Where to Find HUD and Single Purpose Reverse Mortgages
Nebraska senior homeowners: you’ve likely heard about reverse mortgages, good and bad. Reverse mortgages can be quite useful when entered into with the right knowledge, mindset and in association with a reputable and experienced lender.
FHA Lender Loan Limits
FHA limits are imposed on a county-by-county basis across the country and are innately tied to local property and home values. These figures are also key in the amount of cash equity for which you may qualify in a federally insured reverse mortgage.
In Nebraska, all counties are consistent with the FHA standard, the national average.
Remember over 90% of senior borrowers have the HUD Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), the government-backed product. This means that most average homeowners fit into the FHA limits. Cases in which the FHA limits are too restrictive include those for homeowners with very high-valued properties. In cases such as this seniors may explore the option for a Fannie Mae Home Keeper reverse mortgage or a proprietary jumbo reverse with no limit imposed at all.
HUD Lenders in Nebraska
Since most borrowers have a HUD reverse mortgage, let’s find out how to locate a lender. First, HUD is not a lender. The FHA is not a lender. These government agencies, while they regulate and generally oversee the national housing business, do not provide financial services directly to borrowers. However, they do provide lender lists. Before you choose a reverse mortgage lender from the phone book or a direct mailer postcard you received in the mail, first search the HUD-approved lender list. You can search by state and HECM providers that have done a federally insured reverse within the previous year, so you are confident in their experience.
Nebraska Single Purpose Reverse Mortgage Providers
About half of all states offer a statewide property tax deferral program. This loan is similar to a single-purpose reverse mortgage in that it usually is designed for low-income senior homeowners that need cash for a specific and necessary purpose, requires no payments until the home is sold and is based in part on home value. It is typical for such loans to be originated through county tax assessors’ offices.
- Nebraska does not offer a formal property tax deferral loan, but instead provides seniors age 65 and older with a significant Homestead Exemption.
- Also common are similar products that provide cash for home rehabilitation. Nebraska offers a unique program directly through the USDA Rural Development program. The Section 504 Rural Housing Loan and Grant program is restricted to rural and low-income seniors, age 65 and older. For very poor borrowers the program is an outright grant—you owe nothing provided you remain living in the home.
General Reverse Mortgage Providers for Nebraska Seniors
Here are just a few representative types of reverse mortgage originators with offices in Nebraska.
1 st Reverse Mortgage USA
This is a nationwide company that specializes in types of mortgages, including the reverse mortgage micro-specialty. 1 st Reverse is a HUD approved lender and their corporate infrastructure is expansive enough to include processing, underwriting and almost every loan process associated with a reverse mortgage.
Financial Freedom
As one of the leading nationwide originators of reverse mortgages, Financial Freedom offers an expansive level of experience in the reverse mortgage field. Borrowers have three popular and diverse options from which to choose: the federally-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), the Fannie Mae Home Keeper which includes a limit considerably higher than the HECM and which works for condo owners, as well; and the jumbo reverse, Cash Account Advantage. This last option is Financial Freedom’s branded private product and is often originated by other lenders that choose to offer a jumbo reverse mortgage.
Liberty First Credit Union
Liberty First is headquartered in Lincoln and as a credit union specializes in providing customers with a wide spectrum of financial products and services. Mortgage loan officers handle the reverse mortgage clientele. This is a HUD-approved lender and as such frequently manages the federally insured HECM.