difference between a reverse mortgage and regular mortgage?'

Maggie: 'With regular, forward mortgages you make monthly payments.
And with a reverse mortgage you don't have to make monthly payments. You pay it back at the end. You're borrowing money and you pay it back when you sell the home or when the last homeowner passes away.
That makes it easier to qualify because the lender's not looking for an ability to make monthly payments; there are no income or credit qualifications. The main qualification is that you have to be 62 years old, and you have to have substantial equity in your home.'

Rob: 'Because payments aren't required, does that make a reverse mortgage safer than a regular mortgage?'

Maggie: 'It absolutely does. If you think about it, with a regular mortgage, what's the biggest risk? Not being able to make mortgage payments.
If something happens and you can't afford to make your payments, you're at risk of losing your home. With a reverse mortgage you don't have to make payments.
You don't have that risk. You have to make your payments for property taxes and homeowner's insurance and keep up the maintenance, but that's it.
It's a much safer loan. '

Rob: 'What holds people back from using reverse mortgages?
I know financial planners like them, use them, and endorse them.
But the average person may be more hesitant.'

Maggie: 'They are. It's a popular program. We've seen great increases in the people taking out reverse mortgages. But seems to hold people back are the costs, especially here in the Bay Area where home values are high.
And the FHA mortgage insurance is a pretty hefty fee. People ask me to keep their name and number and call when a program is available that has lower cost.
There is some talk about a new program developing with lower fees. That's exciting.
I think if the fees are more competitive with forward mortgages and the rates are already similar, we'll see more people taking out reverse mortgages simply because you don't have that monthly payment requirement. You can make payments if you want but it takes away the risk if something happens and you can't make payments. '

Rob: 'Some seniors haven't paid off their home even though they're in their golden years and should have.
They're facing, uh-oh, I don't HAVE A JOB AND MY 401(k) IS DOWN Significantly.
They don't know how to make their payment but they have equity in the home.
Is that a good time maybe to stop foreclosure and trigger a reverse mortgage?
Buy yourself more time?'

Maggie: 'It absolutely is. You don't have any credit qualifications so if you miss payments and your credit is shot it won’t affect your ability to get a reverse mortgage.
If you are the right age, at least 62, and you have the ability to get the reverse mortgage, it can possibly save your home.
We just helped a woman in Livermore escape from foreclosure.
She hadn’t made a payment all year because of some problems she had. To make it work the lender agreed to lower the principle balance by $80,000. This allowed the reverse mortgage to pay off her defaulted loan and her struggles were over.
So there is hope out there for people who are in trouble with their mortgage and think they might lose their home. It’s a horrible thing for people to go through, especially seniors.
And there are many older homeowners who have been in their home for a long time and made a mistake getting into an adjustable-rate mortgage loan and find they can no longer afford the payments.
There is hope and I love being able to help people save their homes. '

Rob: 'Looking back on the year, we've had economic conditions that have been pretty bleak. How has that affected reverse mortgages?
Maggie: Actually, retired people are now reevaluating their new lower net worth and taking a look at their retirement plan and changing things around.
And they're looking at equity as part of that retirement portfolio.
Now that we have these tools that access equity, get to the money and be able to live in your home, too, people are using these tools as part of their retirement plan.
And baby-boomers especially, because they feel more comfortable with mortgages than the previous generation, and their retirement portfolios aren't as large as they had planned.
In many cases they have a lot of equity in their homes.
Also I think there’s a shift in attitudes where the home is not necessarily an inheritance vehicle, but it's a vehicle to help in retirement and to help family members. Seems many adult children could use an early inheritance.'

Rob:' I’ve known Maggie for seven or eight years -- I've never heard one negative tweet or one negative word about you.
What sets you apart from other people in the industry?'

Maggie:' Well, nowadays there are a lot of big, national firms promoting reverse mortgages.
You'll see their ads on TV and their postcards in your mail box.
And when you call them, you don't know exactly who you're going to be working with. And I have just a little reverse mortgage Branch; I'm the branch manager and the loan officer.
And when you call my number, you work with me, and I help with the education process and every step of the way through the loan process. I have a really good processing team in house, so everything stays with us and we really work to do a good job for all of our homeowners.'

Rob:' Pull up some of the contact information.
It's important to note there's another way to get in touch with Maggie O'Connell. got a twitter.com/maggieo'connell, you can get updates that way. She only puts important updates on it.
Twitter's kind of a 21st century -- I don't know, shout out so to speak, twitter.com/maggieo'connell, or go to reversemortgagestore.com.
Couldn't be an easier web site to remember – I’ve worked with her for some eight years now, and a top-notch person.'

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