Tag Archives: Oregon

Portland Oregon Tops the List of Top U.S. Cities for Seniors

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Oregon’s largest city, Portland offers the best senior living benefits in the U.S, according to a recent survey produced by a partnership between Bankers Life and Casualty Company and Sperling’s BestPlaces. It is likely that the Eugene/Springfield was too small for the competition, but those of us living here think it is a pretty darn nice place to live.

Seattle, San Francisco, Pittsburg and Milwaukee rounded out the top 5.

What Makes a City Good for Senior Living?

Health: includes criteria such as physician-to-senior ratio, gerontologist-to-senior ratio, hospitals per capita, and the availability of adult day care, assisted living facilities, continuing care (CCRC) facilities, independent living facilities, nursing homes, and senior meals. With the additional of the new Sacred Heart Medical Center, I think Eugene/Springfield would rate well in this area.

Disease: covers life expectancy, age 85 expectancy, and rates of depression, heart disease, and cancer. Sometimes when it rains for several days in a row here, it just seems our life is longer. LOL

Economics: includes consumer prices, sales taxes, unemployment rate, and recent job growth. Larger cities like Portland definitely have the economics of scale that are missing in a smaller, albeit, more comfortable community like Eugene/Springfield.

Social: identifies the percentage of seniors in the community and availability of entertainment opportunities, the arts, museums, education, recreation, colleges, and libraries. This is one area I think we excel with the number of college campuses here, including the University of Oregon and artistic expansion like the Hult Center for the performing arts.

Environmental: assesses the number of sunny days, measurements of clean air and water, risk of natural disasters, and the presence of ocean coastline, rivers and lakes, and national parks. In this area, I think we beat Portland. We have all that they do and less traffic.

Spiritual: looks at the percentage of the population belonging to organized religions, and the number of religious congregations in the community. Got you covered here too.

Transportation: rates the availability of public transportation and special access transportation, along with commuting times. Our LTD system is constantly getting better, now with the EMX shortly expanding to the Gateway Mall and Sacred Heart area.

Housing: includes cost of living, median home price, property taxes and monthly apartment rent. Housing prices in Lane County have been dropping and talking to several rental management companies, so are rents.

Crime: ranks incidents of violent crime and property crime. Like anywhere, parts of Lane County are worse than others, but Springfield recently built a new jail that is helping the crime rate and we have some outstanding police officers all through the county.

In a news release about the survey, Bankers’ Chief Operating Officer Scott Perry said the senior living survey results included some cities that are not often associated with senior living.

That’s because we weren’t looking for the best places to be retired, but the best cities for seniors regardless of whether they are retired, working, active or not, healthy or not,” he said. “It’s about more than golf courses and tennis courts.

Contact Us

If you have questions about a Reverse Mortgage, please contact one of us today at 541-342-7576. Alpine Mortgage Planning is located at 1200 Executive Pkwy., Ste. 100, Eugene OR 97401. You can also e-mail Laurie here or Fred here. We are here to help you make the decision that is right for you. Reverse Mortgages are not for everyone, but they are an excellent choice for some people. Isn’t it time that you checked out the advantages of a Reverse Mortgage?

Is an Oregon Reverse Mortgage Right for You?

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Top 10 Things to Know if You’re Interested in a Reverse Mortgage

By Laurie Willis

Oregon Reverse mortgages are becoming popular in Oregon and in America. HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA) created one of the first. The Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) is FHA’s reverse mortgage program which enables you to withdraw some of the equity in your home. The HECM is a safe plan that can give older Americans greater financial security. Many seniors use it to supplement social security, meet unexpected medical expenses, make home improvements and more. Since your home is probably your largest single investment, it’s smart to know more about reverse mortgages and decide if one is right for you.

1. What is a Reverse Mortgage?

It’s a loan against your home that requires no repayment for as long as you live there. A reverse mortgage allows you to convert a portion of the equity in your home into cash. Unlike a traditional home loan, no repayment is required until the borrower(s) no longer use the home as their primary residence.

2. How do I Qualify for a Reverse Mortgage?

To be eligible for a reverse mortgage all borrowers must be 62 years of age or older. You must own your home outright, or have a low mortgage balance that can be paid off with proceeds from the reverse loan, and you must live in the home 6 months of the year.

3. What types of homes are eligible?

Your home must be a single-family property, PUD, or a 1-4 unit home with one unit occupied by the borrower(s). HUD-approved condominiums and manufactured homes that meet FHA requirements are also eligible.

4. What’s the difference between a Reverse Mortgage and a bank home equity loan?

With a traditional second mortgage, or home equity line of credit you must document you income and ability to repay the loan. There are also minimum credit score requirements for loan qualification, and you are required to make monthly mortgage payments. The reverse mortgage is different in that it pays you, and is available regardless of your current income or credit scores.

5. Can the lender take my home away if I outlive the loan?

No. You do not need to repay the loan as long as you or one of the borrowers continues to live in the house and keeps the taxes and insurance current. You can never owe more than the value of your home at the time you or your heirs sell the home.

6. Will I still have an estate to leave my heirs?

When you sell your home, you or your estate will repay the cash you received from the reverse mortgage, plus interest and other fees to the lender. The remaining equity in your home, if any belongs to you or to your heirs. Remember, reverse mortgages are generally ‘non-recourse’ loans, which means the lender does not have recourse to anything other than your home, not your income, your assets, or your heirs income or assets.

7. How much money can I get from my home?

The amount you can borrow depends on your age, the current interest rate, and the appraised value of your home or FHA’s mortgage limits for your area, whichever is less. Generally, the more valuable your home is, the older you are, the lower the interest, the more you can borrow.

8. Should I use and estate planning service to find a reverse mortgage?

FHA does NOT recommend using any service that charges a fee for referring a borrower to and FHA lender. FHA provides the information for free, and HUD-approved housing counseling agencies are available for a very low cost. In fact, counseling is a HUD requirement before borrowers can start the reverse mortgage borrowing process.

9. How do I receive my payment?

In the past, there were many options to receiving payment. However, most reverse mortgage lenders are limiting the rate/term for reverse mortgages to a fixed rate only, which requires the borrow to receive a lump sum payment upon closing

10. Can I use a Reverse Mortgage to Purchase a Home?

Yes, effective January 2009 you can now qualify to use a reverse mortgage to purchase a home if you are 62 or older and plan to live in the property as your primary residence. The program was designed to allow seniors to purchase a new primary residence and obtain a reverse mortgage within a single transaction. The program was also designed to enable senior homeowners to relocate to other geographical areas to be closer to family members or downsize to homes that meet their physical needs.

There’s a lot of information and misinformation available out there on reverse mortgages. Please feel free to call me (Laurie) or e-mail if you want the straight scoop about an Oregon reverse mortgage and whether or not it may be right for you. (Note: This was prepared by Laurie Willis, Senior Mortgage Advisor with Alpine Mortgage Planning in Eugene. She is very knowledgeable in Reverse Mortgages and I (Fred) work with her exclusively on a reverse mortgages. It is always best to have the best, especially in something as controversial and having so much misinformation about it as an Oregon reverse mortgage. You can reach Laurie directly at 541-342-7576.)