Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: housing seniors + wish list + housing  Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/7/2008)

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Wish List Speaks To Housing Needs Of Seniors, Others On Fixed Incomes

There already are quite a few entries on my 1994 Wish List. Here are some on the subjects of real estate and mortgage banking that speak to the need to help seniors and people on fixed incomes.

-- I would like to see a greater commitment to enacting a property-tax deferral program in this state. If high property taxes are the only reason seniors are selling their homes, can the counties and state possibly get along without that revenue until the home is sold or the person dies? That way, the home would be treated much like the gain on a stock - the gain realized on those shares would be due and payable in the year the stock is sold.

Nineteen states currently have property-tax deferral programs. Only a small portion of the persons eligible take advantage of the option. Reasons vary, but many seniors simply do not want any lien against their property while others have no idea such a program even exists.

According to the Associated Press, Oregon has had a property-tax deferral program for 30 years. Only 11,681 of an estimated 88,000 eligible households deferred their taxes in 1993.

I predict that ratio would rise significantly here because home prices have climbed faster and higher than in most Oregon markets. Even if the same number, or fewer, people took part in the program here than in Oregon, it is important that we at least investigate creating a tax-deferral option.

Better publicity needed

-- I would also like to see the county assessors do a better job of publicizing the senior citizen and disabled persons property-tax exemption. This program exempts these taxpayers from all excess levies and may exempt a portion of regular levies on your primary residence and up to one acre of land. Excess levies are approved by the voters and include school construction bonds and maintenance of operation levies.

To find out if you are eligible, contact your county assessor. Typically, you must be 61 years of age on Dec. 31 of the year of application, or unable to work due to a physical disability. In addition, your household income must be $26,000 or less in the year before application. All sources of income must be reported for yourself, your spouse and all co-tenants. A co-tenant is a person who lives in the residence and jointly owns the residence with you.

-- Another entry on my 1994 wish list that affects seniors is for reverse mortgages to become more affordable.

Many times the costs that come with a reverse mortgage make them hard to sell. Because it can become very expensive to borrow against the house, seniors opt to borrow against another asset, perhaps "margining" a stock or bond. However, for those folks with no other assets, there is no other choice.

For example, a reader from Burien with a $280,000 home in the Seahurst neighborhood qualified for a net reverse mortgage amount of $54,000. The reader decided to consider the "line-of-credit" option because the money could be used much like the cash in a checking account.

However, the cost of obtaining the $54,000 line of credit amounted to nearly $6,000. Even though most of the closing costs are paid from proceeds, the costs were simply too huge.

The main gripe about many reverse mortgages is the mortgage-insurance requirement. Many folks do not like, nor understand, why a mandatory insurance fee is charged on a mortgage that, by definition, will not be repaid until the estate of the surviving spouse is settled. Under Federal Housing Administration guidelines, mortgage insurance provides the lender with an insurance policy if the deal goes sideways. The risks on reverse mortgages are not as great as mortgage insurance premiums warrant.

If we are serious about letting our folks age in place, we need to at least create more options for them to do so.

Tom Kelly is a private real-estate consultant. His column runs Sundays in the Home/Real Estate section.