Living in her corner of paradise

Meet Cynthia

Cynthia, 70, can pinpoint the day fifty years ago when she realized she always wanted to live in the house she grew up in. “I remember as a 20-year-old running down the side of the house with all the greenery around me and hearing the frogs and the birds, and I thought, you know, I don’t want to go anywhere. I just want to stay right here.” Now, thanks to a HomeSafe reverse mortgage loan from Finance of America, she can enjoy her retirement in the Santa Monica Canyon home she loves.

Home to stay

?? Cynthia’s house was precious from her very earliest memory. When Cynthia was just one year old, her mother moved to California from Ohio and bought a piece of land a few blocks from the beach. Her mother’s eight siblings moved there, too, and Cynthia grew up surrounded by family. She remembers a wonderful childhood, exploring the beach and falling asleep to the sound of crickets and frogs at night.

“I really enjoyed the area,” she remembers. “So much that when I was in my 20s, I was engaged to a guy from New York. He said I had to move to New York. I chose my house over him.”

She eventually married someone more amenable to staying in the home she calls “the love of my life.” The couple undertook a major renovation, expanding the house from 750 to 2,200 square feet.

Cynthia had paid off the mortgage by the time her daughter was born in 1996. Then, “for nine glorious years, I didn’t worry about a mortgage,” she remembers. “It was wonderful.”

Years later, Cynthia and her husband divorced, and she took on a new 30-year mortgage to buy out her ex-husband. She tried to make it work but found it burdensome to carry a mortgage, a line of credit, and credit card debt, so she began investigating ways to combine her debt into one mortgage. “I had debt, and I was getting older,” she says.

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An answer comes knocking

?? Cynthia was looking for a solution when serendipitously, a salesman associated with a reverse mortgage company knocked on her door.

“I had always been dubious about reverse mortgages, as many people are,” she remembers. But the salesman piqued her interest, and her subsequent research led her to Finance of America.

“All the people in all the departments I needed to deal with were knowledgeable and fast,” she says. “I really felt secure.”

Now she has peace of mind about her daughter’s future and can cover her living and home maintenance expenses without stress. “One thing the reverse mortgage did for me was give me a much greater sense of security,” she says. “I don’t worry about taking care of things. It just made my life more pleasant.”

It’s a peace of mind she wishes she could have enjoyed sooner in her little corner of paradise. “In retrospect, I should have considered a reverse mortgage much earlier.”

Disclaimer: These materials are not from HUD or FHA and were not approved by HUD or a government agency. Not all products and options are available in all states. This article is intended for general informational and educational purposes only and is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as financial or tax advice. For more information about whether a reverse mortgage may be right for you, you should consult an independent financial advisor. For tax advice, please consult a tax professional. When the loan is due and payable, some or all of the equity in the property that is the subject of the reverse mortgage no longer belongs to borrowers, who may need to sell the home or otherwise repay the loan with interest from other proceeds. The lender may charge an origination fee, mortgage insurance premium, closing costs and servicing fees (added to the balance of the loan). The balance of the loan grows over time and the lender charges interest on the balance. Borrowers are responsible for paying property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, maintenance, HOA Fees (when applicable) and related taxes (which may be substantial). We do not establish an escrow account for disbursements of these payments. A set-aside account can be set up to pay taxes and insurance and may be required in some cases. Borrowers must occupy home as their primary residence and pay for ongoing maintenance; otherwise, the loan becomes due and payable. The loan also becomes due and payable, and the property may be subject to a tax lien, other encumbrance, or foreclosure) when the last borrower, or eligible non-borrowing surviving spouse, dies, sells the home, permanently moves out, defaults on taxes, insurance payments, or maintenance, or does not otherwise comply with the loan terms. Interest is not tax-deductible until the loan is partially or fully repaid. This is not a commitment to lend or extend credit. Security National Mortgage Company NMLS#3116. Security National Mortgage Company home office address 433 Ascension Way, 5th Floor, Salt Lake City, UT 84123. Equal Housing Lender