Reverse Mortgage Appraisals

The largest increase in mortgage appraisal assignments that we are doing is the FHA Reverse Mortgage. With the high amount of baby boomers retiring, they are turning to their homes to provide them with additional income. Most of these folks have lived in their homes for many years and have a wealth of equity that could help with their life expenses.

Woody Fincham, one of our founding members/managers is very familiar with the product, and has experience dealing with retirees. Woody’s parents had him later in life than most parents would normally think of raising children. His mother was 43 and his father 52 so most of his child hood was spent with parents that were at the retirement age. He understands and empathizes with helping folks understand what he does, and to help them feel involved with the process.

With these types of loans the home is required to meet FHA’s minimum property standards (mps). When someone has lived in a home for 30 years or so, there is bound to be items that need some repair or maintenance and it is the FHA appraiser’s job to disclose noted items. This means that deferred maintenance and health and safety items will have to be remedied in order for the property to qualify for FHA mortgage lending. As an example, homes that were built prior to 1978 can not have popping or peeling painted surfaces due to possibility that lead paint is present. Another example would be evidence of structural damage or termite infestation. We understand that most people look at their home as a castle, and we will always make sure and be very respectful of that while doing our job. We are always happy to sit and explain anything like that we see if that is what our client needs. The beauty of a program like this is the reverse mortgage allows for any need repair item to be fixed as part of the transaction.

Most professionals find it difficult to spend more time with a client than absolutely needed. We certainly don’t mind stopping and speaking with folks, whether it is a story about their grandchildren, or how an appraiser researches their data. To us customer service is what our job is about. Our thorough research, polite demeanor, and ability to make the borrower feel at ease are just another facet of what we do. After all, just about everyone doing a reverse mortgage loan is someone’s grandparent, and have earned no less than our best courtesy and respect.

So if your trying to find an FHA roster approved appraiser in Hampton Roads, look no farther than FM & Associates. We will do our best to give you and your borrower a piece of mind and will help you make their experience one that they will have no problem mentioning to others. For those of you who are looking for more information about FHA reverse mortgages, please click on the link below to view AARP’s webpage regarding them.

http://www.aarp.org/money/revmort/revmort_federal/a2003-03-21-elig.html