Seniors can have trouble qualifying for a mortgage, in spite of having ample assets. Here are some tips, from the wsj.com (their comments are good too):
http://online.wsj.com/articles/jumbo-loan-challenges-for-retirees-1416413430
High-net-worth individuals often will argue that they clearly have enough money in assets to pay off a loan at any time, says Bill Banfield, vice president at Quicken Loans. “They may be thinking that they have a big IRA and they could use that to take a distribution to make the loan payments,” he adds. “That’s all good and fine, but we’d like to see that all set up before they apply for the loan.”
The key to qualifying is to demonstrate that a retiree’s assets translate into income via tax returns, bank statements and other documents, he adds. “The lender is going to want to make sure you have receipts for distributions and a schedule for receiving them,” he adds.
Retirees also need to show proof that the payments will continue in the same amounts for at least three years into the future, Mr. Banfield says. If a borrower is an early retiree under 59½ years old, the threshold for taking withdrawals from IRAs without tax penalties, the lender will adjust income estimates accordingly, he adds.
For retirees who don’t want to increase their distributions, another possible option is a nonqualified jumbo mortgage, which offers flexibility on the federal DTI rule, Mr. Wind says. Lenders have to waive liability protection to issue nonqualified mortgages, but some lenders will take that risk with retirees who have substantial invested assets they don’t want to liquidate, he adds.
To calculate an income estimate in such cases, EverBank will assign a conservative earnings rate to the total dollar amount of the assets and amortize the amount to the loan’s term length, Mr. Wind says. Wells Fargo uses a similar method to calculate DTI for nonqualified mortgages for borrowers with multimillions of dollars in assets, Mr. Blackwell says.
The first step for any retiree or person approaching retirement is a financial adviser, Mr. Blackwell says. An adviser can look at a retiree’s overall financial picture and advise whether to pay cash or borrow when buying as home. The adviser can also calculate retirement-account distributions that will help the borrower qualify for a loan, he adds.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/jumbo-loan-challenges-for-retirees-1416413430
I wounder if it would be possible to come in with a 50% down and a reverse mortgage right off the bat?
The heck with the kids LOL, just kidding.
Yes – great way to buy a house.
Retirees also need to show proof that the payments will continue in the same amounts for at least three years into the future, Mr. Banfield says.
And they require -proof- from any other applicant? I sense an age discrimination suit coming.
Thereason the banks don’t want to loan to retirees is because retirees take out mortgages when it is advantageous to do so. That means it is detrimental to the other side of the transaction. It’s about the math.
I am not sure what age has to do with looking for a Math advantage.
Jiji, I think he might be leading us to infer that a Freddie Mac guaranteed loan with 3% down might be easier for someone younger and with questionable creditworthiness to obtain, than a financially secure older person. I believe the latter were at the bottom of the charts regarding walking away from properties when the mortgage crises hit, so putting them under a magnifying glass now seems bizarre.
I guess deciding it’s age discrimination is as good as any premise when trying to make sense of collective madness.
One of the best decisions I ever made was locking down a HELOC a year or so before retirement. Even if you have tons of equity, you won’t be able to lock one down without any income.